Are gold nuggets worth it????

[fishfanatic33]

Ok,here is the deal. I just got my 100g and I was thinking about stocking I want and I saw some gold nuggets on Aqua Hobby.com and they looked pretty cool. But most people said they are not hardy,dont live long,and are just plain hard to keep. And I talked to my friend at the LFS( Whose opinion I highly respect) and he said they get them,they are about $30, and they are BEAUTIFUL and short lived. Now I also respect you guys and your opinion,so what do you think. I also know that people have had very good results keeping delicate fish such as discus using NLS,so I was wondering if that would help. Also if they are not a good choice what would be?

Can't wait to hear you opinions!!!!

[Tooch]

To be honest with you, this is a toss-up. I've read elsewhere that they are not very hardy.

Now here's my experience with them:
My 11 year old daughter has one. It's the coolest looking Pleco! They love driftwood. My daughter does her own water changes in her 10g where the Pleco is. It's tank mates are 2 different types of rainbow fish (1 of each), 4 Tiger Barbs, a Danio that survived my Needlenos, and a cory. She changes about 2gal, once a week. We buy her those water conditioning tablets. She throws one in everytime she changes the water. The Pleco seems to be very happy, going between a spot under the heater, going to a spot under the drift wood, and on the drift wood itself.

Now I'm not sure how great the water conditioning tablets are, but he is doing very well in her tank. From this alone I wouldn't think that they are super delicate fish, but ours may just be an exception, not the rule.

[Algenco]

They seem to do ok if proper conditions are provided

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=153

[fishfanatic33]

Holy Mackeral,those fish are beautiful. For only $30 I gotta get one. That site helped a little. If your daughter can keep one,it can't be that hard. How long has she had it? I plan on keeping a South American tank with dwarf cichlids,tetras and the like. It'll be optimum water cond.,lots of bogwood with plenty of filt.and a power head.

[Tooch]

She has had the fish now for about 2 months

[Lady Hobbs]

Make sure you tank is aged before getting them. Pleco's die in new tanks due to starvation.

[fishfanatic33]

Two months,Hmmmmm, thats not bad. Aged like how long? 2 months? 6 months? Also can't they survive with NLS wafer disks,or whatever they are called

[Tooch]

Make sure you tank is aged before getting them. Pleco's die in new tanks due to starvation.


This is true of most Pleco's, but Gold Nuggets are not very hardy algae eaters. They like to graze on alot of drift wood. Ours likes shrimp pellets and blood worms as well. If your looking for a pleco for algae control, this isn't the guy for you.

[fishfanatic33]

No not algae control,I'll get others for that. I feed my bristlenose blackworms,so I'll already have those.

[jbeining75]

yeah they like fish meal and a little meat in there diet, they will apperciate pellets more than algae wafers.......

[fishfanatic33]

You mean like NLS wafers? Right now I feed a diet of Hikari Algae wafers,and blackworms

[jbeining75]

yeah that will work.... wafers are just bigger so easier to find for them. I have seen algaes go to the top of a tank and grab pellets and go back into hiding though...

[fishfanatic33]

Wow, that is amazing!!! My bristlenose would never do that!!

[fishfanatic33]

Bump......I haven't been on for awhile

[snapdragon9]

Yes, I made this mistake...I slightly over-cleaned my 50, and the gold nugget kicked the bucket.

[fishfanatic33]

Ok,I'll remember that. How long did you have him for?

[Fishguy2727]

Stability in the pH is important for any fish. As long as it is stable (not necessarily precisely 6.5 for example) they should be fine. My tap is hard and alkaline but I don't mess with it at all. The tank my gold nugget is currently in is about 7.0.

I have had mine for about a year maybe, maybe more like 9 months. The only thing I feed any of my fish is NLS pellets, not the wafers. I have found that the plecos will eat the pellets.

Driftwood is a must for these guys. That is where mine always is in the 40breeder with the discus, plants, etc. Every tank I can think that I have seen these guys in has driftwood. Make sure you set up the tank so you can see it no matter where it hides. If not, it will hide in the one spot you will never be able to find it in. They like high flow. Right now mine is in the 40breeder and is always under the driftwood right in front of the output of the Fluval 304.

