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I have a new tank and the previous owners gave me their fish with it. There's 2 catfish I am having a halluva time identifying..

One is a pretty regular looking catfish, but I can't find a good match

The other is like a pleco, but he's skinny and has a long tail, with hairs that point staright upward on his side fins.

Have a look.







Are they rare at all? I've never seen them in a petstore.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Your "catfish" is not a catfish, but a Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) [they are bad news, and I would get rid of the fish ASAP].
The pleco looks like some kind of Hemiloricaria.

Yeah those chinese algae eaters can be bad news i have read and answered lots of question's on forums about these fish and their nastiness,Even saw a pic of the damage it done to the side of a cichlid,Ripped a hole in the side of it

If you have a picture with the top fin extended, I can be more certain, but that is not a chinese algea eater (chinese algea eater have a broken diamond black line in the center). From the looks of the pics, it looks like a true Saemies Algea Eater (SAE).

Zebrapl*co wrote:If you have a picture with the top fin extended, I can be more certain, but that is not a chinese algea eater (chinese algea eater have a broken diamond black line in the center). From the looks of the pics, it looks like a true Saemies Algea Eater (SAE).

No, I thik that looks like a Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) and not a Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus siamensis). Colouration isn't such a great guide. More reliable is the head shape is too blunt and the eye position is not right either.

I'd plump for on the other fish but that's a guess.

Jools

The body is definitely too thick to be Crossochelius. Having sorted out enough of these fish, I am 100% certain it is Gyrinocheilus.

Thanks for the help guys, I'm still not quite sure what type of Hemiloricaria I have, although the fallax looks the closest.

Here's a few more pictures to help.

hi just browsing and thought what a strange plec. is the other fish not Epalz. kalopterus / flying fox? just wondering.

D@BMFH

Epalzeorhynchos has a longer snout, much like Crossocheilus. Also a more slender body.

thanks silurus, i think i might have had one of these chinese algae eaters too. also i thought it would have been a flyer because mine grew to a massive 9" and died cos it fed too much!!!
also had some strange purple and bluey-green looking algae eaters. russian i believe. thats all i knew. any ideas? nice purples and bluey greens around the head, dark slate grey body and head and had same shape as these chinese a.eaters.

D@
BMFH

any ideas?

Those would also be G. aymonieri.

Well, if the top is exented, then it's easier to spot what it is.
You can check out these two links and draw your own conclusion :
http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/
and
http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm#sae

Thanks a bunch. Mine is definately a Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri).
It's the only one out of these fish that all look alike, that does not have barbells.
The horizontal stripe is uneven as well, most other types have a fairly smooth or zig-zagged stripe.

So, unfortunately he is the agressive type when he gets older.. should I get rid of him now, or take a chance and see if it happens? I really don't want my other fish to get harmed.

Well, unfortunately it's too late. I should have taken my Chinese Algae Eater out of the tank asap. I woke up this morning and my Boesmani Rainbow that I've had for about 7 months now had a big bite taken out of it's back, and hiw fins were chewed up. He is obviously dead now.

Guess I'll be selling this Algae eater tuesday when the LFS is open again.