Advice on moving plecos?

Zeromason577

Zeromason577

AC Members
Apr 10, 2006
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Portland,Oregon
Well I went to work with my uncle today, he works at an elementry school and as i was cleaning one of the class rooms i noticed a 20 gallon tank, i wasnt paying much atention to it because it was so dirty i figured that their must not be any fish in it, well i was cleaning and talking to my uncle and he told me to go look at the fish in the tank, I was like HUH? fish in that, no way?!
well turns out their is 2 4-6" common plecos and 2 of some unknown fish as well.


I got to talking with my uncle and he told me that she never vacs the tank out, doesnt test the watter, and the only thing that the plecos live on is the flake food that falls and the crapy matter on the gravel and walls of this tank.

I told him that i would buy the whole setup if she lets me, because i cannot stand to see this happen to any fish.

how do you guys think i should go about moving these guys? they have been in this tank for over 2 years and the last thing i want is for them to die.
 
1. You are going to need to treat the tank for OTS. This process cannot be rushed. It's very important to do this gradually so your fish do not experience osmotic shock.

Very small water changes, 10%, every 12hrs for 2 days. Then 25% a day for 2 days. Then 50% for 2 days. Then start doing small daily gravel vacs, no more than 1/4 of the tank per day. While doing the gravel vacs you will also be doing a 50% water change. Of course you will need to do daily water testing and keep a log to track your progress.

At the end of the 10 days reevaluate. Depending where you water parameters are you may need to continue 50% water changes for a few more days, then weekly 50% water changes.

2. How to move the tank? 5 gallon buckets. You need to save all of that gross tank water for the acclamation process as stated above. Try no to disturb the gravel too much. Moving this tank is going to be a challenge.

3. After dealing with the OTS you will need to make arrangements to find both plecos new homes.
 
Hmmm, this is so hard because this tank is at a school that i dont attend.
Man i hate to see such cool fish have to live under such horiable conditions!
It pisses me off when people keep fish thinknig that a filter is the answer to everything!
Half of the people i know who keep fish dont even know what pH ammonia nitrite and nitrate are!!!
Let alone how to do a watterchange!


:mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:
 
You can move the fish and reset the tank with the same water. Then proceede with the water changes to slowly brong thing back to nomal. As far as capturing pleco's use Pvc pipe tubes, gently scare the pleco's into the tubes and then cap them and lift them out and release them in the bicket. Transport everything home , set it up and start the clean-up process. Once the water is back to something similar to tap, you can take them back out and change decor or do a deep substrate cleaning if you think it's necessary.

Dave
 
I took an 11" pleco from a coworker who had him and several other large fish in a 44g. 4-5 inches of his tank water went into a 5g bucket and then went the pleco. When I got home I added a bit of Prime to the bucket, then started a slow drip siphon into the bucket with an airline into which I tied a knot. It took about an hour to fill the bucket at this rate. When the bucket was full, I netted the pleco and put him in. He's been happy since in his 90. :)
 
I'm having a hard time netting mine, but i think i may have my gf's cousin come and just take him...he owns a LFS and I think this guy is too big for me to responsibly care for anymore, beautiful beast but got it in the age where I was still new...this guy is muscular though haven't been able to net him without him threatening to jump out violently
 
Zeromason577 said:
she never vacs the tank out, doesnt test the watter, and the only thing that the plecos live on is the flake food that falls and the crapy matter on the gravel and walls of this tank.
Click to expand...
That's so sad. And her kids are going out there with no idea how to care for their aquariums. Unless, they learn better at home. Makes me mad, too.
Good luck,
Mary.
 
Well i go tomorrow to clean up the tank, trade in the plecos to the LFS, very nice place and they will be well cared for.

Any ideas on what would be easy to care for, and also fun to watch and learn about, these kids are young(6-9) and she wants something that will be fun to watch, and now i also get the job of cleaning the tank once a week for 30 bucks :).

thank you all for the good feedback.
 
4-5 Cory's - very active and fun to watch

1 gourami - large size for viewing and they have different anatomy than other fish

a small tetra school - to fill in the blank middle
 
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