I made a bit of an irresponsible impulse buy today and got tiny little Albino Pleco (about 1 inch). Usually I would read up a lot on any new creature I was planning to buy but I have to confess that I know nothing about these little guys. The rest of my day will be spent trawling various Pleco websites to learn, learn, learn.

In the meantime I have a few immediate questions that you guys may be able to help me with.

At the moment he is quarantined on his own in a temporary 2 gallon tank (no filter, not an ideal situation). His permanent home will be with my 2 Fancies in a 20 gallon.

And so the questions begin:

1) How long should his quarantine period be?
2) How should he be treated, if at all.
3) Should he be salted....do they take salt?
4) I pray he's not a Common Pleco, I tried to make sure he had little whiskers but he is tiny so it was hard to see. Can albino ones be "Common"?
5) How many gallons do they need each (presuming he's not Common). I'll be upgrading tanks soon.
6) I need to buy him Algae wafers. What else does he eat...zucchini I read. I have a large piece of driftwood in the tank so that'll be good for him as far as I know.
7) Can anyone direct me to a good Pleco website so I can learn the basics?

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

Ok, I'm embarrassed now!! After some research I realised that I do [B]not have a Pleco but an Albino Cory.

Sorrreeeee!

Can Anyone help with the above questions.......in relation to an Cory.

Can he even go in with goldfish?

well, i do not have an albino... i have the standard spotted ones, i know that you have to be careful of their size because if they are small enough to be eaten by a goldfish, they will get stuck in their mouths!

I also know from experience that you want to keep them in groups of 3 or 4.

Here are some good links all about them:
http://www.plantedtank.net/fishprofiles/19/

http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Corydoras.htm

oh, and they are sensitive to salt, so like... a salt bath isnt recommended.

But, he can handle the salty environment of your goldies.

As far as your tank, it seems fine. but you might want to go ahead and just get one more. you will see alot more activity out of your corys when they are in pairs.

Also, make sure you have a hood or a lid, i lost one of my big males when he jumped out of the tank.

As far as food, they LOVE the adult brine shrimp that you can buy frozen in the stores. They also enoy eating daphnia and bloodworms. I actually do not see them eating that much algae itself.

Cory's really don't eat much if any Algae at all. If you have the tank space,I'd at least try and make it a group of three. I don't salt any of my Cory tanks,but I have heard that some do at a low percent. If you do have to use Salt,start out slowly and keep an eye on how the Cory is reacting to it. Cories will eat everything that your Goldies eat.Mine adore frozen Bloodworms,and all the fresh veggies that I feed my Applesnails. When keeping Cory's,you always want to make sure to keep up on the gravel vacs.Corys have those little barbels(whiskers) that will wear down if the gravel is always dirty. Good luck!

Thanks for all of your advice guys but the little guy died last night. I think he was in bad shape when I got him and hadn't much of a chance.

Poor little dote.

I'm going to stick to GF and Apple Snails from now on. I feel I know them best. I have no confidence with any other types of fish. X

sorry about your little cory-cat . they are cool little critters. i have a small band in both tanks and they do great. very peaceful and fun to watch. they will even give you a "wink" occasionally!

as someone else said, they really don't eat algae, but just bottom feed. i supplement mine with the little discs that are made for bottom feeders.

btw-the reason for the salt issue is that they don't have scales! they have "plates" like other catfish instead.

aww that is so sad! Im sorry you lost the little guy. but atleast now, if you do decide you would like to keep them, you know more about them