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when i say stop changing water, i mean temporarily. for three weeks or so. i think this will mature or age the water and the biobed, which i believe will help the system and thus the nugget settle down. constantly changing the water at this stage may be affecting it's ability to cycle. although i agree with barbie in that changing the water does not harm the fish, i don't see the point if the nitrogeous load is under control (test every day).

yes, once the biobed and tank is established, water should be changed weekly.

biospira is a brand of bacteria in a bottle that gives the cycling a kick-start. get some.

are you using a dechlorinator?

regarding the algae, nuggets aren't the biggest consumers of this. they prefer meaty foods like bloodworms and algae wafers (which have quite a lot of protein in them)

the minute i will see they are starting to be aggressive i will seperate them from the aquarium.

Yes, I do use a dechlorinator. is that good or bad?

as for algae, my friend has a gold nugget and his gold nugget leaves the tank spotless of algae.
i tried giving it a cucumber but it didn't touch it.
i also bought dried sea weed, the type you roll sushi in.
i heard they like it, but when i put it in the tank my fish finish it before the gold nugget can even see it...

p.s. he is still hiding and non active, even at night!!!

Using a dechlorinator is a good thing, you shouldn't put water in the tank without it.

Gold nuggets will eat algae, but they are definitely not one of the best algae eaters in the world.

If the fish isn't feeling that great, it's unlikely that it will eat much. Just like humans, when we fell unwell, we eat much less.

I'd actually be more worried if the fish was NOT hiding.

You've got a common problem in feeding the gold nugget. If you have fish that are very active eaters (like most cichlids, barbs and many other active fish), you'll have a problem getting food to the gold nugget. One way to sort this out is to feed the other fish with something even more tasty on the other end of the tank, but if they finish that off and are still hungry, there isn't much you can do... However, feeding after lights off sometimes work with pleco's, since they are nocturnal.

Try some lightly boiled courgette (zuchini, green cucumber-looking vegetable in the melon/cucumber-family). Just bring it to the boil in a pot, stick some weight to it, and leave it near the place where the gold nugget hides. Do this at night, and you may find that it's been eaten in the morning. Take it out again before it goes rotten, within 24 hours is a good rule.

Spinach might also work. Or meaty foods like blood-/black-worms. But the cichlids will also like both of those...

Different pleco's will eat different things, and some have a taste for one thing, others like something else.



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Mats

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Mats

mine like algae wafers. these may be too large for the cichlids to eat.

go easy with the food. if your tank is still cycling you could pollute it very easily.

a fish will last for weeks with no food, but only about 24 hours if the ammonia shoots through the roof!