Gold Nugget

[AngryBaconGod]

So I have a new gold nugget in QT. It's about two and a quarter inches in length. It's tummy looks a tiny bit indented, but certainly not sunken compared to pics I've seen online of doomed GNs. I don't really know if it's normal or if it's been a bit starved, lacking GN experience as I do.

Unfortunately I can't say whether it was QT'd by the importer before sale to the LFS or not. But it seems to be OK, I think.

The GN is a busy eater, but it's only eating algae. That and a bit of wood every once in a while. I've had it for a week now.

I've tried cucumber, zucchini, carrot, romaine lettuce, shrimp pellets, carnivore pellets, veggie pellets, algae pellets, and frozen brine shrimp. Oh and freeze dried bloodworm. But the only thing this pleco wants is algae. It's possible that it's found the bloodworm or brine shrimp, but I really can't tell (it's in a tank with substrate, by necessity at the time). But I've certainly never seen it spend any time at all eating from the substrate.

I've read that these guys need protein to be healthy, and frankly I'm worried that the tank isn't growing algae fast enough to feed it as much as I would like during this first month or so.

So to my questions:

Is the GN at risk because if its self limited diet? Or is it OK to just keep grazing on algae until it decides to try other stuff?

What else can I try, or is there anything in particular I should do to encourage it to vary its diet?

Thanks!


EDIT: I guess I should add that I'm making sure the water quality is kept good, and that it has a hiding places.

 

[Breamlegend]

You could worm it.

 

[Lornek8]

What's your temp at?
How much water movement have you got?
GNs come from areas with high flow rates & warm water. Duplicting these conditions can help with feeding. As can worming as Breamlegend mentioned.
Most algae in tanks is unlike those in nature & not nutritional enough to support plecs. if you've got any hope of keeping it, it needs to eat other things. Don't worry much if you don't see it eat though, most plecs, especially on initial import, feedl much more ocmfortable eating after dark so be sure to offer food at night after the tank lights are turned off. You can also try feeding veggies soaked in garlic juice as garlic has appetite stimulating components as well as antiparasitic properties.

 

[AngryBaconGod]

Hi,

Temp is about 81 and water flow isn't that great.

I do night feeding and control the light appropriately. Thanks for the garlic suggestion.

The pleco isn't that shy and will often eat around us.

I will research worming.

Thanks!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Best of luck, the same as the others really, they need top quality warm water and a lot of oxygen. I'd be tempted to try feeding Sweet potato, the reason being that it is the most nutritious vegetable. You could also try the paste of egg white and spirulina powder <http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9441>, or grow your own algae <http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4047>

I would also be tempted to leave the vegetables in over 2 or 3 nights, as it maybe only as it softens the GN will eat it. If you use small slices it won't compromise water quality. If you can get them eating any vegetable even cucumber, you can then stud it with pellets and hope the GN will start eating them as well.

cheers Darrel

 

[AngryBaconGod]

Thanks! I've been leaving the food to soften up, and the GN has been dutifully ignoring it.

I'll keep at it and collect the ingredients for that egg white and spirulina powder.

 

[zeebo]

the others gave great advice. I wonder if he has had algae wafers before you got him? If so, you can try that , and if he does eat them ,you can use the algae discs to introduce him to real veggies. After he is familiar with the algae wafers and recognizes them as food, you can break one in half , stick it in a veggie, such as zucchini ,and once he goes for the ''known'' food ,the algae disc, he will get a taste of the veggie you stuck it in and should begin eating/recognizing other veggies as food. Good luck , hth too,

Georgie

 

[Rabbit]

On a side note iv found a better way of feeding zucchini to my nuggets is cutting it into thick slithers and leaving in the sun for the day to the point its got a dry outer layer while still easily consumed by the plecs. Seems to last longer in the water given they don't eat it all first and as far as i am aware doesn't have any adverse effect on the nutritional value.
This may help in the way you can leave the food in the water as to provide a constant source of grazing if he wish's to come round.

 

[AngryBaconGod]

I'll give that a try too.

My GN finally ate some Romaine lettuce last night. I had to stuff it in his cave for him to realize it was food. I've tried that before, but I guess there was enough algae in the tank that he didn't care. I'll be shoving other foods in there now.

His tummy is pretty sunken now though, and I fear that it's too late. I'll keep trying different things with him and make sure he gets lots of lettuce along the way, but I'm depressed because everything I've read suggests that it's probably too late.

 

[Tener ds]

I'll give that a try too.

My GN finally ate some Romaine lettuce last night. I had to stuff it in his cave for him to realize it was food. I've tried that before, but I guess there was enough algae in the tank that he didn't care. I'll be shoving other foods in there now.

His tummy is pretty sunken now though, and I fear that it's too late. I'll keep trying different things with him and make sure he gets lots of lettuce along the way, but I'm depressed because everything I've read suggests that it's probably too late.

he might bounce back,when i got my ned (L081) his belly was sunken.
now he don,t stop eating/grazing.when hes not eating his veg hes eating my swords
and floating plants..:wb:

 

[Lornek8]

I'll give that a try too.

