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Can Bristlenose Plecos Breed in 8.5 PH?


AquariumNewb
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I’m new to fish keeping and currently have one aquarium with guppies. I am interested in breeding bristlenose and would like to set up my second tank to do so. It is a 20 tall and currently has 4 plants and a couple mystery snails in it while I finalize what to stock it with.  Everything I have read/heard says that bristlenose should be kept no higher then 7.8ph, especially when trying to breed them. My water out of the tap has a PH of 8.5 and GH of 300. I’m concerned that any bristlenose I bring in will will either a) not survive or b) not thrive and breed. I’m looking for input on whether or not this could work with my water conditions or would the bristlenose fall apart and not thrive? 

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I think so much of this depends on where the pleco came from and what type of water it was raised in.  
So many are so far from the wild that they are just fine in higher PH.  Ask the store what PH they have?  How long have they had the fish?  
 

Good Luck 

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I've never tried keeping bristlenose plecos in an 8.5 pH, but they're tough little fish. I suspect they'd survive. In terms of breeding them, if the parents live in 8.5 water they'd probably try to breed. (Assuming they were well fed.) Would the eggs hatch? That's a bit iffier. Most of the studies I've seen regarding fish eggs and pH have been done in acidic water to see the effects of acid rain on wild fish survival. I don't know that anyone's done a study on more alkaline water. There's only one way to truly know. My tanks are more in the 7.5-7.8 range and they do fine.

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Thank you all for the responses, they are greatly appreciated. I had not considered the eggs not being able to hatch in the high PH, I will definitely keep that in mind moving forward. As well as making sure to ask questions regarding the conditions they are kept in at my LFS.   
 

Thank You!

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You say that your water out of the tap has a pH of 8.5. Have you tested your water after it has been in your tank for a couple days? I would suspect that it settles out under 8, by the time any gases that are in the water off gas. My tap water will test above 8 when it comes right out of the tap, but if I check any of my tanks right now, they will be 7.6-7.8

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