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Hey all. I love this site! I have read everything here on Gold Nuggets. I just aquired 2. They are around 3"-4", total body. Yes I know they will get big and I am prepared for it. Right now I have them in a 33g long. Nothing else is in the tank and the tank is cycled. I have very low Ph 6.0 from our well. The Ph that these pl*co were kept in was 7.0. I used Proper Ph 7.0 to up the Ph before placing these in the tank. I have some crushed coral and was going to add 1/2 cup to the substrate. Is is too sharp for the GN? If so I could put it in the filter. Since my GN are babies what do you recommend for food? I know blackworms and frozen bloodworms plus zuccini. Is there anything else? I have algae wafers but am I correct in that they don't like it? I have 1 big rock, cypress wood and a 2" diameter, 4" long cave. What other size caves should I get? Will I need 2 caves since I have 2 GNs? I am also planning on getting more rocks. Do they like caves made out of rocks? Right now I only have an aquaclear hob filter. In time I plan on getting a powerhead for more water movement. Is there anything I am missing in taking care of these guys?

Beth

Your tap water is ideal and I would not add much of anything to it. Keep doing your normal
water changes and your tank will slowly go back to your 6.0 PH. One thing to consider is your KH
or carbonate hardness. I would suggest getting a test kit and make sure your KH stays
around but not below 5 dh (90 ppm). I use Kent C i c h l i d Buffer to increase KH levels
as I've found this product to work the best.

Gold Nuggets also need protein. I feed dried krill and shrimp pellets and I believe some
people recommend prawns or shrimp.

I think gold nuggets are pretty tolerant to varying pH. Mine are kept in southern english tap-water, which is quite hard and alkalic. In their natural habitat, the water is relatively soft and slightly acidic. Your tap-water sound like good for the latter, so they'll be happy.

I've written an article on feeding... Gold nuggets love zucchini(courgette for us east-atlantics), blood-worms (frozen or live, fed when it's dark to avoid other fish munching as much). Prawns, mussels, etc are also good. Chopped finely works best. Algae wafers will work too.

They will probably like to have at least one cave each. I always thing they should have a choice, so I try to have more caves than cave-living fish in my tank. They seem to prefer stone/terracotta/plastic caves to wood/bamboo.

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Mats

Thank you both for your replies. I feel more confident in taking care of my GN.

Beth

Another question. I also have bristlenose pl*cos. I know they need a tight cave. What kind of caves do Gold Nuggets like?

Well, one of my gold nuggets tend to just hide under the filter, which isn't even a cave... The other one squeezes itself into a tight spot under the pot that covers my water-pump.

I generally think that caves should be PLENTY-full, with some variation. Then the fish can choose what it likes, rather that me or you saying it has to fit in a cave of a certain size.

Bristlenoses seem to mostly go into caves when they are trying to breed, so they will like to have a tight cave at that point... Gold nuggets are more reclusive, in my experience, and likes to hide most of the hours the tank is lit.

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Mats

My golden nugget has caves but prefers to hang upside down under bogwood.

Thanks all! I saw one of them in the cave! I have 2 caves and some cypress wood. You are right jurassic they love the wood! I am even thinking of putting in some more wood for them. Today I am 'painting' a rock with egg whites and crushed food like your article suggested mats. Even though I have many other fish (this is my 9th tank) and other pl*cos these guys have really stolen my heart!

Forgot to add. I got these 2 at my lfs. I was reading about GN sizes in another thread and someone recommended medicating new pl*cos. Should I? I do have the medicine so that is no problem. Mine are eating and acting well. I do not know where the lfs got them though.

Thanks again for all the advise!

I'm a big believer in "medicating if you know that it helps", not "medicate just in case". Different people do different things and believe in different things. I've only ever used medecine a few times in the 20 or so years I've ever kept fish, and with success only a couple of times. Keeping them in clean, good quality water is key tho'. Bad water kills fish ...

I think painting egg on stones [which by the way wasn't my idea at all, Jools added that bit because it fit in] is more for those fish that won't actually eat other stuff (or young fish that need to have a long-lasting food supply), or where there are other fish that steal the foood... [Such as my pictus cats grabbing an algae wafer and swimming away... But I just feed some more in that case - the pictus needs their food too].

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Mats

I agree with MatsP on the medicating if you know it works or if you have read that it works. I've had success with cure ick and tailrot using medication but I would rather not use it if I don't need to. I am currently treating one of my African Clawed Frogs and the treatment that I researched didn't seem to have much effect. So I tried feeding him garlic and did a complete gravel clean and replace 40% of the water in my tank. Now it seems to be getting better but its hard to tell. I'm surprised he has lived this long while being diseased, which has been at least a month.

Thank you both for your replies. I also don't believe in medicating in less I have too. With fancy goldfish you do need to medicate when you get new fish because the odds that they have flukes is overwhelming. I just wanted to make sure that wasnt' the case with GN. I have been changing 1/10 of the water each night because a plant just died in there so I know they have good water.

They are the only fish in the tank so I guess I didn't need to 'paint the rock'. I will give it too them and see if they like it. I might still do it for a treat. I have to say it was kinda gross, lol.