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Someone I know recently picked this up at the store and it was sold as an L81. He's worried that it may be an L18 and grow way too big for his tank. Can anyone formally identify it? Also (as you'll see in the pic) it has a little scar on it's side - what (if any) treatment would you recommend? TIA

Let's get one thing clear first: There's no real reason to say that the different Gold Nugget varieties won't all grow to the same size!

Second, they grow slowly, so as long as it's not very close to being too big now you probably have years of joy before it's requiring you change the tank.

Thirdly, the spots tend to change with age (getting smaller), but I think your fish is either L81 or L18 - they are pretty darn difficult to tell apart.

It's very likely that your fish will recover from that wound quite well, given some clean water and a non-stressed environment.

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Mats

Thanks Mats. Is it true that they are 'difficult' to keep?

Not terribly difficult - keeping them well fed is the biggest problem. They need plenty of vegetable and a little bit of protein-rich meaty food, and in my experience, they don't always compete well against other plecos.

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Mats

Hi Trollboy, I have a L18 (I think) which eats a lot lot lot of veges. I tried some meaty food, but it did not work well. Mat is right about slow grow. Since I bought this guy from March 07, I havent seen any growth in size. Well, my angles almost doubled. I guess this guy is growing slower than my turtles. :D

L18

Can You Get JBL Tabis chips-if so your nugget will thrive and grow like crazy. Do not use though if Hypans share the tank.

My gold nugget always like frozen blood worms and live black worms but I guess live black worms are not common in the UK. It also like earthworm sticks which is a food all the Loricaridae I have kept have eaten enthusiastically. Mine was kept with various Hypancistrus and L134 Leopard frog Peckoltia, all small species which it dominated. I do think they are not among the hardiest of plecos. They seem to demand superior water quality at all times.
It was a pretty good algae eater. I lost mine due to an accidentally use of SeaChem Acid Buffer when I intended to use SeaChem Neutral Regulator in a pinch as a dechlorinator. I really enjoyed it. One of the most colorful of all Plecos.