Hyperactive gold nugget(L177)

T · Post by T » 06 Jan 2003, 16:59

Hi

I dont know if there is something wrong with my baby(2") L177 but he hardly ever stops moving.He darts about the tank and only really stops to eat and have short rests.He is not at all shy and is out and about in the daylight hours.He eats well but will not eat for long.E.g if there is a slice of zuccini and a catfish tablet in the tank.He will sit and chew away on it for a few seconds then swim about until he finds the catfish tablet.He will suck away at that for a bit then he's off round the tank again until he finds the zuccini...and so on.He is putting on weight and his colours are great so should I be worried?

Cheers!

T · Post by T » 06 Jan 2003, 17:03

Oh and this is a picture of him.His yellow rims are solid yellow now.

Also this is a pic of my mango pl*co having a snack.

caril · Post by **caril** » 06 Jan 2003, 18:28

i bought one recently and its quite shy.
it will only come out from it's hiding place when the nights are off.
maybe he has not adapt to the surrounding yet.
its strange to hear about your encounter.

T · Post by T » 06 Jan 2003, 18:52

Yeah it is, he stayed behind the filter and wouldnt eat in the Q tank but as soon as he went into my planted tank it was like he had died and gone to heaven.

Zebra · Post by **Zebra** » 06 Jan 2003, 19:31

Hi T! I have two L177, both around 4/5 inches long. I have one in my Discus tank, he mainly sits on the mangrove roots during the day, but once the 'blue moon' light comes on he's out and about. However the one in my Malawi tank is quite like your one - bit of an extrovert! Swims about all over the place, swops from food to food. And I also have a L81 in the same tank, and he's even worse, always darting about the tank, during the daylight too. In fact quite a few of my plecs seem to be quite happy swimming about in the day time. Here's a pic of my L177 Nugget in the Malawi tank:

And the L177 in the Discus tank:

Sorry the quality isn't great...

T · Post by T » 06 Jan 2003, 19:46

Looks like webshots are not letting you link pics anymore but I copied and pasted them , very nice fish.

I used to have an L81 in my blood parrot tank.He died of no apparent reason, I posted in the old forum but no one knew what was wrong with him.I had him for almost a year and he was pretty active too.The difference was that when I put zuccini in he would come out and munch away on it until he had finished.He was active but not the way my L177 is.

Zebra · Post by **Zebra** » 06 Jan 2003, 19:58

It's so annoying trying to post pics! Sometimes it works, but mostly not!! Don't know what's wrong!

But your L177 should be fine, just active. Keep an eye on him, in case any stange activity should happen, like a 'fit' sort of movement! Sometimes plecs, or any fish, just dies, with no apparent reason.

I've had my three nuggets for about two years now. However before that I had two babies theat were fine for about a year, then they both died within three days of each other - absolutely no idea why. Water was fine, filters etc. No other plecs or fish died, very strange!! But fingers crossed these ones are fine! The two L177's have grown loads, but the L81 isn't much bigger than when I bought him - but eats and darts about fine.

T · Post by T » 06 Jan 2003, 20:06

Yeah thats what happened to mine, it was fine then one day it was sluggish and its eyes were really dark.I moved it to a hospital tank then I found it dead the next day.I was gutted, I used to hand feed it and everything.

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 06 Jan 2003, 21:02

Hi !

T , since how many days has he been doing this???
When put in a new tank, Lorciariids tend to explore their new home and keep moving around everywhere just to give a look, what other tank mates are in with and are you also sure that he has enough resting place where he can hide himself in case of danger??

Cheers
Yann

Macka · Post by **Macka** » 06 Jan 2003, 21:26

My L177 is the mad as a maggot as well, he was shy untill i added some LDA33s (snowballs) now he can been seen all the time. It even thinks he is the dominant one in the tank (only because the snowballs dont show any interest in his aggresive tones). As for feeding he prefers the algae wafers and the shrimp pellets which he is pretty quick to for the competition might get em.

T · Post by T » 06 Jan 2003, 21:52

Yann,

He has been in the tank for at least a month and never hides.Sometimes he will rest in a clay flowerpot but he never seems to stall still for long.

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 06 Jan 2003, 22:05

Hi!

yeap strange as usually they behave this way for 2-3 days but rarely more than this!
well I don't know!
Cheers
Yann

T · Post by T » 07 Jan 2003, 01:24

Well its not that he is in any discomfort because he eats, squabbles with other fish etc

polkadot · Post by **polkadot** » 07 Jan 2003, 16:00

Hi T,

I would more happy than worried to see such a hyperactive nugget. Mine only comes out when there's food and lightsoff!! You must have an ideal habitat for it? Whats your tank pH and temp?

T · Post by T » 07 Jan 2003, 18:07

Hi

Its a 30gal planted tank and he shares it with a mango pl*co, 2 clown pl*cos and a baby bristlenose.I also have 2 rams, 2 dwarf rainbows, pair of golden wonder panchaxes and a few other small fish.The ph is usually around 7 and temp around 25°C.