I.d this fish?

[Ezzie]

This was laybled a 'sucking catfish' by my LFS and after talking to the guy about algae he commented on how good they are,

I added to my tank after it got overrun with algae and the 2 small mystery snails went doing a good job, could someone I.d this fish?

Does anyone know how big it would get? Could it live happily in a 9 gallon with a dwarf gourami?

He did a spectacular job of cleaning and would love to keep him there and replace the snails!

 

[Soulstar]

Looks like a gold algae eater to me. I've seen some really big ones so probably a bigger tank is a preferable although I'm sure you can keep it until it grows bigger.

 

[scuba dude]

That too would be my guess. If they are anything like the chinease alage eaters they can get up to about a foot in length.

I have 2 chinease alage eaters in my 90 community and they have doubled in size since I have had them. Now about 3 inches long.
Great at keeping tank clean but I hope they do not get too big and then I will have to trade them in ; I would however replace them with smaller ones.

 

[Samzter]

All I know is that it looks like a Chinese algae eater? I have no experience with these so I could be wrong. If it was there is no way it can live in a ten gallon and will get very aggressive once matured

 

[Ezzie]

I checked some photos on google and they look exactly like him! Thanks guys!

I guess it's okay to keep him until he grows then rehome him? He's really shy actually, darting away when I walk past the tank. It's such a shame he will get big why do all the good helpful fish have to get massive not everyone wants massive tanks ya know!

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Wow, in a 10 gallon, no can't do, they get huge! Ad very aggressive when mature, I would rehome it and get some ottos

 

[Ezzie]

What are ottos exactly? I've seen that name a lot but never really looked into them :S

 

[Surfer]

What are ottos exactly? I've seen that name a lot but never really looked into them :S

Otocinclus catfish they're tiny and related to plecos.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

They are really cool! But you need to have an established tank because all they will eat is algae, good clean up crew! Really leave your glass clean!

 

[Ezzie]

Ohh its so cute! I might look into those and give my little algae water away thanks a bunch guys!!

 

[Ezzie]

Forgot to ask do they need more then one or are they fine alone?

 

[Surfer]

Forgot to ask do they need more then one or are they fine alone?

They prefer having Atleast 2 more friends 5 in all would be ideal, just be sure to have algae tabs once they finish up the glass

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

I would get 2 in the size if that tank
It's hard for ottos to eat any type of prepared food, as all Otos are wild caught and don't know what an algae wafer is, your best bet is to go and buy them during feeding time, that way you can see which ones eat the prepared food

 

[Ezzie]

Thanks guys ! Ill check the LFS today if they have any!

 

[Autumnsky]

They also die easily right after you get them home. If they make it a few weeks they are pretty tough after that initial getting used to the new home phase, and living through importation and all the shipping.

Acclimate them to the new water in your tank. I would get 3-4 as the tend to die, mine learned to go after algae tab bits, and many here feed blanched green foods like spinach, kale and the like.

They have little barbels and can poke a net and get caught so be careful. They are awesome little guys!

 

[Ezzie]

Well I couldn't find any while I was out today, unless they were used another name. They did have Siamese flying fixed but they didn't seem to be doing much cleaning.

Any other recommendations for a good small algae cleaner? I feel the snails are inferior to this little fish, in 3 days he totally cleaned my whole tank, it was amazing!

 

[Autumnsky]

They eat algae like mad when they are young but later the can start sucking the slime coat off your fish, causing injury and illness or death. IMO only good to consider if you have a very large tank with large fish. I had the normal color CAE like your albino, and had problems with them on several occasions, ( as I didn't know why there were problems 20 years ago, good thing I came here.)

In my really big tank, I had Siamese algae eaters/ SAE and they were 6.5 inches long!!! They were the best for eating algae, like algae mowing machines. Mine past away as a result of a pH crash, and our lfs don't have them.

You could try the Brislenose Pleco.

 

[Fishman007]

Those golden algae eaters get to 26 inches and get super aggressive once they mature you should give him back to your LFS before its to late...

 

[Ezzie]

Don't plecos get massive?

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Don't plecos get massive?

Not the ones I mentioned, no 4-5 inches