Here is a pic of mine from a while ago.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/reptileguy2727/IMGP1550a.jpg
Here is an interesting pic of him when he decided the Whisper 60 was the best place to hang out.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/reptileguy2727/IMGP1157.jpg
Here is a pic of it just taken now.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/reptileguy2727/goldnugget-1.jpg
Here is another one I just took. You can see the filter output and if you look closely you can see him under the driftwood in the left end of the pic. The output is pointed right at him.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/reptileguy2727/goldnuggetfilter.jpg

[fishfanatic33]

Wow thank you fishguy!!!! That helped so much!!! I was planning on a couple of externals,but if they need flow maybe on of them will be a canister. The pics helped a lot. How did the one in the whisper get up there? Was he up there regularly? And what formula and how big are the pellets. They would be in a 100g South American tank with dwarf cichlids and other fairly small fish,so I'll be shooting for about a Ph of about 6.5. Would you recomend them or are they not worth the hassel?

[Fishguy2727]

They are not a problem as long as you meet the basics of good diet, water quality, stable pH, and driftwood.

I feed that tank the Jumbo Fish Formula. It is a 3mm. sinking pellet.

What pH does your water hold at? In most cases it is better to not mess with it than to try for anything in particular.

He swam up where the water came out. He only did it a few times.

I highly recommend sand. You can read about it and other things in my blog.

[fishfanatic33]

My tap water is about 7.5 and 0 Gh and 0 Kh,so it is fairly easy to manipulate. The water in my tank is 7.0 and 1-1.5 Kh and GH,and that is brought up from like 6.0! I'll be sure to read your blog,thanks

[Fishguy2727]

What are you doing to bring it up? It may be better to just let it stay at 6.0.

[fishfanatic33]

Hey Fishguy,I read your blog last night. It is very insightful, and well written. I found the carbon and filter entries especially helpful. I had never considered the effects of carbon. I was always taught that without it your tank will pretty much crash. Can you write one on gold nuggets? I brought the Ph up because my tap has no hardness whatsoever,so after a while the aquarium water drops to a Ph between 5-6,because it has no buffer. While I guess that is ideal for the South American tank I'm planning to do,my 29g had fish that probably did not like the Ph that low. And I was trying to breed some kribs and had heard that a Ph that is not neutral will result in more of one sex than the other. I used AP Proper Ph 7.0 at a low dose that raised the Ph to 7.0 over 2 months. It has been at 7.0-7.2 for 6 months,although I now have fish that would probably appreciate a lower Ph. So in conclusion because my tap has almost no hardness to it, I believe it is better to use a buffer to achieve the desired Ph so the Ph does not fluctuate. Thanks for the help

[Fishguy2727]

That sounds good. A buffer is the way to go.

I will try and get an article on gold nuggets.

[fishfanatic33]

Yeah I will definetly use a buffer. I can't wait until you get an article on the gold nuggets. Thanks for all your help.

[Fishguy2727]

It's up. Check in my blog or in the General Aquariums section.

[fishfanatic33]

Thank YOU Fishguy!!! You have been so much help!!

[FishPrincess]

After careful research, I have discovered that we have a gold nugget pleco in our tank. Have had him for over a year. Likes the soft algae that builds upon the glass just under the gravel line, but seems to go after flake food that hits the bottom when other fish are being fed, too.

This is the hardiest pleco that we have ever had. I almost gave up on having one in the tank - we kept losing previous plecos.

[fishfanatic33]

Wow thanks....I'm pretty sure I'll get one

[tysen]

the golden nugget pleco is a great looking pleco would inprove any aquarium. depending on the type, they get 6 to 14 in. ph around 7 in order to keep one alive you have to have drift/bog wood in the tank and feed vegi once a week, algea wafers and also some protein as regular food. can be aggressive to other plecos (depends on tank size and other pleco size) very very slow growing sadly. they love lots of water circulation. live very long around 20 years.

[Brhino]

this thread is approaching 4 years old.

[Goes to 11!]

Dude, The post previous to yours is almost 4 years old. . . Just saying :hmm3grin2orange:

EDIT: LOL -Brhino was quicker on the trigger.