VertigoXLR8R222

i bought a chinese algae eater at petsmart this evening. so naturally, i decided to research everything there is to know about my newest addition. so i see that there are chinese algae eater and golden algae eaters. now i see that all the chinese algae eaters are one color from nose to tail. and i look at mine and i see that he is gold from his nose to his eyes and chinese colored from his eyes to his tail. do i have a hybrid or is this a juvenile state and i have to wait for adulthood to have the full color pattern? or will it just be gold nosed forever? that would be cool. any suggestion or spare knowledge? Lee

Chief_waterchanger

It is probably a hybrid. It will ---probably--- stay that color pattern. congrats on accidentally getting something cool.

VertigoXLR8R222

yeah his gold markings have gone all the way back to the front of his dorsal fin behind that is just normal chinese coloring but even those colors have a golden tint to them maybe he will change completely i dunno its a work in progress Lee

Butterfly

we need pictures
Ccarol

gremlin

Just put pics of my two on the picture thread -- Both started out normal colored, one changed to pied coloring. Probably hybrid, but they sure look neat!

armadillo

Can't it be a juvenile?

gremlin

It may be a youngster. Mine was normal colored when it was young (about 1/2 inch long) and the pied coloring came out as it grew. Since mine are in an outdoor pond, the first time I noticed the color change I thought it was a young goldfish swimming around my pond...it was between 2 and 3 inches at that point. The coloring hasn't changed since then, but it is now about 5 inches long...

Here is a picture of my two...(during one of my major cleanouts)

armadillo

That happens a lot with pleco, so I assumed it could be possible for other fish too.