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hey guys,i traded up my cons,and ended up coming home with another gold spot pleco,well ive done a heap of reading,and i kept on reading that that must have caves, good filtration, regular waterchanges,and there diet shouldnt be just scraps and leftovers,etc,etc,etc,and they need driftwood,well i have all the above except driftwood,i red that when they rasp the surface of the wood,they also absorb some small particles of wood,and this is 1 of the key elements they need to thrive,so i have 2 questions,
1,should i put some driftwood in for my new pleco,in the 55gal,mixed community cichlid tank?
2,how come my bigger goldspot in with my 2 jds in the 200gal,has never had any wood of any kind,and he is thriving,robust,dark in colour?
its just most of the info said that they really should have some wood to graze upon.so i just wanted to here what you guys have to say about it.

Plenty of people have kept them without,im talking in the tens of thousands here, but in doing so you always risk obesity, and a lack of gastrointestinal health. Some plecs are built to handle wood, and the fibrous structure of that wood supports beneficial bacteria, and their intestines and stomach are built to handle that fibre. You probably do need the bogwood for that vitality and health that comes from a fully functional and healthy digestive system.

I say if they want bogwood, give em bogwood. Its easy enough to provide.

First what are we calling a gold spot? My first guess would be one of the gold nugget species:
http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=154
http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=153
http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=155
but there are others if those don't match. For example http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=161.

I don't think L177 or the sunshine/goldie pleco really needs wood. The other 2 gold nuggets would benefit from a small peice. It doesn't have to be anything big or expensive. If you really don't want to have wood visible in your aquascape or spend lots of money you can at least get a little $5-$10 piece and stick it behind some rocks. If they need it they will find it.

yeah some of the info was i bit confusingive already got some wood so i mite give it a go,and see how they react towards it,if i constantly see em hanging around it then ill leave it in there,if not then ill take it out.also the bits of wood i have, havent been in action for a while,should i give them i light scrub,b4 i soak them in water,or can i just whip em in after the soakingone other thing,ive only ever had like 5 plecos b4,and they were fairly small and calm,but the new fella i just got,man he is not to be messed with,yous should have seen him and my gt having a mini scuffle,my gt was trying to steel his shrimp pellet(a big hit in this tank with all of the fish),but there was no way he got it,my pleco ended up shooing the gt off,i didnt know that they could be that tuff.anyway thanx guys.
oh and will the wood lower my ph from 7.0-neutral.....

Only two genera ingest food for nutritional purposes. If your gold spot isn't a panaque albomaculatus, this it's probably not a species that needs wood and would be better off simply just chew on some cucumber.

so,c.o.l.n you rekon dont bother with the wood then,i mite just dig out some cucumber like you said.the dude at the shop said dont be surprised if you dont see him much,he was very shy when he was here,well since his been in my tank he has been on a mission cleaning,out eating,he just hasnt stopped,he is much more active than my larger 1,why is this?

well i didnt bother with the wood,and i got a good look at him this morning,and hes doing fine,he has coloured up really dark,and his spots are glowing gold