Advice for a new setup - big ole pleco

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Parrotlady

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 25, 2024
Messages
4
Location
auburn, wa
good morning, I really want to help my friend with her aquarium. she has a plecco she has had since he was 1" long. he is now 13" and she keeps buying a bigger and bigger tank for this moose. right now he is in a 75 gallon.
i want to help her, i want to scape this with a big piece of wood hardscape, and big rocks for him. i want to put in live plants and a clean up crew for the small stuff to help him out.
she also has 2 what i THINK are moonrise tetras
since most videos i can find are for little fishies, i dont know where to start for him. location is KENT WA
 

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Not really sure what you want advice on.

That aquarium is very cloudy. Is it always like that? What filter do you have? Do you know your water parameters? Have you tried anything to get the water clear?

The tetras are glofish, which are genetically modified to give them that fluorescence. Glofish call that type a longfin tetra, but the actual species is a black skirt tetra. The colour varient is Moonlight Pink is you say. Good bit of investigation on your part.

Tetras are social fish and should be kept in groups of their own species. When kept in small numbers They will be stressed and stress causes unpredictable behaviour. They might get aggressive, or hide away, not feed, etc. Or they might just get on with things and make the best of a poor situation. But, stress is never a good thing, and will cause health issues over time. So, I would look to add more of this type of tetra. Either black skirt tetras or the GM glofish long finned tetras. A 75g tank can hold a lot of fish, but look for a group of at least 10 tetras.

75 gallon is on the minimum end of suitable size for a 13" pleco. Depending on the species, it could get to 24" and need double that.

If you want to add driftwood be prepared for a couple of things.

It will float. Weigh the driftwood down until it waterlogged and stays down on its own. This might take months.
It will leach tannins and make the water tea like. If you don't like the appearance water changes will remove the tannins, and after a while, maybe a few months, the tannins will all leach out. Activated carbon added into the filtration will absorb the tannins, and again it will eventually stop leaching out.

Plants. Get some easy to keep plants to start with like java fern and anubias. You can simply tie these plants to a piece of rock or your driftwood. They don't need planting in the substrate, and don't need a lot of light or nutrients. They are as bullet proof as they come. After that, look at some other easy plants like amazon swords, java moss and cryptocoryne.

Clean up fish? Have a look at corys or loaches. Again 75g is a fairly big aquarium and you have plenty of scope for fish. Maybe look for a bigger cory species. Or a medium sized loach like a yoyo loach.
 
the advice i need is what to use/what is safe to use for a 13" plecco - moose.
right now she has nothing but a fake castle.
what is good to use as HARDSCAPE for him, and what kind of cleanup crew (snails, shrimp etc) is good for helping keep the tank a little cleaner. keep the nitrates and ammonia down.
 
Get a big piece of driftwood and put it in the tank. Most plecos need driftwood in their aquariums as they chew on it to aid their digestion.

If you detecting any ammonia in the water that's a problem and is a sign your aquarium needs cycling.

What precisely are your water parameters? pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

How long has this 75 gallon aquarium been set up?

What filter are you using?

I wouldn't add any fish/ snails/ shrimp until your aquarium is cycled.
 
i dont think she does any checking of parameters. i am trying to help her (her fish) by making the tank something she can enjoy and the fish enjoy. ok so a nice big piece of wood. thats good! will pleccos eat live plants?
 
If plecos are getting plenty of food they won't eat the plants. Make sure they are getting algae wafers and veggies. Watch how much the pleco eats to try and judge how much it needs. If it quickly gobbles food down it probably wants more, if it looks disinterested then feed less. Older plecos often change their dietary needs and need more protein, so consider that if it isn't eating its veggies.

If you arent sure what the water parameters are like, you can either get a test kit or take a water sample to a fish store. Most will do water testing, some will do it for free. Make sure they write down the numbers rather than just telling "everything is good" or whatever.

If it's an established aquarium, and you are doing water changes every week or 2, there probably isn't an issue. If it's a newer aquarium or you haven't been doing water changes I would want to know where the water parameters are at.
 
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