Gold Nugget

[Ambull]

Hi everyone. Brand new to this forum. Been lurking for years but never joined because catfish has never really been my passion/specialty, but now that I just added the oh so hard to find (these days) Synodontis Angelicus and Brichardi to my collection, which already consists of colonies of Syno Multipunctatus and Petricola, in addition to my Gold Nugget, I felt it was a good time for me to join the forums here

Anyway, that was my long intro. My post is about Gold Nugget pleco's. Before I bought mine, I did lots of research (most of it here) and came to the conclusion that I was probably wasting my time in attempting to keep them due to their ultra sensitive/delicate nature. Everything I read indicated a short life span for these guys (maybe a year at best).

Well i am here to post about my experiences with mine. I wish I could add a picture along with this post but it would be impossible lol. If i get within 10 feet of the aquarium he goes deeper into his cave. This is not a catfish to keep if you want to watch him. At best I catch only short glimpses of him until he sees me.

Anyway, i bought him and his brother two years ago this June. His brother died within 24 hours, and I assumed at the time that he would not be far behind. But now over two years later he is still with me. These guys are EXTREMELY FLIGHTY and will almost jump out of the tank or bash their noses into the glass with the slightest provocation. My guy doesn't get much food since I find catering to him to be a PIA. He only gets a good meal when i put zucchini or cucumber in his cave tied down to a rock sometimes with high protein pellets mashed into the veggie. So anyone wanting to keep these guys is likely going to be committed to following a similar regimen if they want to keep their gold nuggets with full bellies. I don't keep up as much as I should anymore and so I really don't know how he gets nutrition but in any event he is still here with me. He hasn't grown at all that i can tell in two years, being about 4". Well maybe he's grown an inch in all this time. Hard to remember exactly what his size was when I got him.

I would say I am diligent but not meticulous with aquarium upkeep, doing weekly 60-70% water changes and bi-weekly to monthly gravel sifting in a slightly overstocked 70 gallon aquarium. PH and hardness is slightly to the right of neutral, and temps are a a balmy 86 degrees.

Anyway, my point with this post is to get one under my belt and also to contribute my experience with Gold Nuggets to anyone researching these guys like i did about 2 1/2 years ago.... Happy fish keeping!!

[Ambull]

hahahaha funniest thing just happened... i just added a similar sized S. Brichardi to the tank with my Gold Nugget and suddenly he came alive after 2+ years of practical hibernation! He does not let the Brichardi anywhere NEAR his cave, and in the process of defending it, I get to SEE him... I never realized he had so much spunk in him...

[Ambull]

i got a picture! Amazing what tank mate competition has done for this guy. He COMES OUT NOW during feeding time. He has never done this prior to the S. Brichardi joining him in the tank. Its like he doesn't want the Brichardi to get any food. He hates him lol.

[Jobro]

U just have to love the pattern of Golden Nuggets. They look so awesome. I'm always tempted to buy some when I see them anywhere. But those do get quite big and I'm not sure if I can provide them with a proper tanksize in the long run.

Maybe your Nugget was a little lonely and needed some healthy rivalry?

Cheers Johannes

[Ambull]

I'm not sure if I can provide them with a proper tanksize in the long run.

Cheers Johannes

What size enclosure do you have? Mine hasn't grown past 4" in almost 2.5 years. I'd be surprised if he ever grew much bigger than this, even with his new rivalry induced appetite!!

[Jobro]

I do have a 400L(100Gallons) tank, 130x50x60 cm. But there are already some smaller plecos in there and i'm afraid they might mess up the aquascape quit a bit once they are grown out. If you have seen what a 3" pleco can do in your tank than your a little cautious about 8-10" plecos ;)

Well you can expect that guy to double. 7-8" should be no problem for a male if he has enough food and space. Plecos do grow slowly. It may take some years but he will keep growing, unless he wont get enough food. So keep him fed

[Ambull]

So it has been 5 years now with my Gold Nugget and he is still alive and well. So much for my prior research that said they are short lived in the home aquaria. He still hasn't really grown. Maybe a half inch. He might be 4.5" in total, 5" maybe at best but probably not even. He does come out a little more now. Took him 3-4 years to overcome some of his shyness. He also eats more and gets excited when I feed now. He's beefed up a little over the past 2 years but by now I would say he has to be done growing overall.

[Ambull]

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[Narwhal72]

Once acclimated, and well cared for they do pretty well. Sadly many do not make it through acclimation to aquarium. I had my group for 5 years before I lost them all to a parasite infection. Although they are one of my favorite plecos, I won't keep them again as I don't think I can take the heartache of losing them.

Andy

[Phreeflow]

The hard part is figuring out how to get them past acclimation. Some just refuse to eat, even after being dewormed and treated like royalty. Any tips?

[Ambull]

My tip on feeding in the beginning is to cut a zucchini or cucumber and tie it to a rock with a rubber band. Place it deep into your favorite nugget cave and pull it out 24 hours later. I would be very surprised if you do not see that piece of vegetable partially consumed.

I graduated from a year of that to pushing wafers and similar foods into the cave.

