Do you know this bottom feeder?

[trashcan]

Hi,

I just wanted to share one of my favorite fish, because he was being unusually photogenic today. Actually he couldn't see me because I was hiding, but at least he didn't run away from the camera. He always hides when I walk bye. Very shy. Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else can recognize it (I do know the name

).

 

[Daniel]

hm........freshwater, bottom feeder, that leaves it in the family of the catfish. It looks like a type of plecos. Can it be the gold nuggest pleco? which is short for Gold Nugget Plecostomus. They are described as a shy bottom dweller, am i even close?

 

[trashcan]

Drats.. Yep, that's it.

Here is another description of it : http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gnugget.html

Great job!

 

[Daniel]

YaY!!! i was right, your plecos seems to be a deeper shade of yellow, is it because of the lighting or the extra healthiness =D. and can you post more pictures of your aquarium, I'm trying to start one, but I'm trying to find the right combination and how the landsacaping will look like.

 

[pond boy]

gold nuget pl*co

 

[Daniel]

lol pond boy, you can't guess the name of the fish after the answer has been given =D.

 

[pond boy]

I know but I did now it was a gold nuget pl*co before looking at the replys.

 

[trashcan]

Hi Dkim,

Sorry I don't actually have any decent landscaping. It's all plastic plants and a plastic castle in my aquarium . I have found its too hard for me to catch the fish with lots of plants, and I always screw everything up when I need to move them.

 

[Daniel]

trashcan,
I've been putting a lot of decors to help them hide, including plastic castles, and those rock with the hollow holes, in the middle, but I have never seen them use them, and now i'm beginning to think they are for decoration. But if I look hard and think if I was a fish, I would say it is a very nice place to hide.

 

[D muscipula]

trashcan:

You haven't actually tried keeping live plants with him, have you? I shudder to think what a pl*co must do to plants!

Beautiful pl*co! Do you have a breeding pair? That would be the coolest!

 

[Spectabilis73]

If you get a very fast growing plant, or maybe a bunch of fast growing plants, like the amazon sword plant, he will be overwhlemed with plants to feed, and he will likely only nibble on one at a time, giving each time to re cooperate and produce more leaves

Just curious, why is pleco blepped out with the * in it?

 

[trashcan]

Hi,

Unforunately, no I don't have a breeding pair. My freshwater skills aren't very advanced, so it's probably for the best. From what I have read, Plecos don't breed in captivity very often (but I could be wrong). Also, this variety is a bit expensive, so I will be happy with just one for now.

As for live plants, YES! I just purchased some live plants recently to help hide my baby guppies. Suprisingly, live plants are cheaper than plastic. Not sure why a plastic plant needs to cost $10.00, but... I'm not buying it. . I currently only have some small Java Ferns. They have been in there for about a day, and seem OK so far. I have high powered lights, so hopefully they will grow. I am looking into getting some floating plants, they should survive any attacks.

And about "pl*co," many people think that writing out the full name is bad luck, and censor it to help their beloved bottom feeders from any misfortunes.

And dkim: My pleco _lives_ in that castle. He only comes out at night, and scurries back to it if he sees me walkng around.

 

[RamPuppy]

Little late...

but wanted to say what a beauty that is... (My favorite pleco is the bushy nose.. so cute.)

 

[D muscipula]

I was at the last Boston Aquarium Society meeting, and some old guy (sorry, i know he's the reigning expert on plecos, but i forgot his name

) gave an awesome presentation entitled "Fancy Catfish" complete with lots of slides from habitat.

One reason that his 'gold nugget' might be more yellow than yours is that there are actually many species that are called 'gold nugget'.  Many haven't even been named, but are given an 'L' number to at least have some way to identify them.  Many different 'L' numbers are sold as gold nugget.

The Brazilians that catch those plecos for a living catch all sizes (by hand, usually), but it's just too expensive to ship any over about 6"... so those all go in the pot!

 Apparently they're good eating.

RamPuppy: Cute?

 Yeah, i guess they're cute - they're so ugly they're cute.  I had a breeding pair, but some kid cranked up the heater in my tank and they got cooked before i knew what was going on.

 

[SnowyFalcon]

So, did you find out if they were good eating after that??

SF

 

[RamPuppy]

darn kids...

I just recovered a 35 gallon oceanic hex from my family's barn/shed and found it has a leak along the upper rim... nothing I can't fix... but annoying... I know it leaks because it was lugged around by the plastic frame at the top...

Fume....

oh well... I am thinking I am going to put my metal halide on it, put in some plants, and start up a small fresh water planted tank... it's been a while... and with halides, well, they are gorgeous tanks...

 

[RamPuppy]

ANd pleco's will definately not be welcomed.

 

[Daniel]

Man, I got to start learning how to make tanks...All I found out so far is the fishless cycle and the fish cycle. I want to learn all the other terms and how to make a tank. I wanted to start salt water and things, they are all too confusing.. TOo mcuh Chemistry involved.

 

[D muscipula]

There can NEVER be too much chemistry involved.

Incidentally, i spent four hours in the student shop yesterday figuring out how to work with and machine acrylic sheet ('plexiglass').  I  machined four identical 1' squares to form part of a small scale terrarium i'm designing.  Then, if/when that works out well, i'll finally be able to put together the highland setup i've been scheming for weeks.  

LOL @ snowyfalcon! I hadn't even made the connection until i went back to read what i wrote.

 

[Daniel]

If you learn how to do that, pass it on to me =D. I need to make around 8 tanks of near the size of a 15 gallon tall, but a little bit wider. For my breeder tanks for my Dart Frogs =D.