L104 Clown Pleco - 120 litre (29g US)

[Shane]

I had bamboo and ceramic caves placed throughout the set up. They preferred bamboo but there were spawns in ceramic caves as well. My breeding tank was a 40 breeder with a Marineland Emperor 400 HOB and an extra Marineland 550 powerhead (145 gph) with venturi attached to a sponge pre-filter. So turnover was about 14 times tank volume per hour. Water changes were 50-60% weekly. I just used local tap water which is hard and alkaline (pH 7.6).
I miss living in Washington. In Bellingham we had basically RO water from the tap. It is not lost on me that we see clusters of very successful pleco breeders in parts of the world with high quality soft water on tap.
-Shane

[fishguy1978]

Hmm, I will try to learn patience. If they don't care about seasonal changes or water parameters then I should be seeing babies like crazy.

[fishguy1978]

I have a significant snail invasion in the L104 tank. I do not feed prepared foods regularly as there are multiple alder logs for them to chew on. I am considering dosing copper in the tank to destroy the snails. Would this have an adverse effect on the L104?

[Shane]

I am not a fan. Check out this link

http://help.bioworldusa.com/kb/algae-tr ... ic-to-fish

Additionally a sudden massive die off of snails can pollute a tank very quickly (even if the fish survive the treatment, which is known to be particularly hard on scaleless fishes).

Have you tried snail traps or assassin snails? Assassin snails can easily bloom to the point of a plague, but at least they are easy to sell.
-Shane

[fishguy1978]

I am not a fan. Check out this link

http://help.bioworldusa.com/kb/algae-tr ... ic-to-fish

Additionally a sudden massive die off of snails can pollute a tank very quickly (even if the fish survive the treatment, which is known to be particularly hard on scaleless fishes).

Have you tried snail traps or assassin snails? Assassin snails can easily bloom to the point of a plague, but at least they are easy to sell.
-Shane

I know to dose half dose in freshwater but I did not know about the alkalinity of the water effecting the interaction. I have added 4 baby assassins to the tank. I haven't tried traps but I do pull the logs out of the tank periodically and wipe the snails off. I have 5 pea puffers I can move in there too which would give them a fast food restaurant buffet

[bekateen]

If you can find or order one of these, get it. They are amazingly efficient and collecting a lot of snails:



https://www.sera.de/us/product/freshwat ... l-collect/

I rarely see them for sale in the USA. I've been told by people who should know that Sera does not market them in the USA because they fall under the category of pest control (which includes poisons) and are thus hamstrung by too much US govt regulation.

However, I've also spoken to a person who works in one of the offices of the US Govt that does oversee regulation of pest control chemicals and they swear these do not fall under US govt regulations/oversight.

I stumbled upon one in a Las Vegas, NV local fish store last year for about $20USD. Best $20 I ever spent... on snail control at least.

Cheers, Eric

P.S.

Have you tried snail traps or assassin snails? Assassin snails can easily bloom to the point of a plague, but at least they are easy to sell.
-Shane

I really like assassin snails. I've bought or traded to get dozens over the years. Somehow, though, they die in my tanks without their eggs hatching successfully (I find eggs but never find baby assassins). I wish I knew why not.

[fishguy1978]

Thanks, I do too. We really need a "like" button.

[bekateen]

We really need a "like" button.

Been there. Thought that.

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=41404

[fishguy1978]

We really need a "like" button.

Been there. Thought that.

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=41404

Whew, thanks.

[AmazonTank]

Awesome thread! I love those alder cone caves! I'm gonna get some myself!
I did a search and can't seem to find alder caves or nice bamboo caves in the USA.

[fishguy1978]

Awesome thread! I love those alder cone caves! I'm gonna get some myself!
I did a search and can't seem to find alder caves or nice bamboo caves in the USA.

I found a down and dead alder tree in the woods behind the house and just used a saw to cut sections. You could do the same with oak, maple, or fruit trees. I used 1in and 1.25in diameter spade bits to drill the caves. I am considering a redue and will drill .75 and 1in caves.

[AmazonTank]

Thanks for your message.
I figured it was custom work! I been noticing they do seem to love those tighter caves.

[fishguy1978]

Nothing to report other than water changes.

[bekateen]

The wait is the hardest part.

Cheers, Eric

[fishguy1978]

Did a water change and raised the temp on the heater to upper 80's F.

[fishguy1978]

I had the temperature up around 88F for the last 2 weeks. 90% water change and dropped the temp down into the 70s F. Maybe....

[bekateen]

Fingers crossed.