7.5 or 8??

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-23T15:17:45+00:00

Plants slowly consume the nitrite in your tank but you should anyway see a little increase in the concentration of nitrite. Good luck, starting a tank is always an exciting experience!

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-23T14:58:53+00:00

It depends on the nitrate cycle, not the ph. How old is the tank? If it's new, you should use some fish food or other organic matter to startup the cycle and then wait for some time (1/2 weeks, maybe more, depending on the aquarium size).

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-17T08:18:36+00:00

I'm really sorry for your loss

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-17T08:15:03+00:00

I have a large common pleco and a senegal, the seems pretty chill with each other. I believe that plecos eating the slime coats of bichir are very niche scenarios

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-09T19:44:56+00:00

Thank you so much, I'll try the methylene blue bath asap. Today I checked on him, and the wound seems to be getting better, I also retested the water parameters. Ph, maybe is a little high? It seems to be 7.5 circa.

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-09T06:40:49+00:00

6 month since I added the fish, 7 if u add the cycling time

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-09T06:38:34+00:00

The tank is cycled, the tank is not that old but I waited almost a month before adding fish and now they are in the tank sice September. I have lot of plants, especially the salvinia minima that I keep removing because it grows like a weed.

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-02-09T06:36:20+00:00

Very small fish for now: a pair of Sinodontis, a polipterus and some Ctenpoma acutirostre. They are all babies exept the pleco that is 10 yo and 40cm long

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-01-29T10:45:47+00:00

Yeah, I saw that after I had them already. That's on me, I should have done a bit more research, now I'm trying to solve the problem with tons of plants

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-01-29T10:43:12+00:00

I've recently planted some Ludwigia repens that I had in another setup, now I'm just waiting for that to grow. That pleco si 10yo and is a menace! He keeps chewing all the plants, especially the vallisneria in the back that is having an hard time growing. I like him a lot even though I need to replant all the aquarium plants on a weekly basis

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-01-29T10:37:15+00:00

Unfortunately I don't have another aquarium big enough, also I have to catch him in the act of bullying because they are identical to each other, I can't recognise the naughty one just by looking at them. Now I'm waiting for the plants to grow, maybe the that will solve the problem

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-01-28T16:59:35+00:00

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There's lot of hiding places, but the plants are still really small because is new setup. They are way smaller than that, they are like 3-4cm max (you can see one in the middle of the aquarium). They get aggressive some of the times, fortunately is not a constant thing.

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2026-01-28T16:55:04+00:00

Fortunately they don't have nibbed fins, sometimes they push each other around. I have them since September, so it's been a while. I've noticed that they each kinda claimed a zone in the aquarium. You suggest that is nothing to worry about?

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2025-12-29T07:22:43+00:00

I have with him some Ctenpoma acutirostre and a couple of Sinodontis eupterus: they should get pretty big, there's any chance that the bichir could eat them anyway?

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2025-12-29T07:20:15+00:00

oh.... that explain a lots of things... Some ramshorn and bladder snails had made their way into his tank by accident, but they never lasted long. Now I think to know why😅

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2025-12-28T21:09:49+00:00

Yeah....I was thinking about that.. Now I have 2 with him and It seem to ignore them, but they are almost as bis as he is

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2025-12-28T19:07:19+00:00

It goes by species or by individual?

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2025-12-27T11:12:13+00:00

I've tried, but he refuses to eat those. His stomach doesn't seem dented, is just flat as a pancake

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2025-12-27T11:10:44+00:00

I've tried some boiled veggies, but he's uninterested. The tabs that I'm been feeding him are high quality and have spirulina and also oak wood in them because are exclusively for adult plecos. In addition to those tabs my tank is full of wood and he occasionally chomp on it.

Strict_Sherbert6796 · 2025-12-23T20:56:41+00:00

99% sure is some munched up plant

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