can anyone tell me about this guy? LO18, Gold Nugget Pleco

well i know hypostomus is the real pleco but it's easier to say plec when i talk to my family rather than loricarid
 
I've had good luck with both clown plecos and bushy-nose. They both stay small and are easy to feed. Bushy-nose are among the easier plecos to breed as well. Gold nuggets are harder to feed and are easy to kill especially when first purchased. They don't stay as small as clowns or bushy-nose.
 
I have a gold nugget that is very shy and doesn't seem to be growing very fast. She never likes to come out from under the wood. But she is beautiful and I love it any time I get to see her.
 
sploke said:
Otos are Loricarids, but I don't think they're really considered plecos.

There are a few species of pleco that look similar to the gold nugget. L018/L085 is supposed to get to 14" but I have never seen one that large in captivity. They're basically limnovores so they subsist mostly on the biological film that covers driftwood and tank walls. I've had one for about 2 years thats grown maybe an inch in that time, from 4" to 5". I've tried a few different diets and tank setups and nothing seems to have affected it.

I have seen a few different specimens of L014, which is called the sunshine or goldy pleco, up around a foot or so. It sounds like they're much better about taking prepared foods and thus are easier to grow larger.

For something relatively easy to find, a great smaller pleco is a bristlenose.
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i agree have a 4inch bristlenose he is not getting any bigger
 
I had 2 Clown Pleco's in my 55

They were beautiful fish
 
Carp37 said:
:iagree: Not sure about 2-3" for clown plecs as max size is nearly 4" standard length (without the caudal fin) but clown plecs are really slow-growing- I've had mine 5 1/2 months and they've filled out but not grown much at all- I even posted on Planet Catfish to query if I was doing something wrong and it seems they are really slow growing. Bristlenose also stay small but grow much faster and also breed fairly easily.
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agree on that. i have 4 clown plecos and one of them has been with me for over 4 years. he's fat as anything, looks like a little golf ball, but isn't even 3 inches. almost 3 with the tail, maybe. they are very slow growing. the other ones i got when they were only about an inch, and they doubled in size over a year's time, but once they hit about 2 inches it slows down a lot.

just for clarity, i'm referring to Panaque maccus, the wood-eating clown pleco. there is another one commonly called a clown, but that is the Peckoltia pulcher. I'm not familiar with it, but the Peckoltia family seems more omnivorous.
 
argh, tricked again. note to self and others - check dates before replying.....
 
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