My GN finally ate some Romaine lettuce last night. I had to stuff it in his cave for him to realize it was food. I've tried that before, but I guess there was enough algae in the tank that he didn't care. I'll be shoving other foods in there now.

His tummy is pretty sunken now though, and I fear that it's too late. I'll keep trying different things with him and make sure he gets lots of lettuce along the way, but I'm depressed because everything I've read suggests that it's probably too late.

I'd try treating with PraziPro if you can get it. It treats internal prasites & does a good job settling new intros. Its effective but pretty mellow stuff so it should be okay treating even in a weakened state.

At this point I'd bump up the temp to around 82-83F (if other tank inhabitants can take it), increase aeration & offer a lot of meaty foods like good quality bloodworms or brine shrimp. While GNs are normally not heavy carnivores & it can cause some problems, at this point its more important to worry about it getting enough calories. Meaty items have more calories per volume than do veggies & are often more attractive/appetizing. Veggies, especially lettuces, are nutritionally poor & lack calories, its a big reason why people on diets eat veggies.

 

[AngryBaconGod]

Thanks! Eating the lettuce last night was a huge step. I will be continuing to try to get him to eat better foods as best as I can.

Bumping the temperature will increase his metabolism, right? Cause him to burn off more calories? I assume you're hope is that will incite him to eat more?

 

[Lornek8]

Thanks! Eating the lettuce last night was a huge step. I will be continuing to try to get him to eat better foods as best as I can.

Bumping the temperature will increase his metabolism, right? Cause him to burn off more calories? I assume you're hope is that will incite him to eat more?

GNs naturally come from areas of the river that are shallow, warm (up to 86F) & fast moving. Yes, its to help get him to eat. Worked for my old GN & for others as well. GNs are notorioously difficult to acclimate. Part of the problem is people don't always keep them in conditions that mimic very well their natural environment. So, at least initially it helps to get conditions closer to what they came from.

 

[AngryBaconGod]

GNs naturally come from areas of the river that are shallow, warm (up to 86F) & fast moving. Yes, its to help get him to eat. Worked for my old GN & for others as well. GNs are notorioously difficult to acclimate. Part of the problem is people don't always keep them in conditions that mimic very well their natural environment. So, at least initially it helps to get conditions closer to what they came from.

OK, I bought an AquaClear 110 to put into its 29G quarantine tank. That will hopefully create some more water flow for it during the adjustment period and hopefully also clean up some of the food debris it's not eating. I can raise the temp no problem. Would closer to 85F be even better?

I also have frozen blood worm for it.

I can order the PraziPro online, but will not get it until close to the end of next week. Still worth it?

 

[Lornek8]

I think its worth having for any wild-caught fish. Might not be in time to help this one but at least for the next time.

 

[AngryBaconGod]

The AquaClear is in, and there's a decent amount of water flow now. I moved the cave so that there wound be good water flow through it.

Of course the filter is now sucking up the blood worms. :wb:

 

[matubula]

Of course the filter is now sucking up the blood worms. :wb:

I've found this a common issue with pleco set ups when trying to feed foods that can't be held/stuck in place. The two ways that I try to deal with it is either by using an opposing flow or by diffusing the flow with decor.

In my larger tank (5ft 500L) I use a 6000lph pond filter, Fluval FX5, Eheim 2180 and 2252. So about in theory about 11,000lph (but thats probably less than half in reality) all in same direction. So all 'loose' fed ends up in one corner which isn't much use. So what I do is, when feeding 'loose' food I aim the pond filter's flow directly at the floor. So this keep the food spread over much larger area allowing more fish to get at it.

And in my other tank (4ft 300L) I use an Eheim 2180 and 2252. With this tank I use large pieces of wood to diffuse the powerful flow. So keeping a lot of flow on the surface (and oxygenation) but having a slower pace nearer the bottom.

As for feeding, from what I can remember of my 16cm L177, he didn't care much algae wafers and preferred smaller pellets/granules to hoover up. He would spend most of his time time on the walls of the aquarium, so I used suckers on the glass to hold pieces of vegetables, mainly sweet potato. I would recommend you try sweet potato because I've found it a universally popular food and also you can tell if it's being eaten as the poo is orange.

 

[mike0605]

I have personally had success with peas shells taken off

 

[AngryBaconGod]

He seems to nibble on sweet potato a bit, but just loves lettuce. He's chewing up whole leaves at a time. Certainly with lettuce present, he ignores anything else. The question is, is he better off - short term - bulking back up on as much lettuce as he can eat, or should I take the lettuce out sometimes to try to encourage him to eat healthier fare? At the risk that he might not be eating at all?

 

[Lornek8]

short term - bulking back up on as much lettuce as he can eat

Problem is he probably can't eat enough lettuce to bulk up. Just not enough calories.