[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Gold Nuggets in planted tanks



> Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 13:20:09 PDT
> From: Raymond Wong <myapisto at hotmail_com>
> Subject: Gold Nugget Pleco's
> Hi everybody, have you guys have any experience with keeping gold nugget
> pleco's with a heavily planted tank??
> thanks
> Raymond Wong
>
> _Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 21:18:53 +0100
> From: "A M Moore" <andy at ascot_u-net.com>
> Subject: Gold Nugget Plecs in Planted Tanks
> Any way of successfully keeping Gold Nugget Plecs in a planted tank ?? Are
> they likely to ravage a tank like a Silver Dollar would ?
> Andy Moore  -  andy at ascot_u-net.com

As far as a gold nugget pleco in a planted tank, I wouldn't recommend it.  Not out of concern for the plants, but
for the fish.  Gold nuggets are caught in the Rio Xingu and Rio Tocantins rivers in Brazil.  Both of these river
systems are fast moving with O2 levels at or near saturation at all times.  In a planted tank the dissolved oxygen
levels can vary dramatically.  Particularly in a very heavily planted tank during the night when plants consume
oxygen rather than produce it.
Add to that, if you inject CO2 and that remains high throughout the night or even climbs higher as the plants aren't
utilizing it, that would provide a very stressful environment for a fish that is intolerant of low oxygen levels.  I
believe this is why the Sturisomatichthys species (Dwarf Royal Farlowellas, absolutely beautiful fish!!) aren't more
popular among the hard core "plant" folks.

Later,
Paul E. Turley