Will An Airstone Help Me Keep A Gold Nugget?

[Marshall..]

I am gutted after buying a really healthy gold nugget. It was well fed and had been settled in the shop for three weeks within days it was dead. I have tried to keep various L numbers before including bristlenoses and given them all the required things recomended in their diet but all have gone the same way. I am reluctant to get another but would really like to keep one.When I was buying the last one the lady in the shop recommended an airstone to lift any toxins from the lower part of the tank.But my clowns and corries are fine and my discus are breeding all the time,should I get an airstone and give this beautiful plec one last try?

 

[nmonks]

It's very unlikely an airstone -- by itself -- will make or break your success when it comes to keeping these catfish. All airstones do is improve circulation, but if the circulation is so poor already that fish are dying, then you need to do something more serious than add an airstone!

Baryancistrus tend to be an odd combination of requiring warm water but lots of oxygen. So they're after something broadly similar to, say, clown loaches. Provide relatively warm water (around 26 C is a good starting point, though your Corydoras may well object and most species need cooler conditions). Install heavy duty filtration: nothing less than a turnover rate of 6 times the volume of the tank per hour, and realistically 8-10 times. In other words, if you have a 250 litre tank, you need a filter (or filters) rated at least 1500 litres per hour and ideally 2500 litres per hour. An external canister is probably essential because you want the inlet at one end of the tank and the spray bar at the other. Internal canisters or (God forbid!) hang-on-the-back filters simply won't move water around the tank properly unless you have more than one and place them around the tank.

Besides providing lots of circulation, lots of filtration will also ensure perfect water quality. Be under no illusions here: zero ammonia and nitrite are essential, and you want to keep nitrate as low as possible, ideally well under 50 mg/l.

Cheers, Neale

I am gutted after buying a really healthy gold nugget. It was well fed and had been settled in the shop for three weeks within days it was dead. I have tried to keep various L numbers before including bristlenoses and given them all the required things recomended in their diet but all have gone the same way. I am reluctant to get another but would really like to keep one.When I was buying the last one the lady in the shop recommended an airstone to lift any toxins from the lower part of the tank.But my clowns and corries are fine and my discus are breeding all the time,should I get an airstone and give this beautiful plec one last try?

 

[Marshall..]

Thanks Neale ,I have a Jewel filter that is obviously turning the water over too slowly but my water peremeters are all excellent and my other fish are all healthy and as I say I have a breeding pair of discus. My water temperature is 28 degrees C but obviously this is not enough and I will have to look into investing in an external filter.

 

[nmonks]

The Juwel filters are reasonably good in many ways, but the pumps are small and depending on the size of your aquarium, turnover my be less good, or less uniform, that you really need. Adding a second filter at the other end of the tank should help a great deal. An internal filter might do the trick, but an external canister filter is generally better value in terms of turnover per £.

Discus come from rather slow moving waters quite different to those of Baryancistrus, and on paper at least, I'd not consider them compatible. Instead, you might care to look at some of the new Hypostomus and Ancistrus species on the market. Many of these are extremely attractive, and being facultative air-breathers, they're much less sensitive to sluggish water conditions than the fast-water species like Scobinancistrus and Baryancistrus. Panaque can be good too; while a trifle delicate immediately after import, once feeding they're tough as boots and come in a variety of dwarf and giant sizes.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks Neale ,I have a Jewel filter that is obviously turning the water over too slowly but my water peremeters are all excellent and my other fish are all healthy and as I say I have a breeding pair of discus. My water temperature is 28 degrees C but obviously this is not enough and I will have to look into investing in an external filter.

 

[rabbut]

Gold Nuggets and Discus are a no-go The Gold Nuggets IME latch onto Discus for the slime coat My Discus tank has a turn-over of 8X an hour, and it caurses them no issues, so high-flow IMO would not be a problem for most. If they are breeding though, a high-flow may reduce your fertility rates, as the males sperm may be washed away before it's had long enough to fertilise the female's eggs... Hasn't stopped the Angles in my Discus tank from breeding mind...

All the best
Rabbut