Unidentified Pleco

[9murphy9]

hi
I've recently got a pleco in a deal with a fish tank,he was living in a cold water environment around 15 degrees Celsius but he's now in my tropical tank.When we got him he was around 4 cm but has now in the space of a month gone to around 9 cm but more importantly when he arrived he was jet black leading me to believe he was a common,but after a week ha became silver with stripes then over the last 3 weeks has settled to a beige color with a black line in the center of his body and surrounding spots.he is extremely fast being a able to out swim my fastest fish(spanner barb),he regular eats algae yet does not eat any food debris,so does anyone know what type of pleco he is ? thanks I've left the picture below i think,thanks for any help

Alex

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi Alex, welccme to the forum.

You'll need to upload your pic to a hosting site, like Photobucket or Flickr and paste the IMG code into your post. We can't really help giving you an ID without a pic; many plecos and algae eaters look very similar.

 

[9murphy9]

thanks it keeps saying th image is too big try these and hopefuly they'll work :

http/i1237.photobucket.com/albums/ff473/9murphy9/DSCF0305.jpg

Alex

 

[fluttermoth]

I think that is probably a Chinese algae eater Gyrinocheilus aymonieri; if you have a Google yourself you should be able to confirm weather it's the same or not.

 

[9murphy9]

thanks sorry to have asked but I've been looking at pleco's so much i never even consider it would be different,will it do okay in my 4ft x 18" x 15" tank ?

thanks

Alex

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

acually arent chinese algea eaters gold like mine was i think its a siamese algea eater and as fatr as i know therese no diff exept color

 

[fluttermoth]

CAE come in two colour morphs; the 'normal' brownish one and a leucistic (I think) gold form.

The SAE is a totally different species; Crossocheilus oblongus.

 

[Sherry1966]

Actually that is a Chinese Algea Eater. Not a pleco at all. They can get to be 11" in length. When they get bigger they get aggressive and get really lazy when it comes to eating algea. I have a 5" one that I am trying to find a home for. He is chewing on my panda cory's tails. So he is going. I have to say that and I am sorry for all the chinese algea eater lovers out there. I hate this fish and will never get another one again. Sorry...