Help With Identification Please?

Hi all,

apologies as this is my first post, I'll introduce myself later but wanted to clear this up first.

I have "inherited" a fish from a relative who is not sure what it is (apart from - "it's a catfish") as they are giving up the hobby after a short period.

From the books I have and the internet etc, I think it is either a Suckermouth Catfish or a Sailfin Plec but as the care of it will depend upon the type I'd be grateful if you would take a look and let me know what you think and any tips you may have.

The photo enclosed is of it at rest (something it does a lot of!) but is has a definite sail type back fin and an elongated tail it is approx 7 inches long, the Cardinals in the background may give some perspective. I can take some more pics if need be.

Many, many thanks for your help.

K.

some type of pleco. i would say send a message to cfc and ask him to move it to the pleco forum where you'll get more insight

Severum said:

some type of pleco. i would say send a message to cfc and ask him to move it to the pleco forum where you'll get more insight

Click to expand...

Thanks Severum, that's a start.

One useful effect is that he has now stripped the tank & plants of algae!

Does anyone else have any ideas?

K

He's a liposarcus pardalis ("Common plec"). They grow very large and need good filtration and a large tank. Some people say these grow to 18"-2ft+, but often they even out at about 12-15", and scientific data has maximum recorded length at 11.8" from nose to beginning (not tip) of tail. Many of us have seen bigger specimens than 11.8" though, so it's all up in the air at the moment.

They're very hardy but make a lot of poo. They need supplemental food on top of the algae in your tank, as that isn't sufficient to keep them well fed. Spirulia wafers and vegetables such as courgette and cucumber are good additions to their diet.

Yes definately a large Common Pleco. I think Kathy pretty much covered the basics

can you get a nice side on piccy with its fin up (probubly harder then you think)

It looks too light for a 'common' and there looks like some orange in the fins...

KathyM said:

He's a liposarcus pardalis ("Common plec"). They grow very large and need good filtration and a large tank. Some people say these grow to 18"-2ft+, but often they even out at about 12-15", and scientific data has maximum recorded length at 11.8" from nose to beginning (not tip) of tail. Many of us have seen bigger specimens than 11.8" though, so it's all up in the air at the moment.

They're very hardy but make a lot of poo. They need supplemental food on top of the algae in your tank, as that isn't sufficient to keep them well fed. Spirulia wafers and vegetables such as courgette and cucumber are good additions to their diet.

Click to expand...

Many thanks Kathy,

although, see post from Smithrc. Hope we get a consensus!

I'm going to make a go of this though. Never kept Plecs/Cats (what's the difference?) and quite like the old chap.

At the moment he is in a 48inx12inx15in community tank with 20 Cardinal Tetras, 2 Clown Loaches, 1 Ruby Shark and 1 Flying Fox. He seems to be getting on ok but there are a few tussles with the loaches - nothing too heavy. They are both looking to use the same hiding place, I'll put another one in.

Mindful of his possible size, I think I may need a larger and seperate tank for him later. Apart from what you have said already, is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks,

K.

smithrc said:

can you get a nice side on piccy with its fin up (probubly harder then you think)

It looks too light for a 'common' and there looks like some orange in the fins...

Click to expand...

Much harder than I thought!!

Here are the best I got today before my battery ran out. I'll try again later in the week, probably Thursday.

Grateful for any help you can give.

K.

smithrc said:

can you get a nice side on piccy with its fin up (probubly harder then you think)

It looks too light for a 'common' and there looks like some orange in the fins...

Click to expand...

.....and another one!

K.

Looks more gibby than common to me? But I haven't got my specs on *lol*

He's very pretty, but in the future he'll need a bigger tank if he is a common or a gibby, but you knew that so I'll shurrup now!

Does he look like this fella?


Here's a good site to have a look through too:
http/www.planetcatfish.com/core/

And another - it'd probably be quicker looking at this site first and seeing if any look similar, then looking up the L number on Planet Catfish for info on care and size:
http/www.transfish.de/L1-25.html

Good luck

Edited to add - after a second look, I'm not sure it's a gibby. I'm useless at plec ids, so I'll leave it to the experts!

I dont think he's a common (Liposarcus pardalis)

Hmm... I was wondering about L147...

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=802

But.. thats not quite right...

He could be a hypostomus sp. (punctatus?) if he has 5-8 dorsal rays? If not, I'm not sure as he's not a gibby (well I don't *think* he is) and from the new pics doesn't look very liposarcus either.

Could be a hybrid of some of the more closely related plecs. I know I've seen ones similar to that sold as Commons before though their coloration and patterning weren't quite the same.

Whatever he is, he looks nice. Good luck with him but watch out for him digging the substrate, my plecs are buggers for that!

Neal

Hi

Have a look at mine he is a Venezuelan Plec. Looks similar ?







Sabby

Well many many thanks for all your suggestions. Not sure if we are quite there yet, it's confusing ain't it. He looks a bit like the L147 in smithrc's post and a bit like the Venezuelan from Sabby.....but not completely like either!

Hope you aren't getting fed up with me yet, I really am grateful. I guess what I really want is size and care tips, particularly in view of his companions and tank size (see above).

Anyway, as I now have zillions of blurry pictures, here's the best one - any ideas?

Many thanks again,

K

I think he's a hypostomus if I've counted his rays right. Have a loo at the link below and see if it helps:

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/genus.php?genus_id=17

He could be hypostomus punctatus - they're not a rare plec and are sometimes sold as "commons". Very jealous - would love one of him!