CAE Growth - Stunted?

[Kittiee Katt]

So a while back (a couple of years) I 'rescued' a random fish from my mums idiot friend... I'm pretty sure he's a Chinese algae eater, but I'm wondering if he was stunted while with the other guy.. He had apparently had the fish for almost five years in a 30ltr tank with assorted tetras. It was (and still is) only as long as my CT betta, he hasn't grown at all and I'm wondering if he was stunted? I've read that they can have pretty slow growth rates, but no growth in two years isn't just slow - is it?

My betta was full grown when I got him, so the cae isn't growing with the betta, which in turn could cause me not to notice growth of cae..

He is in a 120ltr tank with five golden minnows, one USD cat, two khulli (sp?) loaches and my betta. I understand that if he grows any I'm going to have to move him to a bigger tank, but for now he should be right in there.

PH is 6.8, water sits around 25°c, nitrates kept below 20ppm. Fish are fed an assortment of NLS thera +A pellets, hikari algae wafers, frozen blood worms and peas (the usd cat loves peas!)

The loaches are only temporary residents, and will be going in with my goldfish when they get a bit bigger, and the USD cat has only been in there for a couple of months now.

I don't see the cae pick on anyone, and I never find injuries on any of the other fish, so I assume he's pretty laid back, for now...

My question is, this fish is supposed to be around 7 years old, should he be bigger than my betta? And if he is stunted, can anyone give a rough guesstimate on how much longer he may live?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Post script: if I've left anything out, just ask and I'll give details.

 

[Wailua Boy]

That does seem like really slow growth, maybe its another species; could post a pic to be sure.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I'll try for a picture this afternoon when I feed them lunch, if I can't get a good one (he's never out for very long unless its past 7pm), I'll try for one tonight when he comes out to explore..

Thank you

 

[Kittiee Katt]

This is the fish in question. Photos are really hard to get because I only have my phone, but I got a few that are somewhat viewable, so here he is, I present to everyone, the fish who's name I can't put up here.



I'll try harrass my cousin to bring out her fancy camera and get some better pics, but that may take a while so these will have to do for now unfortunately. Hopefully they're good enough to I.D him and work out if he's been stunted..

Thanks to anyone who can help I.D him (or her?) Also, what are some visual signs of stunting to look for?

Thanks again.

 

[Wailua Boy]

Luckily, looks to be a good sized Oto catfish, less aggressive and great algae eaters; a much better tank mate for your other fish. They should grow to only a couple inches.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

This one barely touches the algae.. I've only ever seen him eat one type of algae (a dark greenish blueish stringy type), and the second I put fish food in there, he leaves the algae for the wafer.

Thanks heaps for replying to me, I'm now off to look up oto catfish and see if they generally act like mine. thanks again.

 

[Wailua Boy]

Try to look at the mouth, to me that's a distinguishing feature. Looking back at photo, its hard to tell.

 

[Omrit]

Definitely a type of Chinese algae eater. The markings are different and an Oto that big would be insane. Likely just stunted. My neighbors had one that grew like a monster for about 5 months going from less than 3 inches to almost 8. It never grew any larger for the next year or so that it lived. I think yours must be stunted.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Yeah he's not an oto. I was looking at them online they're a different shape to him, and he has a much larger mouth (rounder? I'm not sure how to explain it..).

If he is stunted, is there any way to guess how much it has cut his lifespan short?

And thanks heaps for the replies.

 

[convict360]

It's a CAE, I've seen mixed growth on them; some get monstrous, others stay tiny, often this happens if they are bullied for food and out competed too

He'll probably be just fine lifespan wise etc IMO...