ID on Algae Eater/Catfish/Suckerfish

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M

mPhish

Aquarium Advice Freak
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Jun 18, 2014
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I went to the LFS to get a guppy and some info on a algae eater for my 10gal. I got one guppy and two little teeny algae eater guys that the fish guy said stayed at their size (1-1 1/2"). They are so cute! The guy said he knew what they were but the name was long, he could look it up if I wanted. I forgot to ask him to :facepalm: so now i don't know what they are. I realize i should have done more research ahead of time, but they have plenty of algae to eat in my tank.
What I know about them-
1-1 1/2 inch long & stay that long
light brown with dark irregular splotches
VERY active (my experience)
good cleaners

I will get pictures up soon
 
Pics not displaying :(
Make sure that the image file name has no spaces in it (rename it if possible) before posting. Worth a shot.


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It's a little hard to tell by the pictures, but it appears to be a loach of some kind. Your judgement may be better. This link shows some of the common types of loaches. See if it's not one of those.
 
Blurry pics but from I can tell, they lack the characteristic dark line that runs the length of the body down each side that Otos have. But there are different species of otocinclus. If there were barbs present near the snout I would say that it is a type of loach. Downward sucker mouth, correct?


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Doesn't look like an algae eater at all. Like the previous poster said it looks like a loach. The body looks a little like my flying fox but the stripes definitely don't

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I can't find it on loach sites, it is closest to the panda loach but not by much. It's not long enough to be shistura pridii, and I don't think it's a catfish. WHAT ARE THEY? I'll try to get better pictures but they move so fast.. any ideas to slow them down?
I looked at garras before i posted this, they are similar but I don't think so.
The mouth shapes of all these things are different than my guys'. They are more rounded and have the tiniest little barbs, you can barely see them.
 
I added more pics to the link. The fifth-to-last one is pretty good, and there are a couple in there of one of them suckering on the glass so you can see his mouth. Some are better than others.
Should I start a new thread?
 
I enlarged image 57 of 66:
8ecC732.png

Looks less like a loach and more like a species of Oto. If there are barbels present, I cannot see them. I do see what appears to be a sucker mouth.
Yes, I use AT&T and the battery life is 85% :)

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I know what you mean about looking like an oto. I can't find any that look exactly like him though, and he's so small. I feel like his head is a different shape but that might just be me..
 
I'm going to email the LFS. I'll let you know if I find out what they are! Thanks for all your help everyone, even if I didn't figure out what they are!
 
bettaowner said:
I honestly think it looks more like a goby or even a garra.
Click to expand...


I agree, I can pretty much say confidently that it for sure ain't an oto.
It definitely looks like a garra to me...a very very small and colored down one at that.

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