# Identifying fish



## JFancy (Sep 4, 2011)

A friend of mine gave me this fish, it looks like a sucker fish but its a light peach/off white color and about 2 inches. Can someone please give me some clue what kind of fish he is? He looks just like my pleco but a different color and smaller.

Sorry I have no pic of him hes currently in a log


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

He is an albino plecostamus, probably a common albino pleco but he could be a bristlenosed. My guess is those 2 because they are the most commonly found in the hobby. It could be another type of pleco, but those are the 2 most likely. 

If they are common plecostamus's then you will want one heck of big tank, they get up to 2 feet long. Yup, they get BIG.


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## JFancy (Sep 4, 2011)

My friend said he wont grow any bigger than a few inches.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Chances are very high your friend lied. Ask what the name of your fish is, if he says it is just a plecostamus or just a sucker fish then I'd give it a 95% chance that its a common.


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## JFancy (Sep 4, 2011)

He doesnt know, Ill post a pic when he comes out of hiding.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

"it won't get any bigger than a couple of inches"
FAMOUS LAST WORDS.....................lol


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Very few plecos stay less than 2 inches. Dude I am telling you, it's a common and it will get BIG. If it were a fish that was going to stay 2 inches or less and an albino there is no way he wouldn't be interested in the name because it would be rare and probably worth some $$$$. 

You can always check into planet catfish and hunt it down, but being an albino can make that hard as the defining colorations are harder to discern. If it has a bunch of worm like tendrils on its nose then its a bristlenosed, but if those are not there it could still be a female bristle which have less, smaller or no bristles at all. If you got lucky and he gave you a bristlenosed then it will get about 5 inches, more if a guy, less if a girl, but right around 5 is what you can expect in the tank. 

http://www.planetcatfish.com/ You want to check the L numbers. Enjoy the hunt, you will come across a lot of cool plecos!


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Common:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?species=pterygoplichthys+pardalis&image_id=7800
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=7872
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?species=pterygoplichthys+pardalis&image_id=7873 (notice this fish is bigger than 2 inches)
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=10133

Full size:
http://www.bowfinanglers.com/images/nickv_pleco_072806.jpg This is the non albino version of your fish. Albino does not mean less growth, just a different color. 

The good news is that it will take a long time to reach that big so it's not a huge deal now, it just will get to be one soon enough. Some LFS will take them in over sized (I have seen a 14" one at my LFS) but many will not as they can be hard to find homes for.

Bristlenosed:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?species=ancistrus+cf_cirrhosus&image_id=7813
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=7818
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=7821

Those stay around 5-6 inches.


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## JFancy (Sep 4, 2011)

lohachata said:


> "it won't get any bigger than a couple of inches"
> FAMOUS LAST WORDS.....................lol


0.o


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## JFancy (Sep 4, 2011)

Obsidian said:


> Common:
> http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?species=pterygoplichthys+pardalis&image_id=7800
> http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=7872
> http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?species=pterygoplichthys+pardalis&image_id=7873 (notice this fish is bigger than 2 inches)
> ...





Oh wow! I had no idea there were sooooo many different types. I feel so overwhelmed just going through all those pictures lol. They had a lot of cool looking ones, I loved all the ones with the spots, never seen those at petsmart lol. 
Well unfortunately I was unsuccessful identifying him. That little sucker stays hidden when the lights are on and I cant get a pic.


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

O yea, theres 100s of Plecos, thats why instead of doing scientific names now, they just do the L numbering system (there are other reasons for this too).


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