So lately my non chain LFS has been carrying alot more variety in his Pleco selection and he is also cheapest around. He has had a few gold nugget and several others. Anyone that has owned these fish what are your thoughts on keeping them and where you happy that you kept them. I have a 14" common pleco that is honestly beautiful in his markings. Do the rare versions get that big and do they keep there same color selections.
Pleco Choice
- Thread starter Drewhop
- Start date
some of the rare plecos get a lot smaller than commons.. for example a BN pleco will only get about 5" long
I am not sure about the gold nuggets though, it may just be a color variation of the common
I am not sure about the gold nuggets though, it may just be a color variation of the common
Check out http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/numbers.php?mode=l&thumbs=16 for specific details on just about any pleco species. You can click on the cat-e-log link at the top of the page to search by common name.
One thing about gold nuggets in particular, I wouldn't buy any that haven't been at the lfs for at least a couple weeks. Their digestive system carries bacteria that helps break down food, and if they go too long w/out eating the bacteria die. Once the bacteria die the pleco will starve. If the fish has been in the shop tanks for some time and looks normal/healthy, it should be alright. If it looks thin, don't expect to take it home and fatten it up.
I have a few smaller "fancy" pleco's, L333, L204, and L129. All are still juvies growing out in hopes of at least one of them breeding at some point. The L333's and L129's are carnivorous, though the L129's did very quickly clear a heavily overgrown tank of algae and diatoms when they arrived. I presume they were quite hungry, but they will also eat some veggie food. The L204's are wood-eaters, and require driftwood to rasp away.
The only bad thing about these fish is that they're seldom seen. The L204's are the most often visible of the lot, while the others are nocturnal and only occaisonally visible by day.
One thing about gold nuggets in particular, I wouldn't buy any that haven't been at the lfs for at least a couple weeks. Their digestive system carries bacteria that helps break down food, and if they go too long w/out eating the bacteria die. Once the bacteria die the pleco will starve. If the fish has been in the shop tanks for some time and looks normal/healthy, it should be alright. If it looks thin, don't expect to take it home and fatten it up.
I have a few smaller "fancy" pleco's, L333, L204, and L129. All are still juvies growing out in hopes of at least one of them breeding at some point. The L333's and L129's are carnivorous, though the L129's did very quickly clear a heavily overgrown tank of algae and diatoms when they arrived. I presume they were quite hungry, but they will also eat some veggie food. The L204's are wood-eaters, and require driftwood to rasp away.
The only bad thing about these fish is that they're seldom seen. The L204's are the most often visible of the lot, while the others are nocturnal and only occaisonally visible by day.
I've never personally kept them, though I have heard that they can be hard to keep alive, probably for the reason toddnbecka said.
Try checking out www.planetcatfish.com for some profiles. I believe that Gold Nuggets are L018, but I'm not sure. I know that there are two very similar ones that can both be labeled Gold Nugget.
Personally, I have 2 L387 plecos (got 'em as unidentified plecos on Aquabid), and I've never seen them for sale in any lfs and have only seen them as out of stock on a couple websites. I don't rember what they were priced there.
There are quite a variety of plecos. Some 'rare' ones get just as big as commons at 24" and some only get to be about 4". I think the majority come in between 6-12".
Try checking out www.planetcatfish.com for some profiles. I believe that Gold Nuggets are L018, but I'm not sure. I know that there are two very similar ones that can both be labeled Gold Nugget.
Personally, I have 2 L387 plecos (got 'em as unidentified plecos on Aquabid), and I've never seen them for sale in any lfs and have only seen them as out of stock on a couple websites. I don't rember what they were priced there.
There are quite a variety of plecos. Some 'rare' ones get just as big as commons at 24" and some only get to be about 4". I think the majority come in between 6-12".