New gold nugget pleco (L018)

[cohazard]

The small ones were the same price (25$ on sale which is the cheapest I have seen anywhere)

:OT:

Sorry Blinky, I really hate posting off-topic, and I've never done it before, but I have to say, Biznatch.........$25 is on sale? I got my gold nugget (L18) from my buddy Steve who owns a pet shop, for $13 bucks! Plus, since I'm a friend of his, I always get a discount on whatever I buy, and don't pay sales tax. :dance2: So my gold nugget was under $13 bucks for a healthy young specimin (1.5").


Serg

 

[nursie]

Could be, Biznatch. He's going to have to get a little bigger and look like one of the pics some more for me to figure it out. I keep trying to snap a pic of him and he's being coy...

 

[MonoSebaelover]

Have you looked at Bristlenose plec's? They are brown and some have tiny yellow spots. They generally go really cheap. I think I would die if I saw a true Gold Nugget for $3. But hey, 4 years ago I bought a Zebra Pleco for 20 bucks. Amazing how 4 years can change the price (they are now ~250!).
SoCalSunset-it really depends on where you live. I know here in Colorado they are generally always in the 25-29 dollar range, the places that buy wholesale and can get a lot are priced at 19.

 

[Blinky]

SoCalSunset, don't worry about it, it's not really a hijack, we're still talking about catfish with spots
nursie, check out Ancistrus claro on planetcatfish, I wonder if you've got a 'gold marble' bristlenose. Mine was about $7.50CD, has small pale yellow dots all over, and the tips of his tail are yellow, but it's not a stripe like the gold nugget. These are great fish, I love my bristlenose to death

Just an update on the nugget, he's still SKINNY, and I'm quite worried about him, but he's pooping normally (no white, stringy feces), not hiding, and munching away at the little bit of algae on the glass. I've got the blinds open, trying to encourage more algae growth, but all it's done is give me green water lol. I've tried feeding him daphnia (it's a gel food my other fish go crazy for), chunks of freeze dried brine shrimp, algae wafers, bottom feeder wafers, staple flakes, spirulina flakes, he's not touching anything. The snails jump on any food I throw in the tank, so I'm wondering if he's just too chicken to challenge them. I think tomorrow I'm going to move the shrimp and most of the snails into another tank to see if that helps.

[edit] Here's a pic from planetcatfish of A. claro, and an attached image of my little guy

[/edit]

 

[wayne]

I would get some bits of shrimp in there and leave them in overnight. Until they get going they are not great feeders, and eating only algae is a bad sign they're starving. I've posted before on how I think it works best to keep them. I never bred them , but people local to me ave, and i do the same as them.

 

[Blinky]

Wayne, do you mean shrimp from the grocery store? I've got some freeze-dried brine shrimp and freeze-dried 'baby shrimp', which I believe are just full grown brine shrimp - they're about 1cm long, would these be suitable? I can go to the store if something like cocktail shrimp are what he'd prefer.
I have read that gold nuggets eating algae isn't a great sign, I've tried feeding him everything but the kitchen sink, he's just not interested.
He's checking out the driftwood and polyresin wood decoration this morning, which I take as a good sign (he's on top of it, not hiding). He's been sticking to a few areas of the glass so far, not doing any exploring. I figure if he's on the wood, it's just a short trip down to the substrate, where the food is.
I'll be doing a water change later, taking out most of the snails and I'll add a few tidbits and see if he'll eat

 

[Swimfins]

I'm not sure what I got. This thing is such a baby! It's only about 1 1/2" long. His/her belly is white..and the back was pale when he came out of the bag, and he has been cleaning the front of the tank all evening so that's all I've really seen. I went around to the side to try to take pics through the side to post to get a look at the rest of him, and by golly, he is dark with little spots. Maybe he is one. I have plenty of algae...on the back of the tank of course. I wish he's go there. I got some algae wafers and put in for him and the loaches. Of course the skanky snails are all over them. the loaches munched a bit, and have nipped at a few of the snails..yeah!..but I hope this little guy does ok. I don't have any veggies in the house except carrots, I'll have to get some tomorrow. I had no clue the bigger ones went for so much.
My pics turned out bad...shooting through the glass to something on the front glass apparently isn't a good thing. When I get a good pic, I'll post in a new thread.

I think you might have a gold ancistrus pleco. They can max out at about 6 inches. Nice.

Blinky, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but are you sure you want that gold nugget in you beautiful planted 65g? I'm wondering wether that 7 inch (or more) plec isn't going to have a poop fest and a good time plant bashing. I was considering a mango plec, they have several beauties this week at my lfs, and I'd even shell out the 50 bucks they're asking, but maturing at 11 inches? I can say bye bye plants

Wait a minute! The L18 maxes out at 6 inches. Nice Pretty one.

 

[Blinky]

From what I've read, they have the potential to reach quite a large size (14" or so in the wild), but rarely reach more than about 7" in tanks. If he begins to outgrow the 65g, he'll get a new, larger home, no worries
Everything I've read says these guys don't eat plants, they like to sift through the bottom for goodies and eat algae as a last resort. I can see a big plec doing serious damage in a planted tank just from sheer size, they'd be like a bull in a china shop. Right now I'm just hoping he makes it over this hunger strike he's got going on, I'll be mighty proud of him if he ever makes it to a size big enough to crush my plants .

 

[Blinky]

Update...
This afternoon I moved most of the snails into a breeder trap (since it's a QT I didn't want to put them in another tank, on the off chance they may carry a disease brought in by the plec). I dropped half an algae wafer and a couple crab cuisine pellets into the tank, one in the spot where the plec spent last night, and one directly under his nose. He sniffed it, and a few minutes later he moved to another spot.
After doing some more reading, something dawned on me: for a plec that likes current, there's really not much in this tank. In addition, there's lots of CO2 (for the plants), and it's quite warm (~82F). The plants are pearling, so I know there's lots of O2, but for a fish accustomed to lots of current maybe these conditions aren't appropriate. I know that lethargy and lack of appetite are signs of too much CO2, so just in case I added an airstone to off-gass the CO2 (I think the plants will be fine with just Excel for carbon) and threw a small internal filter in the tank to add current. It's not overwhelming, but it's definitely moving the water a lot more than the small HOB filter was.

[edit]After a few hours, the plec has perked up a bit. He's still not eating the algae wafer, but he's busy chewing on a piece of driftwood which I take as a good sign [/edit]

 

[Swimfins]

My little clown plec started out in life like this as well. I had to lower the lights and stand in front of the tank for just a glimpse to know if he was still alive.
I fed spirulina tabs and by morning they were gone. On the other hand I had a tiny ancistrus that went about munching straight away, no qualms. He passed away, unknown as to why, about 2 weeks later. He was no larger than a half inch or so. I thought my old clown got to him but he had no visible sign of injury. Dunno.
Anyway, I think plecs are one of those fish that need time to establish themselves. Now, my clown plec owns the tank and is visible at any time during the day. Give him some time. Its a good thing about blowing off some co2. I think where these fish come from, raised or wild, there is likely no added co2 and maybe the ph being lower is something he needs to adjust to.
Try a nice piece of zuchini and see if come mornig there's any chomps in it.
It is a pretty plec. Yup. Makes me feel like getting a new plec too....oh my!