# Albino Sucker Fish



## Suess00

I got an albino sucker fish and got him when he was a little baby and now I had him for 7months. I just want to know if this is how he is supposed to look like cause he is getting darker. Im feeding him Hikari algae wafers, and also he is been eating the eels left over blood worms and now is trying to scare the eel away from his bloodworms lol.

The eel is 2-2 1/2 inches big.

Here is the pic


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## Suess00

The Albino sucker fish keeps eating the eel's food what do I do for that? I dont want to starve my eel is still smaller then the Albino and needs the bloodworms that the Albino is eating. Any suggestions please???


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## jones57742

Sue:

I am not too swift at ID'ing fish but the photograph is way too small for me to attempt an ID.

I am also not familiar with eels but an ID of the Pleco is necessary before addressing your food competition issue as some Pleco's which are omnivorous but principally herbivorous will consume substantial "meaty treats" to their detriment.

TR


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## Suess00

Hope this one looks better.

Once again the Albino bullied the Eel and left the eel his left overs.

Also when I bought this Sucker fish 6-7 months ago at Petsmart they said he was an Albino Sucker fish and he looked very much like the pics on this website and others but latley in the last couple of weeks after I got rid of my two Tiger Oscars he has become extremely more brown. 

The water conditions are normal, alot of hiding places, gets 2-3 algae wafers every other day (i dont know how much you should feed him daily). 

There are only the eel and sucker fish in the tank so they should not be stressed out or anything...Any suggestions?


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## Guest

Looks like an albino common pleco to me. They get huge, but its good you atleast have him in a 75g tank. He may need bigger in the future.

They like meaty foods as well as the veggie stuff, so try getting some sinking carnivore pellets. Or you may just have to put in alot of bloodworms, if that is what he's eating. If he continues to be aggressive, then you may need to get rid of one or the other.


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## Suess00

Oh they might outgrow the 75 gallon tank!?!?

When I bought him it said only up to 6 inchest (I bought him at Petsmart)

The color he is right now is that was he is supposed to look like?


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## trashion

Yes, he probably will outgrow a 75 gallon.
Here's a probably-full-grown common plec:









Fish often change colors as they get older, don't worry. His coloration is probably normal.


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## Suess00

Here is the thing that I dont understand then is that the Fish store said he will only get 6-8 inches and that is it and there were others that will grow up to 36 inches and others that would stay under 6inches.

Is that all a lie then?

My friend has one and had him for over 1 year (its not an albino like mine) and that sucker fish hardley grew


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## jones57742

Suess00 said:


> Here is the thing that I dont understand then is that the Fish store said he will only get 6-8 inches and that is it and there were others that will grow up to 36 inches and others that would stay under 6inches.
> 
> Is that all a lie then?
> 
> My friend has one and had him for over 1 year (its not an albino like mine) and that sucker fish hardley grew


Sue:

The size of Pleco's varies significantly.

Does your Pleco look like this (1) or this (2) or this (3)?

TR


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## Suess00

he looks like the second post i did it was his actual picture from yesterday


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## trashion

The only plecos I've seen at PetsMart are commons and bristlenoses, and that looks like a common to me.

It's not unheard-of, AT ALL, for fish/pet stores to misrepresent their fish to make a sale.


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## jones57742

JustOneMore20 said:


> Looks like an albino common pleco to me.


Still believe it to be a BN even though the tail is not characteristic of many flavors of BN's.
Please observe the geometry of the mouth area compared to the typical Common.




JustOneMore20 said:


> They like meaty foods as well as the veggie stuff, so try getting some sinking carnivore pellets. Or you may just have to put in alot of bloodworms, if that is what he's eating.(


JOM's words apply to BN's as well.

Place two sinking algae wafers in the tank at "lights out" time and slightly overfeed the blood worms the following day.

BN pleco's are typically not observed to be aggressive and, IMHO, when her belly stays full for a little while she will not aggressive.

TR


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## trashion

Hmmm....jones is right, the tail does look like a BN. In that case, it looks like a female bristlenose pleco (hence the lack of bristles) and you should be fine.


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## Guest

Ok, where to start...
1) This is not a bristlenose, its not an ancistrus species AT ALL... the body is 100 percent..completely..wrong... to be a bristlenose
2) These plecos are often sold under the name of "chocolate pleco" or "chocolate albino pleco" 
3)http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=7801 is it a variety of common pleoc
4) its not albino, but instead leucistic (note the non red eyes, although the flash makes it almost look red)
5) the pic posted by trashion is not a "common" pleco
6) The pleco in question has a potential of reaching 15 inches or so
7) Algae wafers will not complete this fishes diet, and IMO putting in several waffers everyother day for this fish is a waste. Add some meatier foods to the diet.
8) These fish do darken up some, as well as some lighten up, i would not be too concerned about it.
9) Just for more clarification, this is NOT a bristlenose


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## trashion

Mike saves the day...


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## Suess00

Thanks guys

How hard would it be to get a male then if this is a female?

Any records of them breeding in tanks and if so what would the process be?


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## Guest

the comments about this fish being a female were made under the incorrect assumption that it was a bristlenose... you cannot easily sex this fish, nor easily breed it in your tank setup. this fish does get quite large, and is not the best algae eater (especially as it gets larger). just keep that in mind


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## Suess00

Well I am extremely confused right about now.

I have read so many different opinions on this fish that I dont even know which one to believe at all.

What are yals recommendations in my case?

What Pleco is good to keep in a 55-75 gallon tank that does not grow enourmous?


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## Guest

this fish is the fish that i identified for you, trust me, or dont, but plecos are one area of fish i know more about than the average fish keeper. 

This fish gets large, very large, and as with most "common" plecos, they grow lazy with size and dont do as good of a clean up job as far as algae goes. 

If you want a fish that does a good job of eating algae its whole life, and stays relatively small, then you want to go with a bristlenose. there are many types of "bristlenose" plecos, but for your purposes the common one (ancistrus species 3) would be what i would choose http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=49

Male bristlenose get the bristles up the bridge of their face and around the rim of the face. The bristles can grow quite large, females generally only have a few short bristles around the lip. These are IMO the best algae eaters you can find. 

If you cant get your hands on a bristlenose there are many other choices such as: otos, rubbernose pleco, pitbull pleco, etc. 

No need for any confusion


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## Suess00

thanks for the information. 

I will look into getting one and try to find a home for the fish i currently have before it gets too big for the tank


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## fishboy689

Suess00 said:


> Here is the thing that I dont understand then is that the Fish store said he will only get 6-8 inches and that is it and there were others that will grow up to 36 inches and others that would stay under 6inches.
> (its not an albino like mine) and that sucker fish hardley grew


Fish stores dont always know what their talking about.


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