I just don't know what I am doing wrong! PLS Help

If it isn't to late, and you're desperately looking for some advice, hopefully someone can help you out.

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fishingurbanontario
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Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2021 6:36 am

I just don't know what I am doing wrong! PLS Help

Post by fishingurbanontario »

Hello everyone. I am 23 years old and from Canada. I watched some exciting and interesting Youtube videos about Zebra L046 Plecos and January and next thing I knew I was going to give it a shot myself. Around the end of February I had my own tank with them going. I however like the title suggests don't really know what I am doing, I actually have no prior fish breeding experience and I need to ask some experts. I have probably watched and viewed every or almost every link or video on the Internet about these species and I am doing my best to follow it. I did my best to explain my anxieties clearly and briefly, please help me out as I am very new to everything and I do need the help.

Let me explain my setup with photos attached below so that perhaps you guys may see something I don't.

My Water Parameters usually stay at

Ph 6.6-7.2 Fluxuates cause I keep the KH low hoping they breed
KH 2
TDS 185-265
GH 1-4
Ammonia 0
nitrites 0
Nitrates 5-10 ppm (I use countryside aquatics resin and sweet potatoes to keep it down)
temperature is kept between 28-30C
A 60 gallon hang on back filter in the 20 gallon tank and two air stones to keep high oxygen.


So the thing that has always bugged me the most about my tank is that the fish 90% of the time don't look magazine front page worthy. The white usually has the same color as seen in the photos below and the blue is there but its not strikingly neon like you see on the internet. A friend of mine suggested that perhaps mine just have a little bit of less vibrant colors in their genes. I thought that could be true because I know when it comes to L236 they have a super white separately breed gene people pay extra for.

So are these fish healthy or looking normal or are they unhealthy and stressed judging from the photos? Do your fish look like this?

Another question I have has to do with RO water. So when I do water changes I do this. My tap water is garbage so I have to use RO Water to create a suitable environment. Tap Water parameters read Ph 7.8 TDS 450 KH18 GH22 Ammonia 1 and Nitrates 20ppm, lol wish I had that Greater Toronto area special tap water. So as I was saying when it comes to water changes I mix roughy about 25% tap water with the rest being 75% RO water. That way the Ph ends up around 6.8-7 . I add no GH increasers or any material additives to that.I usually test the freshly mixed waters PH level before I add it to make sure it is in their acceptable range or where I want it to adjust. I add the typical recommended thing to get rid of the chlorine and to convert ammonia to less toxic. Some people claim that since the Zebra Plecos is a soft water fish that it can even survive just fine in water with zero GH since it gets its minerals form the food it eats and not its water.

So will zebra pleco's fall into bad health with this current water change routine I have going? No osmosis death or lack of minerals?

Ok so here's my current question and I have heard conflicting reports from many you tubers. Do zebra Plecos need a stable ph with no changes and with a kh high enough to hold that to keep themselves at optimal health? If the answer is yes then why is it that we usually need to have it and the Kh lower to get them spawn? Does this species handle Ph changes fine as long as they are gradual or are they distressed by even small changes in it? So if we add oak or Indian almond leaf litter and RO water to lower the ph and kh, are we technically offsetting what the fish are used to in and hurting or distressing our fish to get them to spawn? I guess I'm just confused on what the rule is . . .

what would your anwser to the paragraph above me be?

Something else that frightens me is their poop. Now I know that long stringy white poop is usually a sign of internal parasites. Thankfully though my fish seem to have normal turds as shown in the photo below. However occasionly once a month or something I will notice them pooping and their poop has a white/clear color. I have treated them for internal parasites twice with medicine I had to mix into their food so I don't quite think that's the problem because 96% of the time they are fine. So here's my question . . .

Do you guys ever have the occasional clear/white turd from your Zebra Plecos? Is this always 100% a sign of internal parasites? Is this perhaps something else, stress or diarrhea instead?

Also since I'm on my question train, Ive added two fish photos below of the same fish, please let me know if you think its a female or a male. It's the one with the spots in its tail and gender asked in the file comment. I was sold it as a female but now I have been thinking lately that its more likely to be a Male, however I really have no clue It was sold to me all injured without a back tail and I nurtured it back to health. Named it Togo like the sled dog because "its got the heart of a survivor". Anyway, let me know your opinion, I got a top view and a side view.

This has been only my second ever post on this forum/website but I intend to stick with this hobby and this forum as it has been a tremendous help to me. Thank you for your help and I will have notifications on so that I can engage ya in conversation as soon as possible. Thank you.
Attachments
Tank View
Tank View
Fish Food
Fish Food
Fish Poop
Fish Poop
Runnynose Tetra Color
Runnynose Tetra Color
Another Zebra Plecos color photo
Another Zebra Plecos color photo
Gender of this fish?
Gender of this fish?
fishingurbanontario
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2021 6:36 am

Re: I just don't know what I am doing wrong! PLS Help

Post by fishingurbanontario »

another photo for the gender identification
Attachments
Gender of this fish?
Gender of this fish?
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