Golden Nugget Pleco

[Haych]

Hi everyone, am new to the forum as I could do with some advice please

I have had tropical fish for YEARS as I was brought up with tropical fish (my dad had them and made his own tank)

Over the years I have had many tanks and breeds of fish, and probably do not work the same as you all do, and you more than likely won't agree with my ways !

But, with the new tank I have, I decided to go for a different pleco this time, as I wanted something unusual, and decided I liked the nugget pleco.

My question is, can these live happily in pairs, or is it just one only??

Any answers would be appreciated

Haych

 

[always4lora]

They're supposed to be really terratorial towards other golden nuggets and plec's , i've never had more than one so havent experienced it , i guess if the tanks large enough with loads of break up points you could always try it with a small group, i personally wouldnt but they must be breed in the wild somehow so it should be doable in the aquarium

 

[skippy_49nz]

I have heard of someone keeping 13 in a tank, though I don't know the size of the tank. I know a few people who have had two or three, although they have also had losses. They're good for around 12 inches when full grown so hopefully you have a pretty sizeable tank to have more than one anyhow. They are territorial towards others of their kind and if you choose to get more than one its very possible that one will need its own tank and could never be re-introduced. If you could find a pair who would get along, have a jolly good go at breeding them!

 

[Haych]

thanks guys, that helps loads.

He's currently in a small tank, but I am looking for a new larger tank, so I may try.

can they be sexed at all?

this is my little man, nugget

He is still tiny mind, so must be a baby still, I didnt know they could get to 12 inch, i thought they stayed small ??

 

[skippy_49nz]

At that size there is no real way to tell their sex. Even fully grown a lot of plecos are difficult to tell. Typically the ones you buy from a shop are quite small which may help with them accepting others in their tank, but don't quote me on that. In a community tank I don't think they would breed as they need specialised conditions to breed and most other fish would find them unacceptable.

In Brazil they eat them as a food source and they can be bought gutted and cleaned at the markets.

 

[Haych]

oh nice

i dont want them to breed, i'd be terrible lol

i just like him so much (always had a thing for plecs) I'd like another

 

[Haych]

forgot to ask, are these nugget plecs meat eaters or veggies? I do feed him algae wafers but he dont seem to like em.

He is obviously eating something though as he is still alive (and the tank has a massive algae prob atm as its tempoary home is in direct sunlight)

 

[indigoj]

There are various different 'gold nuggets' ranging from 7-14 inches they are mostly omnivore and should be offered a range of foods, do you have bog wood? They are not true wood eaters but do graze on the surface 'aufwuchs'.

 

[dave_oddballs]

golden nuggets (yours is L081 like mine by the way) are meat eaters, not to the extent they will eat another fish, but should be offered at least frozen foods like bloodworm etc. my one likes a nice shrimp to suck on now and again. they seem not to be interested in algae or algae wafers for that matter. vegetable matter seems to be appreciated so the occasional slice of courgette or cucumber should be offered.
they won't grow to be anywhere near 12" so i don't know where that came from, it is common in the home aquaria for them to get to around 6" but could reach slightly over 7".
Males have a flatter, sloped head and it is slightly wider than that of the female. Females have a more of a rounded head and become plumper when in spawning condition.
all this said until they reach maturity none of these will be too obvious.
what size tank do you keep it in? i would suggest 100 litre being minimum and at least 250 litre (4 foot tank) for more than one, unless you know for definite you have 1 male and 1 female you shouldn't just keep two, it would have to be a small group. they are extremely territorial towards any other bottom dwellers and just outrageously vicious towards each other. the main reason for this is normally lack of caves and other hiding spaces so can be overcome by providing an abundance of caves, wood and breaks in sight. they can be bred in aquarium but need high temperatures and very good water conditions aswel as fast flowing water, similar to the conditions needed to keep discus.
overall they are a nice plec to be kept as a singleton and do well with other mid-level fish like some characins or would be good in a discus or angel set up, just remember high temperature 28-30 Celsius, very good filtration and fast flowing water and you should be fine with them, personally i wouldn't try a group or breeding unless you have a large tank dedicated to them! although i know you have said you don't wish to breed, but just in case the thought crossed your mind!

