Identify My Loaches?

[Dave26]

Hi. I bought/rescued a small 64ltr tank on eBay including fish, the water was pretty disgusting. The fish were advertised as 2 silver dollars, a plec and a pair of loaches. The fish are now in my 4 foot tank and are much more lively, but I'd like to identify what type of loaches they actually are? Just to give me an idea of suitable tank mates and what size they will grow to. I know the photos below are poor quality but any help in identifying them would be great! Also any ideas what the orange thing in the first couple of photos is? The two loaches seem to be spending a lot of time in that corner.

 

[MBOU]

Not loaches, they are the dreaded Chinease Algae Eaters

 

[Sharpy1987]

Sucking loach? if it is them, they will grow to about 6 inches

 

[SandraNewbie]

Definitely a Chinese Algae Eater, No clue on the orange thing. What consitency is it?

CAE are a bit of an aggressive fish AFAIC. They can get to around 28cm. They like relatively average temperatures (23-26). The problem is they like a fast flow, heavily planted tank with various hiding spots and need lots of algae (and some of them are fussy over which algae) and over time can start to like the taste of tankmates.
It can be a territorial bully or a hidden terror.

You definitely drew a short straw there.