Want to add another species to my 4 ft tank

[nikelodeon79]

Me being the noob I am I didn't consider the large number of fish which come under 'algae eater'. I just have a common pleco.

That changes things considerably. The common pleco alone overstocks most tanks. I would trade him in for a more suitable species.

[imma24]

Yes, they get to be quite large - they are cute in the fish store but are very big when fully grown. They also produce a lot of waste.

[Lady Hobbs]

And.......those neons will not be safe with a pleco in the tank. Please return him and get some corys or a Bristle nose if you feel you must have bottom feeders.

[chaderotti]

I was told he won't grow large at all. Forgot what measurements he gave me, I doubt it changes much but he was cheap too, I paid $13 for him compared to the other pleco he had in stock which he said grows to over a foot in length, that was $50-$60 odd.

In the end I can't add more fish, I went to get my water tested and the nitrate level is through the roof. Way off the colour scale of the tester sheet.
So I need to do a lot of water changes, I also added a second filter but that'll take 4 weeks or so to kick in so in the mean time I'll have to keep up the water changes to dilute the nitrate.

I feel like this hobby is a juggling act

[Lady Hobbs]

Do 50-75% to bring those nitrates to below 20 and if one water change doesn't do it, do another tomorrow.

Are you allowing your tank to cycle after each addition of new fish? Stock Slowly! A few more perhaps once a month.

Cheap fish suffer just as much as expensive fish, you know? Being cheap doesn't mean caution can be thrown to the wind.

This is what you may need?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...3&pcatid=23593

[chaderotti]

I added a group of fish very quickly, and it definitely shows that my filter is struggling.

I figured out what pleco I have and it's the Bristlenose Pleco, I was told it doesn't grow large at all.

I already have a vacuum siphon thing, I vacuumed a lot of the substrate and sucked up a lot of gunk from the gravel.

[Lady Hobbs]

Good idea. Perhaps you have been overfeeding and some of that food is rotting causing more ammonia? BN are cool. Hope you like him.

[imma24]

Just another idea - if your nitrates are so high, is it possible that extra food got sucked into your filter and is sitting in there? At one time, I had high nitrates too and discovered a ton of uneaten food in the hoses of my filter - once I got rid of it, my nitrates went down considerably.

[chaderotti]

I have a hang on Eheim filter, what I did was cut the filter sponge in half and use a different media; 50/50. They're some sort of small, brown balls? I don't have a clue.
Anyway I've figured that the water is really gunky because the filter sponge is considerably smaller than stock and so gets clogged up very quickly. Coupled with my feeding methods the filter struggles.

I've added a second filter, a Aquatopia Internal Filter with a rate of 250-500L per hour so once that cycles in the first filter will have a lot more breathing room.

It's hard not feeding the fish when they come swarming up to you