How to tell the difference

[Sidman24]

If my local fish store has a label "algae eater" on their tank, how do I know if I'm getting an Otocinclus catfish or Chinese ?? I want an oto because they are peaceful and I heard Chinese can be mean and don't eat algae once older. Thanks guys!

 

[cgthebeast]

Otos are really small an have a black stripe down there side

 

[Joeybsmooth]

This is just from what I have run into . So an expert by know a little better .

But m Chinese is a lighter color then the Otocinclus catfish.

 

[aquandrew]

do you have a cell phone that you can pull up pictures of each? if you aren't confident in identifying a fish, this would be the easiest way. otherwise typically you will see the otos in groups shoaling with each other and you won't see that as much with CAEs or SAEs. i wouldn't recommend getting any otocinclus yet. they need a well established, stable tank with a nice layer of algae/biofilm. most otos are wild caught and usually pretty sensitive in the beginning

 

[Mebbid]

Anything labeled "Algae eater" is most likely a chinese algae eater. Any store that will sell either siamese algae eaters or otos will label them as such because they are very popular and sell quickly.