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She's 9 months old and about 10 inches Total Length now, and still growing!
I will get a better picture soon.
Anyone have an educated guess as to what type of fish she is?

Not enough detail in the photo to see body pattern and such, but "Sailfin" is typically , and I see nothing that says "it can't be that" - but a photo with a bit more detail would help say for certain. And yes, they will get much larger than 9" - remember that our sizes don't include the tail.

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Mats

Think pictures of the mouth, and if possible a side on shot would help - maybe a ?
Others may be able to tell from the photo.
Martin

I edited my first post, she is 9 months old and 10 inches Total Length.
I added one more picture to the first. Sorry about the lighting.
I will get more pictures, but not today.
Thanks!

Martin S wrote:Think pictures of the mouth, and if possible a side on shot would help - maybe a

pseudacanthicus

?
Others may be able to tell from the photo.
Martin

I'm pretty sure it's a Pterygoplichthys, but exactly which kind is a little harder to say.

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Mats

MatsP wrote: I'm pretty sure it's a Pterygoplichthys, but exactly which kind is a little harder to say.

Based on the second photo I'd be more swayed toward your suggestion Mats, the angle of the fish in the first photo was very similat to a large pseudacanthicus to me, my bad!

Thanks so much for your in-put!
I'm thinking that she's a Pterygoplichthys Glytoperichthys, based on the fact that she has fourteen soft rays in her dorsal fin (I finally got a count) as well as the supraoccipital-ridge between her eyes and dorsal fin. I am waiting for a sunnier day to get better lighting before I get any more pictures; I would like to get a solid identification of her genus.
If she is the genera Glytoperichthys, I will be even more excited (if possible) as these are rather an unusual fish in the hobby.
She is rather shy, I wish I knew how to get her to be less reclusive. Where can I find some information about that?
Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

mg7454 wrote:If she is the genera Glytoperichthys, I will be even more excited (if possible) as these are rather an unusual fish in the hobby.

Glyptoperichthys is another name for Pterygoplichthys - it refers to the same genera of fish & the species is Gibbiceps. Pterygoplichthys is the current accepted name. They are in fact very common in the hobby & get very large - too big even for the average hobbyist as they need massive tanks with appropriate filtration

Hi Richard!
Thanks for the clarification; I was not familiar with the differentiation between the currently accepted and scientific names of the varied fish of the Pterygoplichthys group.
However, I would still like an identification as to whether she is a Glytoperichthys of the Pterygoplichthys lituratus group or a Liposarcus. I have not been able to find a definitive picture; which, I believed, was because the Glytoperichthys do not play a role in the hobby.
So, aren't you saying that a large Pterygoplichthys is not common in the hobby because the average hobbyist cannot supply the necessary equipment?
What a shame!
These fish are fin-tastic!
As for mine, she is a beauty; she will get whatever she needs!

If you follow the links given for a fish in our Cat-eLog, you will see an entry called "Synonyms", which lists the "names this fish used to have". For , it shows Ancistrus gibbiceps, Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps and Liposarcus altipinnis (my bold).

And yes, most people aren't able to provide tanks in excess of 1000 gal/4000 liter, and filtration to match. There are a few members of this forum (out of the several thousand) that have tanks of that size or bigger, but it's not many at all [I don't have an exact number right now - technically it would be possible to find out the size of all tanks in the "My Aquaria" - which of course isn't necessarily ALL aquaria that members have, because not all members register their aquaria (or give accurate sizes) - in fact, it's something I'd like to find out, so maybe there will be a page "listing how many aquaria of each size" there are registered, sometime in the future - what's the point in having all this data, if we don't use it to draw out some nice statistics?].

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Mats

Thanks for pointing that out...
...I'm still confused; none of these fish seem to have sail-fins as high and rounded as the
sail-fin on my fish.

I saw several large aquaria on YouTube that were:

1. constructed using the floor and walls of a garage with a large glass front.
2. made of plywood (coated with a paint-on rubber) with a glass front.
and
3.using the living-room walls with a large glass front (my favorite!).

mg7454 wrote:Thanks for pointing that out...
...I'm still confused; none of these fish seem to have sail-fins as high and rounded as the
sail-fin on my fish.

I agree with that. But just like some people are taller, some shorter, some have longer arms, shorter arms, etc, etc, fish have slightly different sizes and shapes, depending on their genetics. A better picture that shows the fish's real colour.

