Algae Eater

[sic0198]

I have an algea eater. I bought it from petland, the dude said it would be good for a 10 gallons tank. I'm thinkibng he's nuts. If it's the one I'm thinking of it will get really big (too big for a 10 gallon that's for sure). I know I've seen this fish betore but I never did get it's name, maybe you could give me some names of fish commonly bought for Algae eatng purposes.

Right now it dark colored, and always is stuck to the sides of the aquarium, thats alll it does. I've not seen it out swimming freely. It's maybe 2 inches long and (right now) really peaceful. Sorry I can't be more descriptive.

I've been trying to figure this out, It's not an Otto or CAE.

 

[eschaton]

It's a Pleco of some sort, probably a Common Pleco, and going to grow to be 20 inches long or so.

 

[sic0198]

I had an idea it was gonna get big. I had no idea what it was though, but you may be right. Now why and the crap would petland sell it to me knowing I was gonna put it in a 10 gallon tank. Stupid petland.........for once I'm not at fault.

Heres the story.

I went into petland on friday to buy an Algae Eater. I just wanted something small. So I saw a baby sucker fish and pointed to it and asked the petland guy to get it for me. I told him it was for a 10 gallon tank. I went to look at some Convicts, when I came back he went to another tank to get my algae eater from, I just shrugged it off and said well he must have those little things in 2 tanks. So I got it home, and I said your def. not the algae eater i thought I bought.

This is it. Darn it, now what in the <bad word> am I gonna go with this. Do they grow fast?

 

[sic0198]

Guess while it's little I'll keep it, do these require any special care?

 

[sic0198]

Do they catch disease easily?

 

[Rhiannon]

Are you sure its not a Bristlenose? I have one, they only grow to 4 - 5 inches long, snooze most of the day sucking on something and come out at night and work. They are not very social, very peaceful and dont attack.

I hope for your sake it is.

 

[LisaLQ]

He'll outgrow that 10g in a month, one of mine's gone from 2" to nearly 5" in the two months I've had him. They grow very quickly, you can expect a common to be well on the way to fully grown (12-18") within a year.

But to be honest, there's hundreds of different types of plecs, ranging from the tiny to the mahoosive (some even bigger than commons - gibbies for instance), and without a pic, we cant take guesses at how big it'll get.

But I'd think even a common BN might be too big in the long run for a 10g.

 

[sic0198]

When it gets too big for the 10 gallon I'll rehome it. I'm hoping it is one of those different ones. How can I tell if it is a bristlenose one?

 

[erk628]

Take a pic and post it let the people here tell you what it is!

 

[sic0198]

Will do!!! I won't be able to do it until tomorrow though.

 

[@ombomb]

Stupid petland.........for once I'm not at fault.

You bought it, not knowing what it was, but with an idea that it would get too big for you tank, when you are obviously are aware that that would be a problem.

Can't blame the store 100% IMO.

 

[sic0198]

Stupid petland.........for once I'm not at fault.

You bought it, not knowing what it was, but with an idea that it would get too big for you tank, when you are obviously are aware that that would be a problem.

Can't blame the store 100% IMO.

Yeah I can't blame them 100% I should've double checked. But stull they shouldn't have sold me that kind of fish. ut everything will work out, heck it might be a species that gets 4" tops.

 

[sic0198]

I paid I think $3.99 for mine. I say this because I wanna know if Bristlenose Plecos are around this price?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

most plecs you would find in a store like petland would probably be in the same price range, so it would be hard to tell from the price alone. IMO it is likley that you have a common plec because these are the only kind sold where I am, other than the CAE which you have already ruled out. A Picture will help, so thats a great idea, then we will know for sure. another thing to do would be to look at a catfish website and compare pictures, although these pictures may be of adults and yours is much smaller, you may see some common traits and get a better idea of how to identify yours! good luck!

try here, it may help

http/www.planetcatfish.com/

 

[sic0198]

Are bristlnoses very expensive?

The little guy stays at the back of the aquarium against a dark background, I can't get it to come out for a photo.