golden nuggets L18/L81

[rhino-force]

Hi there

Does anyone keep these with malawi cichlids. I spotted some at the weekend and there beautiful, however i thought i'd better do some research first. I have a new malawi set up (350l juwel trigon). I have only put in bottom feeders so far, bristle nose and various synodontis (all very young). i wish to put all baby malawi in soon but would like a couple of the nuggets if this is possible. Any info would be much appreciated.
Many Thanks

[Borbi]

Hi,

loricariid catfish don´t fit to Malawi (my oppinion).

Additionally, Baryancistrus are very specialized aufwuchs feeders (and not exactly "beginner" fish). You most probably won´t be able to meet their demands regarding food in a Malawi type of setup.
Chances are high you wouldnt have them long, sorry.

Cheers, Sandor

[Bas Pels]

The common Ancistrus ("A domesticus" one could say) has prooven to survive Malawi conditions. This fish does originally not come from Amazonia - and thus is not evolved in very acidic water. Het domestication has made this fish withstand even really hard water

Golden nuggets come from much softer, more acidic water, and have not been kept in captivity for generations

I hope the differences are clear: What the common Ancistrus can survive is not something other Loricarids are surposed to withstand

[MatsP]

I concur with Bas,

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

will work well in a Malawi tank. More exotic plecos. Particularly gold nugget plecos prefer rather warm and well-oxygenated water. The pH/hardness of a Malawi tank is usually not ideal either, but it's not what causes the bit problem - Malawi cichlids will be unhappy at the warm water that the gold nugget would like - they are happier above 30'C, whilst Malawi fish prefer the 25'C region. They will also compete for the exact same types of food - and as you are probably aware, it's very hard to find fish with more appetite than Malawi cichlids, so assuming everything else is RIGHT, the gold nuggets would probably starve to death [and they are not the easiest fish to feed even under ideal circumstances].

--
Mats

[Richard B]

As indicated previously Gold nuggests & malawis - not a good idea - in addition to the dietary & temperature issues there is also the fact that a gold nugget is a target for inquisitive & robust mbuna, even some haps can provide unwanted attention aggression to cats - the ancistrus is a much better prospect if you want an algae eater. If you just want a cat/ some cats - the obvious choice would be lake synos - njassae, multipunctatus, grandiops, lucipinnis, polli etc