# Gold nugget Pleco



## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

So I will be picking up a Golden nugget pleco L81 today, Is there any tips for keeping this fish? 
Would I just treat him like a regular common pleco? 
I heard that they are very susceptical to medication.... anyone know if this is true? 
any perticular diets? 
Thanks


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

I have a few that i have had for a couple yrs. i keep mine in a planted tank with real driftwood. They enjoy nibbling plants and driftwood. I keep ph at mid to low 6s. I also keep them in a tank with heavy filtration and flow since they like clean water like in the river. I feed fresh veg, shrimp pellets, and a mix of kens foods that contain spirulina and proteins. I rotate between these foods. The gold nuggets will be out constantly and look vibrant when the are comfortable and happy. However if they are never out its usually an indication of unhappy or unhealthy. As with a lot of the less common plecos it does take a considerable amount of time for them to be comfortable enough to come out on a regular basis even when they are healthy and happy. I have a lot of different L-series plecos and people have said that the gold nuggets tend to be tougher to keep than a lot of others. I don't find that to be true. They do require special needs as do any of the more rare plecos. Hope this helps.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

That does help thank you
You said you keep yours in a mid to low ph and have driftwood. My plan was to put him in my cichlid show tank which has no driftwood and more on the mid-high ph 7.8ish. I have seen other local cichlid fanatics have golden nuggets in there tank with no health issues. What are your thoughts on this?
My only other option would be to put him in with my freshwater puffer whih has a lower ph and i could buy a small peice of driftwood for him, BUT i dont know if puffers and plecos work together....my guess would be that would be a terrible idea.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

We get a lot of posts here about Africans killing plecos. The best results seem to be with bristlenose, but even those sometimes don't always survive initial introduction to the tank. On the other hand, once the bristlenose survive a month in the tank with Africans, they seem to be fine forever.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

I would not put a gold nugget with africans.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

I am going to see how he does in the african tank, if all fails and he isnt doing well i have another cycled tank for him to go in


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

I would not recommend gold nuggets with Africans either.

Gold nuggets are not easy plecos to keep. They are slow growing and are extremely long lived in the wild. But most barely survive more than 6 months in captivity.

All Gold Nuggets are wild caught. When they are exported they are treated with medications that wipe out the beneficial bacterial fauna in their digestive tract. Because of this, even though they eat, they slowly waste away and die a slow death. I would recommend the following to give you the best chance of success.

1. Keep a BN pleco in the tank with the new gold nugget. The BN already has an established flora of gut bacteria. The GN will acquire this bacteria by consuming the feces of the BN.
2. Provide some driftwood for them to gnaw on. Mine readily eat wood as part of their diet. Feed lots of plant based food. I feed Repashy Morning wood as well as Spawn N Grow and other varieties on a regular basis. Along with algae wafers and veggies like cucumber or zucchini.
3. Provide caves for them to hide. They are secretive and like to hide. A pile of round pebbles (big ones (6-10" in diameter) with a few caves mixed in will work fine to provide them cover as well an algae film for them to graze.

I have kept my 3 since July 2010 and they are doing very well. I keep them with South American cichlids and my pH hovers slightly above 7. However, my water is extremely soft which these fish really appreciate and very different from what is best for an African tank.

Andy


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

I will keep you guys updated with his progress.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

Well hopefully you don't have a lot of rock work in your African tank. If you do, you can plan on taking it all out to find the dead body of your gold nugget in the next few days. I hope this is not the case but based on my experience with the gold nuggets this is what you have to look forward to if you put it in with the Africans. I hope I'm wrong.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

my aquarium is quite bare for the open swimming for the Africans, so far 3 hours in and he looks pretty happy. Africans are just ignoring it completely


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

Just out of curiosity, what size tank is it and what do u have for africans?


