New Gold Nugget Pleco Not Eating :-(

[PlatinumSM]

I got a new 4" L018 (Gold Nugget Pleco) on January 19th (6 days ago) and I do not think it has eaten since (algae wafers go untouched). When I purchased the fish it had a very full belly, so I'm not sure what is wrong It usually is hidden behind the driftwood so I can't tell if it has lost weight...

1. Water parameters
a) 80-84 F
b) 7.0-7.2
c) GH. (?)
d) KH (?)
e)Ammonia (0), Nitrate (5), Nitrite (0)
f) Water change frequency (1x per week)

2. Tank set up
a) 10-G
b) Fluorite Black Sand
c) Eheim 2211
d) Driftwood & Live Plants
e) P. reticulata (2) & M. ramirezi (1)
f) tank set up for 6 months
g) last fish added 1 week ago (the L018 & M. ramirezi)
h) Live BBS daily, 1 Sera Chip nightly

3. Symptoms / Problem description: Does not appear to be eating Sera Chips.

4. Action taken: Dosed tank with Jungle Parasite Clear 2x (every 48 hours as specified on package) with a 20% water change before each treatment.

5. Medications used (if any): see above

[MatsP]

I suspect some paticence would be required here. It's not unusual for newly purchased fish to be shy and stressed for the first week or two - sometimes more.

Also, it may be worth asking the shop what they feed the fish, as the same food may be the best choice.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

These fish can be a bit tricky to get settled, patience, warm clean water & a varied diet - as Mats says - check what they were eating before

[Matt30]

Hi mate don't know if it's any help but mine did the same when I
first got him re algae wafers just didn't want to know but when I
tryed cucumer he started eating that and then about a week later
he was more than happy munching on algae wafers (Hikari)

Good luck

[FrankNL]

Some of my fish did not eat when i just got them. I got them to eat by putting eggwhite on a stone and then put crushed food ont it. They loved it.

I think this should be on this website somewhere but I don't know where. Good luck and I hope u can all understand my English.

[Benjamin Goh]

Some of my fish did not eat when i just got them. I got them to eat by putting eggwhite on a stone and then put crushed food ont it. They loved it.

I think this should be on this website somewhere but I don't know where. Good luck and I hope u can all understand my English.

Eggwhite? Raw or boiled?

[PlatinumSM]

MatsP, Richard B, Matt 30, FrankNL: Thanks for the kind words of encouragement/advice!

I put a cube of Mysis shrimp in there and left the lights off today, so hopefully the L018 ate some shrimp in the dark while I was at work... I read that these guys like more meat in their diet than most Loricarids, so perhaps that's why they are not big fans of the veggie wafers???

I will go buy an egg tomorrow (I am a vegan so usually don't have any in the house) and try the egg white on a rock trick, too...

I'll keep you posted!

[racoll]

I read that these guys like more meat in their diet than most Loricarids, so perhaps that's why they are not big fans of the veggie wafers???

Wrong way round.

Baryancistrus

are primarily herbivores (algae/biofilm grazers).

That said, getting them to eat anything is a start. Frozen bloodworms and Hikari algae wafers are usually not refused by most plecos.

Then, you can get them onto a more vegetable based diet.

[MatsP]

Eggwhite? Raw or boiled?

The idea is to make a paint[1] from eggwhite and fishfood, and paint it onto a rock. Then dry this (just leave it on the side for a day or so, or if you are in a hurry, in a low heat oven for a bit [say 80'C/160'F]), then and put in the tank, near where the fish normally resides.

[1] In fact, in the old days, paint was sometimes made with egg mixed with pigments.

And yes, Baryancistrus are definitely more herbivores/vegetarian than carnivores. Have a look at the article by Ingo Seidel in Shane's World about "Yellow Seam plecos".

--
Mats

[taksan]

Pleco paste for Nuggets

Mixed egg white 150ml (bout 3 eggs) with 8 Hikari algae wafers (crushed), pureed Hikari spirilina brine shrimp and bloodworm, pureed spinach, 4 Hikari sinking pellets (crushed) and a cup of pinches of Sera vegetable flake until it is a thick awful paste.
Smear paste onto rock or wood and leave out to dry (to dry quicker keep in refrigerator in crisping compartment)

[PlatinumSM]

The GN Pleco finally came out of hiding today! I also sank 10 Cichlid Color pellets on the tank floor (none of the guppies/rams would go near them) and sure enough, they were GONE by the morning! So, looks like the little guy/girl is eating after all

His/her color is looking a little splotchy, though - is this normal? I know that my Bristlenose Plecos' colors tend to change depending on their background and mood, but I have never seen a photo of a Gold Nugget looking splotchy like this... Any thoughts?

I treated the QT tank with a dose of Jungle Fungus Clear tonight just to be on the safe side, plus I turned up the air stone and turned off the lights... anything else I can do to help the little guy/girl out?

[wrasse]

Hi there,
at the top you stated temp as 78-84degf. That's a big range so what's happening temp-wise?

Your gold nugget likes it warm and looking at those photos, it needs it now. 82-84degf and good oxygenation will help it settle and be more active and also avoid disease. Your ramirezi will appreciate it too. I'm not sure your guppies will be so comfortable, its a slightly unusual combination of fish.

Are you certain all the food you're putting in is being eaten?

[Richard B]

one thing that struck me is 10g is too small for a nugget even though they are slow growing and the potential for swings in water quality is great - it'll need to be carefully and regularly monitored

[PlatinumSM]

Racoll & MatsP: As far as diet for these guys, there are conflicting articles on this site - the Shane's World article says that they consume a mostly-vegetarian diet, but the Species page says that they should eat 70% animal protein and 30% vegetable matter! Since algae wafers have so far gone untouched by my GN, but the cichlid pellets are all being consumed in the night, maybe this species prefers animal-based foods when young and switches to veggies later?