Now i am no longer even having to push food into the cave. He comes out for it. I even notice that if i am a few days late on feeding that he comes out more, almost seems to be letting me know that he is hungry!

As you can read from this thread, it took me a long-long time to get to this point......

[Phreeflow]

Thanks for the tips! I've had minor success with gold nuggets in the past but they usually go downhill at some point. Whereas I currently have no issues with zebras, leopard frogs, queen arabesque, etc. I think I'll stick with hypans! Your fish is beautiful...gold nuggets are one of my favorites. Thanks for keeping us posted for so long

[fishnut2]

I just got my group of future breeders a few days ago. 6...L-177...between 4" and 5". They are extremely healthy, have no issues eating right out in open water (cucumbers and zuchinni), and only hide about 50% of the time. They eat the skin 1st, which surprised me. They also seem to take mini bites (like biting an apple) out of it...sitting on the veggies no more then 2 minutes at a time. My BN like to graze for hours...and always eat the inside 1st.

They are housed in a 125 gallon tank with 12...1/2 dollar sized discus. They are way more active then any BN I have. 2 in particular have a game they play - chasing each other along the sides of the glass. Even when they do get spooked by quick movement in the room...at least 1 of them comes back out into open water within a minute or two. Up to this point (I've had them 4 days now) I attribute all my success to buying healthy fish in the 1st place!

Needless to say - I am VERY happy with my purchase. They peak my interest - even after 50 years in the hobby. Any additional info on Rio Iriri or L-177 would be greatly appreciated. I have read the Catelog and Shane's world (always my fav) articles as well as the 2 breeding reports posted here (those were very vague for breeding reports) Go for the GOLD! You won't be disappointed.

[Ambull]

I just got my group of future breeders a few days ago. 6...L-177...between 4" and 5". They are extremely healthy, have no issues eating right out in open water (cucumbers and zuchinni), and only hide about 50% of the time. They eat the skin 1st, which surprised me. They also seem to take mini bites (like biting an apple) out of it...sitting on the veggies no more then 2 minutes at a time. My BN like to graze for hours...and always eat the inside 1st.

They are housed in a 125 gallon tank with 12...1/2 dollar sized discus. They are way more active then any BN I have. 2 in particular have a game they play - chasing each other along the sides of the glass. Even when they do get spooked by quick movement in the room...at least 1 of them comes back out into open water within a minute or two. Up to this point (I've had them 4 days now) I attribute all my success to buying healthy fish in the 1st place!

Needless to say - I am VERY happy with my purchase. They peak my interest - even after 50 years in the hobby. Any additional info on Rio Iriri or L-177 would be greatly appreciated. I have read the Catelog and Shane's world (always my fav) articles as well as the 2 breeding reports posted here (those were very vague for breeding reports) Go for the GOLD! You won't be disappointed.

WOW, you're experience is incredible. I mean, not literally incredible, lol, I do believe you. It's taken so many years for my Nugget to become even remotely close to "bold". I'm happy if i can see him out of his cave from across the room, knowing that if i sneeze, he will dart back into the cave. You've done well. Congrats!

[fishnut2]

Now I have to get a video. I was watching them this morning...and 4 out of the 6 were out and about. They were swimming back and forth - up and down the tank - using every inch of my 125 gallon. (so if you want larger ones - I recommend a 6' tank minimum). I'm pretty sure I can sex them already...and I'd welcome your opinions on that as well! One of them kept going to the side pane of glass...doing a barrel roll...and diving down on the zuchinni. It would take a bite (5 to 10 seconds) and swim the rest of tank. It was amazing! She (I think) did about 10 laps in a row. Only 3 had the barrel roll.
I put fresh zuchinni in right before - lights out. And about 6 hours later it looked like a corn cob that was eaten. All the skin was gone and it had bite marks all across the outside. The longest I seen a Nugget on it was about 2 minutes. I can definetely get pics of that.
I've never posted video on here. Can it be done?

[fishnut2]

Ambull - my guess is your Nugget wants a few friends. But it's only a guess. It could be any of 20 other things. Tank size. Water quality. Temp (mine is 83F). Other fish in the tank. Lighting. Cover

[Ambull]

Ambull - my guess is your Nugget wants a few friends. But it's only a guess. It could be any of 20 other things. Tank size. Water quality. Temp (mine is 83F). Other fish in the tank. Lighting. Cover

Thanks Fishnut. Could be any of the things you mentioned. Could maybe just be luck of the draw as well perhaps - who knows.

When I first got my guy, I had two. Lost the second one soon after I got them home. 5 years later, it's just the one guy who remains, and he has maybe doubled in size from starting at about 2.5 inches.

For what it's worth, my tank (this tank) is not overly large. 70 gals. i do weekly religious water changes of about 50-60 % with a full gravel siphon each time. I've had many fish in the tank over the years but currently it houses many groups of tetra's (so no major poop producers), a syno Angelicus, and a Syno Brichardi, and now recently, a Blue Pleco (L239).

Temp is around 83F, PH, high 6 (maybe 6., and lighting is mostly just strong south-western natural sun in a multiple window morning room.

Would love to see videos. Not sure about posting them here but you could always post a youtube URL!

