help confirm l number

[deetheman_6]

hi pc please can you help me confirm my gn pleco it was sold to me as l177 gn .
still have trouble with food well not eat much and also what is the chance of him eating one of my otto's ?

[MatsP]

I can't say for SURE that it's L177, but I see nothing to say it's NOT that either. It would help if you get a picture where the dorsal (back) and caudal (tail) fins are clearly showing in "expanded" position.

Eating can be a big problem for these fish - high temperature, above 30'C is a good starting point. Medicating against internal parasites will not be a bad thing either - Wormer Plus from Kusuri is a good general purpose parasitic medication in the UK. It's a low side-effect medication, so it's not going to harm your fish or filter bacteria.

I find it unlikely it will eat a live and healthy oto - if it's laying dead on the bottom, sure, it will take the opportunity to get some protein.

Algae wafers would be a good idea too - as well as a nearly constant supply of fresh veg - courgette or cucumber is generally considered a good starting veg to get the fish feeding. As well as small amounts of for example bloodworm.

Edit: For more suggestions on foods, please have a look at the feeding article that is linked on the right of this text, where it says "Articles(1)".

Best of luck.

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Mats

[Suckermouth]

What are you feeding? When are you feeding? What else is in the tank besides otos? They are not the most active fish, so may be outcompeted by other fish if you don't feed at night. My gold nugget also accepts typical fare such as algae wafers and bloodworms, and fresh veggies such as zuchinni.

There is no chance that it would eat otos. I have a gold nugget in my tank with breeding bristlenoses.

[deetheman_6]

thank for advice everything been taken on board i've tried most of them food nothing on the veg side a has worked and algae waffers im' useing hikari algae waffer but cant comfirm his intrested . also the tempture of the it's at 27c putting the temp up to 30 would that affect the wellbeing of my denison barbs colombian tetra's ?

[MatsP]

I'd take the temp up to 30 for the next couple of weeks to see if it can start feeding.

Denisoni barbs, who are more of a "medium warm" fish, with a recommended temperature between 15-25'C on fishbase, are not at all good companions with the warm-water loving Rio Xingu/Iriri species that your Gold Nugget is one of. But I'm sure the Denisoni barbs will tolerate a higher temperature for a few weeks, whilst your Gold Nugget is probably needs to get eating soon, or it will be game over. You can then lower the temperature, or better, find a different tank for either of these two species of fish.

You should also read the article on Gold Nuggets by Ingo Seidel: http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... m+pleco%3F+

Again, good luck.

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Mats

[deetheman_6]

thanks guy for all your help my gn pleco has decided to eat it's only taken nearly 2 weeks and so many thing been tried but he got the taste for mussels oh and i told your advise and up'd the temp by a small amount thanks pc.

dtm

[MatsP]

I would go lightly on feeding high-protein food like mussels. They do need a lot more vegetable than meaty food.

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Mats

[deetheman_6]

sorry for the delay maybe this may help you sorry for the quailty he's a tricky fellow to capture

dtm

[Mod edit: Fix image tags --Mats]

[2wheelsx2]

Wow...nice looking fella he is.

[MatsP]

Right, that rules out L177 as a I know it - the yellow band on the dorsal and caudal fins should be the same width along the entire fin, not narrowing down to a point. So that makes it L18, I would say.

I do, however, believe these are the same species, just different local variations - and as such, the spot size and caudal/dorsal stripe pattern will range all the way from tiny spots to large spots and slight triangle to a wider band - all depends on where the fish is captured. Having said that, if anyone plans to breed these fish, they should ensure that the fish comes from a single location.

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Mats