Taksan: Thanks for the recipe!

Wrasse: The temperature fluctuates A LOT in the QT tank... When the heat in my apartment is on, the tank stays 83.5-84 degrees, but when I am away from home I turn off the heat in the apartment (my heating bill for a STUDIO APARTMENT was $350 last month!) When I get home from work, the tank temp is usually 79-82 degrees, even though I set my aquarium heater to the highest setting! The guppies are just in there as dithers (I have hundreds of those things!)

Richard B: The GN will move into a 40 Breeder on February 16th (which he will share with a 1 juvenile Electric Blue Jack Dempsey), but I like to keep my fish in QT for 4-6 weeks in a 10-G so they are easier to treat if they happen to come loaded with parasites or some other nastiness from the pet store/wilds of South America! I usually change 20% of everyone's water on Sunday, but I will change 50% of the QT tank water; hopefully the new water will do the little guy/girl some good!

[MatsP]

This fish doesn't like fluctuating temperature, I can promise that. Do you have a heater in the tank? If so, set it to 84'F, that way the temperature is constant in the tank, no matter what your apartment heating is.

--
Mats

[wrasse]

As well as stabilising the temp, I'd suggest you cut back on the dried food. Offer bloodworm, finely chopped raw prawn and a slice of sweet potato or zuccini threaded onto a teaspoon. At first be frugal with what food you offer.
When your fish is happy and eating the above, re-introduce the dried food.

tip - keep the odd prawn in the freezer and chop it frozen - its easier and you just take what you need. In that warm water change the veg you offer every day or 2.

[PlatinumSM]

MatsP: I had the heater set to 84 for the first week, but found that the actual temperature in the tank was dipping into the high 70s when the apartment heater was off and never climbing above 82 when the heat in the apartment was on (measured by a stick-on-the-glass as well as a Coralife Digital thermometer). When I turn the tank heater up to the highest setting (90 degrees) like it is now, the temp stays between 80 and 84 all day/night.

Wrasse: I changed 50% of the water in the GN's QT tank today and removed all but 2 of the guppies to reduce the bio load. The remaining 2 guppies and 1 ram will be fed live BBS only, which should also improve water quality. I would love to feed the GN Pleco frozen veggies instead of fresh, since I doubt he/she will go through a whole vegetable before it goes bad... Do you think this will work? Or must the veggies be fresh?

Thanks again for all of your help!

[MatsP]

That probably means that your heater isn't up to the job of keeping your tank up to the temperature. 84'C is quite warm, and if you have, say, a 50W heater, it will not have enough heating power to keep the temperature of the tank at the right level. I suggest getting a heater that is twice the wattage of the current one. Setting it to 90'F only causes the temperature to go higher when it gets warm in your home.

--
Mats

[racoll]

Racoll & MatsP: As far as diet for these guys, there are conflicting articles on this site - the Shane's World article says that they consume a mostly-vegetarian diet, but the Species page says that they should eat 70% animal protein and 30% vegetable matter!

I'm not sure where the "70% animal protein and 30% vegetable matter" comment is on the cat-elog page, but I cant find it. These numbers should be the other way round, as this is a fish which should be fed a mostly vegetable diet.

I do agree though that the feeding section could be rephrased. It was likely written a very long time time ago!

Ingo's article is very accurate, and does highlight that these are one of the hardest plecos to keep.

The conditions in the wild are so far removed from our aquaria, it's a wonder that any survive at all. I'd say over 95% of the many thousands of gold nuggets sold for aquaria will die within 2 months of being imported, though.

Without wanting to sound too critical, they are probably the last fish I would put in a 10g tank with fluctuating temperature, hundreds of guppies and a ram. I mean, the natural habitat of rams, guppies and gold nuggets couldn't be more different.

Anyway, hopefully your gold nugget will pull though, and can be moved to more appropriate housing soon. Hope this helps

[MatsP]

Would you please point out which page you got the 70%/30% idea from - because it's clearly not in line with our current knowledge of this fish, and I'd like to fix it!

--
Mats

[PlatinumSM]

racoll: The GN pleco is in a 10-g quarantine tank with a 1" ram from the same pet store, plus 2 juvenile male guppies. The rest of the guppies (probably about 200 total, mostly fry) are distributed among 90 gallons of tank space in species-only tanks. (Guppy breeding pays for my cichlid & Loricarid addiction!)

MatsP: The 70%/30% protein/vegetable ration must have been from another site - I re-read the L018 entry on the cat-e-log and it was much closer to what everyone has been recommending: These fish are grazers, but not in the sense that they eat only vegetation. They actually sift and chew at the film of organic matter on hard surfaces in search of higher protein foods. In the wild this would constitute a variety of foods from small insect larvae and crustaceans to other animals eggs and possibly even recently dead animals. With this in mind, frozen foods such as bloodworm and blackworm should be offered along with frozen prawns. Algae and plants are avoided, but cucumber and courgette appear on the accepted menu. Accepted food morsel size changes with age in all of these fish.

Food Update: I purchased some organic zucchini and string beans tonight, blanched a small slice of each and stuck them to the piece of wood that the Gold Nugget has moved into. I also purchased a raw shrimp that I cut into centimeter-sized pieces and froze for tomorrow night's feeding. Hopefully I will wake up to a skinless zucchini slice and a happier pleco tomorrow!

[PlatinumSM]

RIP little spotted fish.

[MatsP]

Sorry to hear. Unfortunately, not an unusual situation - they are often skinny when they are sold, which is definitely a cause for concern.

--
Mats