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I'm going to be purchasing some Gold Nuggets soon and I have done extensive amounts of research. I know all the basics, but nothing beats the experiences of others. I was just wondering what experiences or advice you have with Gold Nuggets, or any Baryancistrus for that matter.

they love water current.. and olmost chow on everything u feed them.. needs clean water.. gudluck!

My first nugget was very active and ate almost anything(zuccini and shrimp being favourites).He was about 3-4" and grew about 1" in the time I had him.He also put on a lot of body weight in the time I had him(about a year).Then for some reason he became ill, his eyes went dark and he became sluggish.I moved him to a hospital tank to treat but he died before I could get any treatments for him.

Here is a pic of him.


After he died I vowed not to get another but one day I saw a little baby one in the lfs, it was chowing on bloodworm and in great body shape so I really couldnt resist.This little guy is much more active than my big one that died and he eats almost anything.Also he has bigger spots and thick gold rims to his fins(unlike the other one).I kept him in my planted tank for the first few months but he became too aggro to my newly purchased vampire pl*co.He then lived in my 80 gal cichlid/loach tank and did great.He hid for the first few weeks but then decided he wasnt scared anymore and was out all the time eating like a maniac.Well I went away to a 3 day music festival and when I came back one of my large cichlids had died along with a yoyo loach.All parameters checked out fine and the person looking after my fish said they had just died(I could tell it wasnt over feeding or anything).Anyway the next day my gold nugget was looking a bit ropey.His eyes had gone dark and he was swimming sluggishly(deja vu???)anyway I was determined not to lose the little guy after what happened to my other.So I moved him to a hospital tank and put in a big airstone as well as some wide range cure(paragon I think)as well as some melafix.Well he seemed to get worse at first.He was breathing very rapidly and fungus/finrot was developing.I kept expecting to find him dead each morning or when I got home from work.But he was a fighter and after a few days his breathing returned to normal and he began swimming more normal.He still wasnt eating but when I put him into my planted tank he began eating and is almost back to his normal self.His fins are not quite back to thier normal look and he has a small cut on his face but its healing well.I'm so happy I managed to help this one

Here are a few pics of nugget no 2

Nugget with Mango


Sorry for the long story

Thanks for both responses. I just love to hear about gold nugget stories. Any information always helps, no matter what it is. Thanks again. And please, if any of you have any more, please share!

Der Ingo -I agree - gold nuggets are beautiful but it seems baryancistrus is the pleco which fares the worst when it comes to import and transportation.
There are many stories of fish lost.

Personaly I've lost a few and after taking the monetary loss I wasn't exactly rushing to get another one BUT: I think you are going about it very wisely in doing your research first.

I now have 2 which are doing well , so far. The things that were reccomended to me and I did were:
Pick good ones at the store, Quarantine , have worm/parasite medication ready formalin dip, Levamisole and Metronidazole are good to clean fish, melafix helps heal torn fins. Acclimate your new pleco slowly and use some salt in the water for the first few days/weeks. As far as the tank goes , my efforts have improved since I added lots of driftwood (helps keep PH lower (7), cycled/mature tank and sponge filter , plants, dim lights and well filtered, clean water with some movement(they love to sit in front of powerheads).

Foods : frozen bloodworms, frozen brineshrimp, some flake/tablets/pellets and veggies(cucumber, squash and sweetpotatos). Also feeding just before lights out seems to improve food intake as does adding plenty of caves. Just make sure you vaccum good between feedings.

T,

That's a gorgeous L-177 Yellow Seam you picked up. I've got a couple that are doing wonderfully in planted (CO2, hi-lite) Discus tanks. They apparently find the water changes, temps, natural plants and algae to their liking. An earlier poster was correct, they like current and a dark hiding place in the path of a filter return is just right.

Bob

I have found a really great store that sells them for considerably less than other stores. I don't know how they do it because there stock looks fabulous. I've already got a Q-tank set up, deworming medication on hand, as well as a bottle of Melafix. I can't wait to get started! Thanks again!

I noticed that gold nuggets were sensitive to oodinium (velvet). Unfortunately, we can treat this one with cupper. Guess how much plecos like copper? To play safe, one could treat his new nuggets with some discomed or any antiparasitic food - if they ever eat...

I have had three for nearly 2 years now and they are still eating/growing fine. They are in a 200 l. with some big roots and some drifting plants. Temp. in high 20'ies and lot of current. Eats everything but prefer meaty stuff (love suchini also). There are 2 S.eupterus (these are going out soon) and some newly introduced "endlers" livebearers as company, with no problems.
http://eheim-uk.com/planetcatfish/galle ... ry/albun19

That's kind of funny. I'm going to be using some Endler's as tankmates as well. That's good that there aren't any problems.

