Sabi

Hi

I'm going to ask you guys to give me hand if possible without a pic for the time being.

I got the pleco at my lfs, they say its some sort of gold nugget....

This is the description i come up with-
1- At first glance i thought he looked like a green phantom pleco.
2- I'd say his body is a dark gray, real dark.
3- The tips of his tail has yellow.
4- The top of the dorsal fin has a yellow stripe.
5- He has yellow spots all over his body and fins. The spots get bigger as it comes to the lower end of the body.
6- And i'm 80% sure he's a bristle nose. When i caught him in a net i saw fine whiskers on the sides of his mouth.
7- He has a sort of bronze glow on the stomach.

I've seen him sucking on the glass a lot.

Its hard to get a pic as he's small, just under 2in and when out of the water they get dark. Any ideas?

Tom

From what you have said, I would say it is a gold nugget. BN don't have yellow spots. My 3 L052 plecos also have little bristles at the mouth and on the pectoral fins. They are just there for defense, and it works, they really hurt.
Tom

COBettaCouple

Have you checked www.planet-catfish.com? They have pics of all the plecos for you to compare your guy to.

Sabi

Umm. Sorry these are the best pics i can come up with for now..

Sabi

Yeah i was comparing them to the gold nuggets they have there, as well as others similar that i could find. I was thinking that the description does fit the gold nuggets the most, the thing thats giving me doubt is that these plecos spots are much duller. See how this juvenile stands out-


Lol, thanks for telling me. I was contemplating taking them in my hand.

COBettaCouple

Could it be that the spots intensity can vary, etc? Maybe based on region or diet or water chemistry?

Tom

It is most likely different for the diet and region. Cause if you feed earthworms somesort of vegetables for their life, they will turn green compared to the brown they should be. I think it is the same with fish. Also there are some foods that are supposed to give some fish more color than other foods, so I think that is the cause.
Tom

Sabi

So by feeding the correct diet needed for them, their coloring should become more distinct, right?

COBettaCouple

I believe so, but there is a natural amount of variation so it's hard to say how distinct his coloring will get as he reaches maturity. The ideal diet for him will give him the best coloring though and most importantly give him the best health.

Tom

Exactly what COBC said, with a proper diet, it should be able to get the great color and have great health. Good luck.
Tom

Allie

It's really hard to tell from those pixs. Good luck with your new pleco.
Sometimes my Snowball pleco looks like a gold nugget without the yellow trim.

Sabi

Thanx for the help guys!
I must be dreaming but i'm sure the spots are a mite brighter, at least its noticeable! As far as i can make out, L081 is the answer. According to planetcatfish they dont eat algae. But they seem intent on having the tank spick and span, sucking all over the glass and deco.

Butterfly

Looks kind of like an Ancistrus sp (3) which is a type of Bristlenose
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...?image_id=2583
His shape makes me think Bristlenose also.
Carol

COBettaCouple

I love the video.

Sabi

Wonderful Carol! I think you hit the nail on the head, right down to the spots being bigger on the lower end. Can you give me an L number or common name? I cant find ancistrus sp3 on planet catfish. Thanks!
Edit: Hm. body's a bit more dark.

Butterfly

The link I gave you was for the species 3 there was some variation in color, spot size, and spot color in my different spawnings of ancistrus sp(3) . Bristlenose in other words all bristlenose are of teh ancistrus species.
Here is the link for all their listed Ancistrus species. Move your cursor over each name and a picture will show.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...php?genus_id=4
carol

Sabi

AH Thanks. I couldnt find the profile. It definitely is that and not a sort of gold nugget.