15cm(6in) possible leopard? Might be eating my fish.

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RustyGrizz
Posts: 2
Joined: 19 Jan 2020, 04:12
Location 1: Calgary Alberta
Location 2: Canada

15cm(6in) possible leopard? Might be eating my fish.

Post by RustyGrizz »

20200118_210308.jpg
I came into a 300 gallon tank when I bought my house and this fella has been in there for a while. The tank had x5 9-12inch leopard plecos and but did not have this coloration and 2 bristle nose, it also had 5 yellow Oscars in the tank. I have since rehomed all but the two bristlenose and this guy and I have now added 1 oscar 2 pearlscale cichlid, 3 convict cichlids, 1 tiger mota, 3 geophagus , 1 columbian catfish, 2 golden algae eaters, all these guys are juvys(under 2"). They have all been in the tank for a week and now in two nights 1 golden algae eater and 1 pearlscale have gone missing, I've checked filters and they cant jump out due to a lid on the tank so all I can think is this guy might be eating them? I'm looking to ID this fish to see if that's possible however its mouth is too small to eat the pearl but the algae eater is plausible. Neither of the fish that have gone missing showed signs of sickness or stress so I dont think they died at night and had been goobled up so is this guy a hunter? Thanks for any info. If more pictures are required I'll try to get more. My best guess is L050
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Acanthicus
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Re: 15cm(6in) possible leopard? Might be eating my fish.

Post by Acanthicus »

Hi

Thats a totally peaceful specimen of Pterygoplichthys punctatus, its not the guilty one you are looking for.
Daniel
RustyGrizz
Posts: 2
Joined: 19 Jan 2020, 04:12
Location 1: Calgary Alberta
Location 2: Canada

Re: 15cm(6in) possible leopard? Might be eating my fish.

Post by RustyGrizz »

20200119_160133.jpg
Ok here is a better picture of it showing off more
dw1305
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Re: 15cm(6in) possible leopard? Might be eating my fish.

Post by dw1305 »

Hi all,
RustyGrizz wrote: 19 Jan 2020, 23:07 20200119_160133.jpg

Ok here is a better picture of it showing off more
Pterygoplichthys spp. have about 12-14 soft rays in the dorsal fin. You can count them from your picture. Have a look at the Cat-eLog .

It looks in OK condition, but a bit snub-nosed.

cheers Darrel
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