Have always been unlucky with them. I have had three during my time as a fish keeper and all have died. I know a lot of people have been unlucky with them as well. So far there are more people I know who have had bad experiences than the ones who have been lucky. I hope you have the same luck as the rest of the lucky ones.

Regards,
Mike D.

I don't know about your case Mokmu, but from what I have found, gold nuggets are usually impulse buys rather than researched buys. I definitely can't blame anyone who wants to buy these fish as soon as they see them, but those that have researched and found a good stock as well as a good dewormer usually have the most success.

Yeah many of them are in terrible shape in the shop so only fat active and bright specimins should be purchased.Q tanks are also the way to go as they can be observed closely and medicated if need be.

My LFS has some specimins about 2" in length at £25 each. I am tempted but is this a good price.

Colin

Its not a bad price, the ones near me get them at 3" for £20 usually.

Indeed good price. I would have to pay £35 minimum here in N.Wales.

Boy have you people got it sweet in the Northern Hemisphere......down here in New Zealand we pay up to $165 nz dollars for a nugget...around 60 pounds
Mind you...we have some of the best water ph7.2 and nothing added hehehe

Talking about nugget prices. I bought mine(queen gold nugget L177)from maidenhead aquatics at 2in for £8.50 it is now about 3in. I would recommend that if you can find a maidenhead aquatics store near you, you will find good reasonable priced goldies that have been quarantined and treated well.

i get mine for $15-20 each for around 2"; i currently have 2, now that one of my newer ones has died of ick!! I HATE ICK!!!!!!!

I have to go with Mokmu on this one. I've had 4, all of which have died. The first was horribly over priced and I really didn't know what I was doing so I blame myself. The second lived longer than the first but still died. The 3rd and 4th I bought from an LFS where I know the fish really don't do well, so I figure I "rescued them" (They had only been at the store 1 day). Quarintined them and everything and still they both died.

Now I just look

How is this for a Gold Nuggett experiance. After reading this topic, my nuggett which was doing fine for 3 months suddenlly died !!!

So thanks a lot.

Ron

How is this for a Gold Nuggett experiance. After reading this topic, my nuggett which was doing fine for 3 months suddenlly died !!!

I FOUND THE REMAINS -(PORTION OF TAIL AND HEAD) IN MY TANK LAST NIGHT!! I AM SUPPOSED TO HAVE 1 MORE NUGGET IN THERE, BUT????? WHAT IS UP WITH GOLD NUGGETS- 3 DEAD IN 1 MONTH, BY DIFFERENT MEANS?!?!? SHIBBY!!! I HAVE NEVER HAD 1 LIVE PAST A FEW MONTHS YET!! NO MORE NUGGETS FOR ME!!!

THIS TOPIC IS BAD LUCK!!

Maybe you're just unlucky.. but there're people who kept them so well that they breed.

Maybe you're right???

I've been a bit unlucky with gold nuggets. My first one (£30/3") was perfectly happy for a few months until one day it got its head stuck in a piece of lava rock. He never managed to get free... There's no lava rock in any of my catfish tanks any more!

My second one (£20/2") died of a fungal infection a week after I got it.

I'll probably buy the next one I see...

i've had 4; 3 died, 1 M.I.A.?!?!? I LIKE THEM BUT I'M TIRED OF WASTING money on them when they always die

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I'm pretty sure they don't die on purpose to spite you

Barbie

the way things go with me, don't be so sure???

The only thing I've learned with any certainty about nuggets:

You cannot possibly overfeed them. Most of the ones I've seen have suffered horribly in shipping and acclimation. For small ones (and aren't they all?), as short a period as 2 days without meals (emphasis plural) will take a nasty, near-insurmountable toll. So, let them stuff themselves greedily and prepare to do water changes. Come to think of it, this lesson pretty much applies to all plecos ; )

I have had my L177 for about 8 months now. He has grown from 2.75" to almost 3.5" in that time. He eats algae from the glass, algae wafers, shrimp pellets, flakes the others don't get, zuccini, occasional bloodworms. The water params are pH-6.4, KH-2*,Temp.-82*F. Moderately planted, lots of hollow roots etc. and driftwood. Small (80gph) submersible pump on the bottom at one end creating a current. http://www.corydorasworld.com/planetcat ... oldnugget2