L018 Growth rate.... 12cm, how old roughly will this be?

[henward]

saw a L018 Gold nugget....
requesting picture for you to ID too.

But the seller says 12 cms.

i am asking how old it is, to see if it checks out, what ist he growth rate of a L018 be? so at 12 cms, what age should it be?

[MatsP]

It can be quite hard to determine age from size of a fish. Not all fish grow at the same rate (just like humans and most other animals), and in this particular case, it's made harder by the fact that we're pretty sure these fish grow MUCH quicker in nature than they do in captivity. In the wild, I'd expect a 12cm fish would be about a year (18months, perhaps) old. But if it came into captivity at a small size, it may well have been in captivity for a year without growing more than 1-2cm. If it came into captivity at 5cm, it may have grown 1.5-2cm per year for some 3-4 years without exceeding the current size.

The reason they grow much slower in captivity is that it is not getting food continously, even if the food is technically "better" than what they may get in nature. To make matters worse, they are often kept in too low temperature and with lower than ideal oxygen levels.

So, in summary, it's almost impossible to say from the size, how old this fish is.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

As a quick aside is that 12cm SL or TL?

With Mats info, i don't think we can give you a meaningful age for this fish. However, it is still young and has plenty of potential growing over many years.

[MatsP]

As a quick aside is that 12cm SL or TL?

With Mats info, i don't think we can give you a meaningful age for this fish. However, it is still young and has plenty of potential growing over many years.

Yes, plecos as a (large and disparate group) generally live for a long time. There are records showing 15-18 years for smaller species. Large fish are likely to live longer, so it's not impossible to expect more than 25 years of life for a Baryancistrus species. Assuming of course it is looked after well (many aren't!) and there are no accidents with equipment.

--
Mats

[henward]

Interesting.
i have asked the question of

1) size when acquired
2) How long he has had it

should give indication of growth rate while in his/her care.

ill get back to you
thanks for feedback:D

[krazyGeoff]

Just to throw a spanner in the works if I take my L239 as an example, they are still barryancistrus after all.
When I caught the little ones out, and put them into a smaller tank to make them easy to catch, feed, and sell, there was one that I couldn't get, so I left it in the same tank with the parents.

Now 1 year later, and accepting that the little ones are in a smaller tank, with more food and very similar water, but with less flow and slightly (1-2 degrees C temperature) cooler........
The one that was left with the parents is about 9cm TL, and the ones in the smaller tank are about 5cm TL.

So the specimen you ask about is possibly 2-4 years old, based on NZ imports being about 8cm TL and and obviously very different growth results from subtly different conditions, and assuming the keeper was not used to using "hotter" water. (the L018 I got from you isn't even close to 12cm yet)

[henward]

mmm
interesting!

[7Pete]

mmm
interesting!

Yes it is. I received a 5-6cm L081 in June 2013 and now February 2014 he/she is about 10 cm. He's now as wide as he was long 7 months ago. So what i have red is false. Everywhere is told that gold nuggets grow very slowly by 1" per year.

My tank is 450 liters, with two streams (=14000 l/h flow), temp 28 °C winter - 31°C summer. Filters are Eheim 2028 (soon JBL e1901) and JBL e1501. 30-40% water change every week. No water conditioner (Tetra Aquasafe) unless bigger water change. "Pristine" clear waters here in northern Finland. Tap water: pH 7.2-7.4, KH 4-5. Main feeding 2 times per day, morning and evening + cucumber, potato or zucchini every 1-2 days. Potato is handy because it sinks, doesn't scatter and mess the water and gives constant feeding between the main meals. I have found that JBL NovoPleco XL is best for my plecos cause my geophagus can't eat them and it has lower fat percentage than normal pleco chips. Occasionally plecos eat/taste New Life Spectrum Thera + A pellets which geophagus has not yet eaten.

What i have learned is that there is three elements to achieve "rapid" pleco's natural grow rate. High temp, oxygen-rich water with powerful current or trickle filter and continuous feeding. One technical aspect is that this kind of setup needs powerful biological and mechanical filtration to maintain high water quality. Also weekly water change should be at least 30%, but no more than 50 % if unsure about tap water quality. Best if smaller water changes many times per week, but this all depends on aquarium's "fish load".

My other pleco grow rates (TL):

L128 5 cm to 11 cm, 12 months
L014 15 cm to 17 cm, 6 months.
L200 5-6 cm to 9 cm, 10 months.
L114 6 cm to 10 cm, 7 months.
L203 (bought it as a L090) 9 cm SL to 13 cm SL, 7 months.

Looks like i need a bigger tank sooner than i thought.