Dave

 

[Haych]

thanks for that Dave, that helps heaps. I will start adding meat for him then.

Atm, he is in a (i think) 60l tank, and is happy, but I dont have bogwood, but he has a wall he hides behind

I am looking at a larger tank, (hoping to get a juwel trigon 190) so i dont know about the litre of it.

i did read everything, but with all the info its confusing, so in your opinion, if i got the bigger tank, would you still say no to two?

 

[indigoj]

60l is way way way too small even short term. He needs wood to graze - when I had my GN he spent most of his time on the wood. Even in a bigger tank I'd not have 2 unless it were specifically a breeding set up. 190l will still be too small long term.

 

[Haych]

but theyre not big plecs??

 

[dave_oddballs]

im not sure, they are the smallest of the golden nuggets, id be tempted to say it would be ok in a 190, they do have a fair amount of floor space. i wouldn't have 2 no. if you really wanted you could get 3-4, or more, but you would need a bigger tank, if you get 3, and end up with 3 males, they will fight, maybe not straight away but when they mature a little, they have been known to kill one another. in the amazon where they come from if 2 males bump into each other they will scrap, the winner stays and the loser is never to be seen again, in a tank this isn't possible. you would have to watch 24 hours a day to see if one is getting picked on, or in the case of a pair forming, remove the others, and all other bottom dwellers.
they use wood to help digest their food, but not in any amount as panaque species do, to be honest i haven't had wood in my tank with the gold nugget in for months and it seems healthy, i would suggest having at least one piece of bogwood though.
if you was to have a group i would suggest a set up with lots of wood, rocks and plants, forming ditches most of the length of the tank then it is likely the males (if you had more than one) would use the ditch as its territory, and keep others out of its sight for the majority of the time, in each ditch i would have a couple of caves, just to give a bit of a choice.
you would need to provide one such 'territory' for each plec you decided to buy, it is still very possible you would get fights, you would have to look out for this and remove as necessary. im pretty sure once you have a 'bonded' pair they would be ok together for their lifespan though dont hold me to that.
i must admit a group or a pair of gold nuggets is a beautiful picture to imagine, but would involve a lot of time, effort and patience.
they aint normally cheap so loss's wouldn't be good!
if you was to get a bigger tank, and you wanted to add more, then you should put them all in at the same time, including your existing one, if you see you get one territorial one, remove it, move things around a bit and then put him back, remembering they get stressed easily so take precaution when doing anything involving stress on the fish.
when nearer to the time you get the bigger tank post the thread on here and we will help you, its easier when you have it sat infront of you!
in the meen time get a little bit of bogwood, a nice cave, and make sure the temperature is at least around 28 celsius. and also take into consideration if you want live plants, only particular ones will do well at higher temperatures so do research, or go for ones used in discus set ups!

Dave

 

[Haych]

i really appreciate that, which helps alot. I have just seen that my temp is at 25 degrees so i will have to gently increase that, which might explain why i dont see him.

I have had plecs for years, but only ever common, clown or albino and have never had as many probs as this lol

i'll more than likely stick to having just nugget, but i'll update when i finally get my tank (am asking about one now but not getting any replies lol) and obviously it needs to settle too

Thanks Dave

 

[dave_oddballs]

yeah the time one plec takes to settle is unpredictable really, i know it sounds like "probs" but its not really, all fish are different, plecs like common plecs, aswel as growing to 18" + are a lot more hardy than plecs like golden nuggets, once you have everything set up and stabalized for him you will find it no more hard work than your tank is now. i go over the top a little, but its better than ending up with a dead golden nugget plec floating around right?
they will hide a lot, mine has been settled in for ages now and spends most of its time hiding, its just what they do. yours looks very healthy and coloured. keep up the work and gradually change the temp like you said, add a bit of wood and you should have a happy plec for many years!

Dave