I Never Do This... But Please Help Me Id This Pleco...

[eaglesaquarium]

Alright, I was hoping to get a BN for my 110 gallon tank - see sig.
 
Anyway, Petsmart had this little guy for $1, marked as a 'bristlenose pleco'.  Doesn't appear to be one I'm familiar with, but the coloring was so lovely, I just went for it.
 
 

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Not sure why the photo is flipped.

 
Top view:

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Alternative view:

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[Paradise3]

Starlight Bristlenose maybe? Would need better pictures unfortunately

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah... my camera is an ipad, and my skills are limited.  Plus the tank has a ton of scratches in it.  Hard to get a really clear shot of any fish up close.
He's actually far more 'light gray' than he is a black.

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

A better head photo would be nice. Right now, it just looks like a very healthy and vibrant common pleco to me lol

 

[Paradise3]

A better head photo would be nice. Right now, it just looks like a very healthy and vibrant common pleco to me lol

 
Yeah. That was my thinking but if it was labelled BN(I know some shops get it wrong but BN's and commons are hard to mix up) then my next thought was Starlight BN but if it's more light grey than black then I'm stumped

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The issue is that the pleco can move from one section of a tank to another... so it had access to go from the 'common' area to a 'BN' area.  At this size, I can't tell the difference between a juvie BN and a juvie common.
 
 
I have a big enough tank if it is a common, but I think I'd rehome it anyway if it were.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Got some better pics... not a lot better, but I was able to net him and put him in a small 'tank' for the purposes of taking his picture.
 

 
upside down again, and I don't know why.

I'll be adding more later.

Another one...






Not sure why they are upside down here, they aren't upside down on my computer.

  Shouldn't affect the quality of the pic...
 
Is it a BN or a common? 
 
Currently he is about 1.25 inches long.
 
If I can't get a definitive ID, I think I'll be returning him to Petsmart. 

I might add that in the tank, with the black substrate, he doesn't look that dark... but in the smaller holding tank, he does.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here is a helpful trick- keep the water in the tank shallow as possible. That keeps it on the bottom glass.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well, the pics are as good as I can get...  I think.  I'll see if I can get another with a 'shallow' water from the top.

 

[Paradise3]

I'm thinking BN Young BN's do have the spots and they tend to fade and sometimes completely disappear as they age

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Tried TTA's trick and used a friend's phone to get the pics... maybe these are better, but I can't upload them at work.
 
Please come back later to check out the newer, better pics.
 
Thanks for the help so far, I do appreciate it.  (And my pleco appreciates it as well... he wants a happy home and to be removed from the tank as little as possible.  He might be getting mad about the double netting this morning.)
 

 

[Paradise3]

Tried TTA's trick and used a friend's phone to get the pics... maybe these are better, but I can't upload them at work.

 
Please come back later to check out the newer, better pics.
 
Thanks for the help so far, I do appreciate it.  (And my pleco appreciates it as well... he wants a happy home and to be removed from the tank as little as possible.  He might be getting mad about the double netting this morning.)
 

 
Will keep my eye on this

 

[eaglesaquarium]

photo 4
 
 

photo 3
 
 

photo 2
 
 
Well, here are the 'better' pics...  Any help is still greatly appreciated.  As I said before, he looks far lighter in the tank on the black substrate than he does on the white background.  Can't say that I can explain why either... its almost like he's going with a reverse camouflage.

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Congrats it's a bristlenose

 

[Paradise3]

Yup Bristlenose