I saw several large aquaria on YouTube that were:

1. constructed using the floor and walls of a garage with a large glass front.
2. made of plywood (coated with a paint-on rubber) with a glass front.
and
3.using the living-room walls with a large glass front (my favorite!).

You need VERY sturdy walls to hold two large cars in weight, which is what the water will weigh. Yes, of course it can be done. And I'd start building now, as these fish grow fairly quickly, and if you have an aquarium that took less than 6 people to get into place, it's probably getting a bit small now. A 10" fish needs a tank that is at least 20" on the shorter sides.

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Mats

I have a nagging doubt this is Pterygoplichthys joselimaius with a big fin. Could you post a few more pics especially one of the fish in profile?

Cheers

Jools

Okay, these are the best I can do,for now.
She finally stayed still when I got near the tank. I don't want to stress her too much.
She usually strikes a beautiful pose when there is not enough light to photograph her; not much of a surprise there!
Anyone think they know what kind of fish she is????
Thanks!

It is Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus. You can tell it apart from the similar looking and common name sharing P. gibbiceps by the opposite pattern. P. gibbiceps has dark spots on a light colored body and P. joselimaianus has light spots on a dark colored body.

You can keep this fish in a standard 120-180 gallon tank at it's full adult size if you don't want to custom make something. They do make a lot of waste though and a good mechanical filter is recommended.

Andy

Thank you so much!
I thought she was a Jose at first, but comparing her rounded sail-fin to pictures had me thoroughly confused!
I am so glad to finally be sure of what kind of Pterygoplichthys she is!

Thanks again to everyone at Planet Catfish for everything!
Now, I will be able to take proper care of her!
mg7454

Narwhal72 wrote:It is Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus. You can tell it apart from the similar looking and common name sharing P. gibbiceps by the opposite pattern. P. gibbiceps has dark spots on a light colored body and P. joselimaianus has light spots on a dark colored body.

You can keep this fish in a standard 120-180 gallon tank at it's full adult size if you don't want to custom make something. They do make a lot of waste though and a good mechanical filter is recommended.

Andy

They may not grow QUITE as big as P. gibbiceps, but I believe Bas Pels has one that is over 16" in length, which is a bit large for a tank that is only 24" wide... [And, yes, I know, most of them don't reach that size - probably because they don't get enough food and clean enough water once they get good food - just like for P. gibbiceps, they are rare to see at really large size].

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Mats

My Jose is a beauty!
I absolutely love her, and she will get lots of food & freshwater!

Keeping fish is more than a hobby to me, it's a joy...I like feeding my fish, watching them enjoy their feast, and doing water changes, cleaning filters, filter impellers, intake tubes, learning about them, etc.
I feel that it is my obligation to properly take care of one of God's creatures when I choose to keep it in captivity. It's a pretty good deal for fish to be in my care too, no worries about predation, finding food, pollution, etc.

Tank size for fish is based more on opinion than any real facts.

You could make the argument that ANY aquarium is too small compared to a river or lake.

IME most fish can turn within their body length. For a fish that is not an active swimmer such as a loricariid they can often be kept in tanks that are smaller than one would like to see because the fish only really need room to turn. Since most fish can turn within their body length a 24" wide tank for a fish that reaches about 16-18" long is more than wide enough in my opinion.

The important thing is maintaining the proper water quality.

But we can agree to disagree MatsP.

Andy

Hello again Andy!
Sometime within the next couple of months, she will get a larger aquarium. For now, her private 30-inch long, 20-gallon seems to provide her with plenty of room. She likes her piece of Mopani driftwood, and she has several larger river rocks to rasp and clatter (all night ) as well.
With the Aqua Clear 30 (media well 3/4-full of carbon and 1/4-full of bio-support filter media) running along with an under-gravel filter, and 25% water changes every 2 to 3 days, she is quite happy and comfortable. At 10 inches TL, she has absolutely no problems turning for now.
I was relieved to know she will not be getting much larger; as, I believe, turning our living-room into an aquarium was not going to happen.

It has been almost a year. My beautiful girl is still in her 20-gallon aquarium with the same filtration, and she is now about 12 inches long. She is happy and healthy.

Sorry, that is way too small a tank for a fish that size. Doubt very much it is happy with the situation.