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hi i just bought a 4in gold nugget last week and put it with my 6-7.5in discus tank and now looking at the tank this belly is sunken in and also i feel like he is afriad of them because he always stays at the top of tank and doesnt move from that spot he will sometimes move to another spot but still at the top of the tank. Any recemendations on what i shoud do? The discus dont bully or attack it and their is caves in the tank

Are there any other plecs in the tank? Where does he stay at the top of the tank relative to the filter? Is he hiding behind the filter pipe? Or is he directly in the flow? Do you feed at night?

I'd quarantine this fish asap to fatten it up and get it used to taking food before introducing it to a tank with other fish. This can be a troublesome thing with some species of plecs is getting them used to tank life.

I Would try to feed something live like whiteworms or blackworms if you are feeding them to your discus, frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp could work also. I would guess you have some of them for yoru discus, but also if you havent tried the repashy gel food, def try it, my goldnuggets love it. I feed the "aufwuchs" Solient green and also the community diets. You can spread them over a rock and then lay it in the tank, works great. Good luck hope he comes back for you.

thanks for the advice and it trys to hide behide the heater and the other side of the tank where discus arnt really at but stays at the top. i just moved a male BN about a year old out of the tank 2days ago into a breeding tank and no i dont normally feed with the lights off. also i just ran out of live black worms about hour ago haha

Hi all,
Gel food is a good idea, I'd also try some nutrient rich food like prawn and sweet potato at lights out, unfortunately he may be too far gone for it to do any good, but it is your best hope.

cheers Darrel

Does the tank have a lot of current? I know discus are not that fond of high current tanks but Gold Nuggets really like a lot of flow which helps maintain a strong oxygen saturation.

I keep four of them in a 120 (they are still young) and use a Coralife 2900 gph circulation pump to push water down the length of the tank. This is in addition to the return from the filter which is about 700 gph.

I feed mainly algae discs and sliced zucchini and cucumber with a chopped up shrimp every week.

Andy

Hi all,
Flow and oxygen content is a good point, all of these factors account for why Baryancistrus are so difficult to both acclimatise and then keep healthy and growing in the longer term.

Whilst the flow and oxygenation usually go together, you can achieve high levels of oxygenation without high flow. Have a look at Shane's PC article: <http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... ved+oxygen> and at this one that I wrote based upon our work on "land-fill leachate", at present hosted by "Plecoplanet" "Aeration and dissolved oxygen in the aquarium" here: <http://plecoplanet.com/?page_id=829>.

cheers Darrel

i lost him yestrday afternoon

Ouch, sorry to hear it. It's heartwrenching to lose one. I lost a fish 2 days ago also.