[fishnut2]

I really think the water changes is what kept your Nugget alive. Everything I can find on Rio Iriri (and Rio Xingu) talks about pristine water conditions. I think that's why a lot of hobbiest Nuggets are lost. I'm sure I can get some good video in the morning...since nothing has changed. I just don't know how to post it. Maybe somebody would be willing to help if I get some nice shots.

I'll take a few pics too. I have a better chamce of posting those. The thing is...only 2 stayed still - and they were perched under the wood.

[fishnut2]

[fishnut2]

Ambull,
I do have a video, but I can't post it here. If you private message me your e-mail addy...I'm fairly sure I can send it that way. It's poor quality...but definetely shows the activity I mentioned earlier. I wish I could show it here...as it could be pre-spawn activity.

[Jools]

If you upload the video to youtube, then get the video code from the URL and post it here using the youtube tags it'll work.

Jools

[fishnut2]

When I try to post it to YouTube...it wants me to create a google account. I did get it posted on Facebook. I'm not sure if it's allowed to post the group here. It took hours to upload it. Now I know to keep vids about 30 seconds. This one is 1:45...and that's why I had issues.

[Jools]

Yeah, I tend to avoid facebook, uploading there means they own it more fully than youtube. Also, because facebook is more closed than youtube, you can't readily show it here and indeed it means google searches won't find it.

All techie stuff, but just a bit of reason as to why we don't / can't interact with facebook.

Jools

[fishnut2]

I'm glad I didn't post it then. I'll try to get a shorter video of them. The only videos I have on YouTube is Barbatus spawning (which you posted for me about 15 years ago) and zebra plecos spawning. I'm not sure who posted the Zebra video...but it wasn't me.

[Golddigger]

Wonderful info! Thankyou for sharing and your plecos look big and healthy!
I’m very new here, but have 3 nuggets, L177 big spotted, My three are pretty tiny so far, only 2.5 inches or so, I hope to collect 3 more in the next year and move them into a short 120 gallon stream tank.
I read the breeding reports here also, I wish they could respond on this thread and help us with size of mated fish, was the male a lot bigger?
I did come across a helpful comment in a YouTube video a few weeks back, It said a power head directed right at a natural stone rubble area with the pleco cave in it seemed to help them spawn, a one direction aquarium type affair I imagine, after seeing collection videos of this species also,in the Rio Iriri I’d have to agree, the guy could hardly stand in the current as he was collecting! There was downed logs and roots, big boulder field and the fish were almost 9/10 inches in length.
Anyways, I have them in a 75 gallon,live plants, a few tetras and 2 grumpy Koi Angels rule the upstairs, so no competition from any other pleco, just the usual panda Cory’s running around..which they chase once in awhile lol. There’s more wood than rocks right now, but they are big rocks also. Once they are bigger, they will get their own biotope fat 120 gallon, 24/28inches by 6 ft hopefully. What’s frustrating, is no one has said how big they are when they breed, and what age? We’re they 2,4,5 years old before they showed signs? I’m thinking my guys are only 6/8 months old, I have a long way to go lol
I hope these photos post right

[Ambull]

Managed to capture a rare picture of my guy today. He sometimes allows me to be around the tank for short periods of time these days without darting for cover, especially if he thinks he's going to be fed, but if I grab the camera forget about it - he's gone. I somehow managed to sneak this one in though

[bekateen]

Looks good. The hide behavior you're describing is what I'm experiencing with my new rubberlips - I see them briefly, but by the time I grab a camera, they're gone.

Happy new year, Eric

[Ambull]

So I lost my Gold Nugget today. I would like to believe it was due to old age, but surely these guys can probably live easily 20+ years, so I doubt that. I am pretty sure my 8 inch Synodontis Angelicus is the culprit.

My Gold Nugget lived his entire life with me happily in his cave. It was HIS cave, and he defended it from any other catfish (his tank mates were a Syno Angelicus, Syno Brichardi, and Blue Pleco (L239)). The Syno Brichardi and the Blue pleco would not dare to challenge him for it, but the Syno Angelicus would (of course - they are typically badass catfishes). They would fight several times a month, and the gold nugget would hold his own, even though the Angelicus was bigger and beefier. I have to think that perhaps he finally was just overcome. I think it was more the stress of having to fight / defend his cave than any physical injury. I didn't really notice any battle scars.

Then again, I suppose there could be other unknown factors to his death since just yesterday, when I was changing the water, I did notice that he wasn't quite as flighty when I removed his cave for poop sifting. I definitely made a mental note of that and thought that perhaps he was just getting more used to the routine, however, looking back now, perhaps he wasn't feeling so well. I will say though that he sure did look fine. Nothing to indicate he was sick.

All I know is that my Synodontis Angelicus is now cocky and proud, having moved in to my Gold Nugget's cave and it makes me sad... The attached pic is my new view when looking at the cave. For six years it was my Gold Nugget that I saw in that spot. He would just watch me, and wait for me to drop pellets. Once I did so, he would move around and "wag himself" in excitement, but would wait for me to leave the room, or step back and sit quietly, before coming out to eat them.

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