This makes them great beginner fish but their high price might discourage most people from buying this beautiful fish. This fish can adapt to any tank as long as the tank meets the minimum parameters these plecos need. Gold Nugget Pleco Care is easy and simple as they are not demanding species. The minimum number of caves you need to add to your tank is the equivalent number of male plecos you have in a tank. You can easily prevent this from happening by providing multiple caves and hiding spots for your tank. The male specimens of Gold Nuggets can attack each other and fight over hiding spots or caves. If they feel safe enough, they will also come out during the day but not as much as other fish. This means they need enough hiding spots so they feel safe. They tend to hide during the day and come out at night. Gold Nugget Pleco is a passive and shy species and will mind its own business most of the time. Feeding them a poor diet or having them in bad water conditions will drastically reduce the age of the fish. The majority of the people fail to provide this fish with an ideal environment which is why they might see this fish die a little sooner than other plecos.įood is an important part of helping them reach their expected 10 years lifespan. While most claim this fish only lives 5 years, we have kept this fish for over 8 years with no issues. Gold Nugget Pleco’s lifespan is about 8 – 10 years. They are usually sold at around 6 – 7 inches in pet stores and it takes a few years before they reach their max size. This makes them great fish for medium or larger tanks. The average adult Gold Nugget Pleco size is 8 – 9.5 inches. Some species develop smaller dots while others develop thicker dots but they all have the strip on the tail and dorsal fin. But the belly area is usually light yellow with fewer or no visible patterns. The dot pattern covers the entire back and fins of this fish. This is why they are rarely seen swimming in the water column as their soft belly can be an easy source of food for other fish. Their body is flat on the belly side and has no armor to protect themselves. On top of its body, this fish has several rows of armor-bony plates that shield it from predators. These yellow patterns in contrast with their black body make them look stunning. The L018 Pleco has a bold yellow dot pattern on its body and the tip of its dorsal and tail fin has a thick yellow stripe. This is why the L018 Gold Nugget pleco has gained a lot of popularity nowadays. So in recent years, the fishkeeping community has started to realize that there are also smaller plecos that they can own in smaller tanks. In the past, only larger species of plecos were available in the stores which are why most think all plecos grow very large. This species of plecos stay small which is why most aquarists want to have it in their tanks. The waters this fish is coming from are warm and well-oxygenated so a similar environment is necessary for an aquarium setup.

Gold Nugget Pleco mainly swims on the sandy bed of the river and hides under rocks and boulders. Depending on the area they have been collected they will look slightly different, Which is why there are different L numbers associated with this fish.

All these are different representations of the same fish. In pet stores, you might see this fish under different names like Gold Nugget Pleco, L081, L085, L177, or L018 Pleco. They can be found in low quantities in other parts of Brazil as well. This is where this fish is being collected for the aquarium trade. Gold Nugget Pleco (L018 Pleco) is an armored catfish from the Loricariidae family native to the Rio Xingú (shin-gu) in Para, Brazil.

Zebra pleco tank size