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

Its a 130 gallon
Lwanda, sunshine, dragon blood, strawberry, bi-color 500, sulphur head, german red, red jake, otter point jake, flametail, ethelwoneye


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

OK. The peacocks will probably leave it alone because they will inhabit the upper levels of the water column whereas the Pleco will stay on the bottom. Plus the size of the tank is definitely good. However, I think that the water parameters and lack of food will eventually lead to an unhealthy gold nugget. I say lack of food because the Africans can be very vivacious eaters. You will need to take special measures to make sure that the Golden Nugget is getting enough. I hope it works out for you because the gold nuggets are definitely a beautiful fish. Keep us posted.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

I bought some driftwood for him, not big enough to harm the PH of the tank, and he has hiding holes which I think I will feed him the veggies and algea wafers he needs so the cichlids don't get to it too much.
When I can get a clear picture of him I will post it to this thread for you all.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

finally got a good pic of the little guy


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

WOW! I feed my pleco algae wafers at night with the light off when the cichlids are lazy.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

also a good idea and thanks for the WOW lol he is pretty isnt he?


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

I would not keep him with the Africans either. Narwhal72 offered you some great advice. Use it!


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

Hows the gold nugget doing?


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

He's doing great so far eating the algea off the tank and munching on the driftwood I got him.
I think he is still settleling in since he hasnt even touched the bottom of the tank yet lol
but so far so good


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

Checking in to see how the gold nugget is doing? Its been about a month right?


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

The Pleco will be largely ignored, but do not be surprised if you find it dead in a few months or so. A fish doesn't have to be killed to die from stress from diet and environment.

I think Narwal72 is right, most of those Gold nuggets types usually die before a year unless they are in a special setup. I've tried it years ago and killed them, a shameful waste of a really cool wild fish let alone the cost.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

well for a update on the nugget, he is doing fantastic hes his own little place in the tank, hes eating regularily, belly looks healthy and hes very active, he doesnt seem to have any concern for the cichlids and the fish leave him alone completely.
So far its been a couple months now and hes doing great


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## wryan (Dec 6, 2015)

Good to hear ... he's a really beautiful little critter ... :thumb:


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

I agree hes got such a personality aswell, I cant wait until he gets bigger


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

Well technically it's only been 5 1/2 weeks since January 7th when you posted that you got him.

Glad to hear he's doing well, but the real test will be if it is still alive after July 7th. If it makes it that far I think you are safely out of the woods in regards to acclimating to captivity.

You are going to be waiting a LOOOONG time for it to get bigger. Mine are just about 4" SL and put on 1.5" in 4 years. It will be another 5 years or so until they reach the 8" SL range.

Keeping fish like these requires a lot of patience. Most people don't even keep the same aquarium running for that period of time.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

well she looks cute small anyhow lol, but yup seems to be fine ill keep updating monthly or as people ask for a update


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## wryan (Dec 6, 2015)

omac84 said:


> well she looks cute small anyhow lol, but yup seems to be fine ill keep updating monthly or as people ask for a update


Mor pics ... :lol:


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

will try this evening after work for you guys if hes out


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

I know there not the greatest pic but all my fish kept getting in the way so this is the best i can do for now. 
Still healthy and very active


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Glad to hear he's doing well. Like Narwhal72 said they really are hard to keep alive. I had one myself a year and a half ago that I paid $50 for and was about 4" which lasted about 3 months till I found him dead one day. Beautiful species of pleco but hard to take care of if they aren't in a species specific tank. Glad yours is still doing well.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

See if you can get an underside shot of the belly.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

I would love to take a pic of his belly lol but he only comes onto the front glass once every blue moon, but next time hes on there i will send a pic


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

finally got a shot of this little girls belly


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

Looks ok. I wouldn't say it looks really full, but I wouldn't say it looks sunken either.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

i do have to say it is hard to gaurentee that she eats, all the cichlids are food hoggers but i find that when she gets hungry she comes out and fights for the zuchinni or any other pleco food i put in the tank


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

I feed mine about a half hour before lights out.


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

Peacocks are not going to mess with him and water should be fine. Doesn't mean he won't mysteriously die anyway if he's weak from capture but he's a great looking fish.

Put a big zuchini in there once in a while and your peacocks and pleco will eat it up like candy once it starts to soften up a bit. Let us know how it goes.


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## omac84 (Jan 2, 2016)

just a small update on my nugget, She is doing fine still healthy and eating well nice full belly whenever i see it my only small issue is my livingstoni and VC-10 have nipped some of her yellow tail ends not a big issue but im trying to trade those fish for something a little less nipping.


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## black and blue (Jun 17, 2016)

Good luck, nice looking fish wow


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