L081 - Small Spot Golden Nugget

[Wills]

Hi just back from an LFS and have an L081 - bit worried now though as I have read conflicting reports about size now. We went with the intention of getting a plec but they had few of those on my list and my girlfriend fell in love with this guy. I knew of the species and thought they stayed small? But I am now a bit worried (more than just worried) he will grow huge.

This is the disastrous part if this is a bad purchase its in a 33g 36inch tank

The good parts are - he is only very small at the moment - I just rang the shop and they will let me swap if I want too - I am not opposed to growing him on and then re homing - and also a bigger tank is on the cards allready.

 

[indigoj]

If it is an L081 and not one of the other gold nuggets it should reach about 9" total length (inc. tail) or 7.1" standard length (not measuring tail) They are quite hard to acclimatise and in a 3ft tank you'd need excellent filtration, a rigid good water regime and go easy on other bottom dwellers.

Personally I'd want it in a bigger tank but it should be ok for a while. Give plenty of hiding places and a varied diet.

 

[Ben M]

i've read that they grow up to about 20cm, 8in

 

[scatz]

36" is too small for them really

 

[Wills]

yeah thanks guys thought people would agree hes going back in the morning.

 

[rabbut]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought small spot = small number (L18) and small size? I've kept L18 before, but with there being 5 or 6 types of GN's I still get them all confused Could you post a pic for a more definite ID before you get shot of it? Bear in mind that last time I saw a shop will 20 GN's labled as L18, most were as labeled L18, but a lot (about 5-6) were L81 and one (rather rare to see in a shop) L85, so the moral of the story is the shop's ID's may not be correct...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Wills]

ah thanks rabbut but he is back in the shop now swapped him for a flyer plec L235 which I think is much more suited to my tank - got a nice external filter to add to this tank when the fish start to get to a good size

he is about 2.5 inch at the moment and is proving quite tough and resiliant against my HRPs so far

 

[chuddy]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought small spot = small number (L18) and small size? I've kept L18 before, but with there being 5 or 6 types of GN's I still get them all confused Could you post a pic for a more definite ID before you get shot of it? Bear in mind that last time I saw a shop will 20 GN's labled as L18, most were as labeled L18, but a lot (about 5-6) were L81 and one (rather rare to see in a shop) L85, so the moral of the story is the shop's ID's may not be correct...

All the best
Rabbut

L18 is normal spot L85 is the adult version of L18 just one of the quirks of L numbering L177 is big spot and L81 is small spot. L18 grows big 14" or so i believe (and thus becomes L85 i suppose) the other 2 stay small around 6 to 8 inches as has been stated previously.

 

[rabbut]

My info says the L85 grows to a different size to L18 and which in turn is a different size to L81... I'm fairly sure on that that they are seporate species, but it wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong with GN plecs... Await double confirmation either way before taking my GN info as correct

 

[markandhisfish]

i have the L081 small spot and it is the smaller of the 2 with the L18 growing larger. ( according to planet catfish anyway)
as stated above by another poster they are very hard to acclimatise and even once that os donethey take forever to settle so dont expect to see it much for a while . well worth the effort tho as they are stunning fish. they look particularly nice against a sand substrate