WARNING TO THOSE WITH CAE!

[austinpetemo]

IF YOU HAVE A CHINESE ALGAE EATER, PLZ TAKE HEED. THESE FISH AS THEY GET LARGER START TO EAT LESS ALGAE AND INSTEAD BEGIN TO EAT THE BODY SLIME OF OTHER FISH WHICH EVENTUALLY KILLS THE FISH. IF YOU HAVE ONE YOU MAY WANT TO TRADE IT AT A LFS FOR SOMETHING LIKE A PLECO OR OTOCLINOUS.

[Davy]

did you find that out the hard way?

[Virtuoso2K12]

i guess he did,i know.

[austinpetemo]

no mine died but i had noticed it was nipping at fish and stalking my mollies. i read this not long ago.

[Hooked Newbie]

Thanks for the advice! It'd be especially appreciated if not already stated in 1000 posts here and 100s of other sites. ;)

[austinpetemo]

oh. well i never read it here and i figured i put out a warning to those who didnt know. i wished the petstores wouldnt sell these or recomend them to people with algae issues.

[The Zigman]

i thought this was pretty well known ...
Always opt for the SAEs...

[austinpetemo]

its a shame my lfs dont have those SAE. is that like the flying fox?

[Hooked Newbie]

oh. well i never read it here and i figured i put out a warning to those who didnt know. i wished the petstores wouldnt sell these or recomend them to people with algae issues.

Hey, never hurts... I was just teasing. If even one person sees this and decides against a CAE in a community tank, you done good. :)

[The Zigman]

its a shame my lfs dont have those SAE. is that like the flying fox?

SAE's look like the fox, without the gold stripe..Foxes are agressive to other foxes when they grow up..foxes have dark fins

SAEs have just a black stripe and their fins are transparent.. their black stripe runs through their tail fin..

[Lupin]

More information of SAE and flying foxes can be found here.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132241

[DAVIDFBT]

I always see CAEs sold at a certain store as a "Peaceful algea eater that will grow to the size of your tank" And we all know that's balogna.(sp?)

[Mgamer20o0]

mine havent attacked my fish and they are like what.... 5-6 years old.... maybe longer.... they go after each other but thats about it.

[goalieman59]

Mine are going on two years old and I have not had any issues. They are always cleaning and never have time to worry about the other fish.

[inkyjenn]

mines about 4 years old and about 4-4.5" he charges at the other fish if they come too near him when hes eating or if hes lurking in his burrow. however, once the 75 is set up, hes moving in there with the 8" gibby and two baby peacock bass.

i think the most annoying thing mine does is burrow. he finds a spot to dig and he just moves mounds of substrate around.

[blissskr]

I had three about 4" long they never attacked any other fish probably because my sydontis where always chasing them out of there territory, but they did eat the first mystery snails I ever bought.

[jameshilljr]

my 5in. CAE sometimes will chase the other fish around when it's feeding time. Other than that, the 3in. FM actually flares up and chases the CAE whenever it gets too close-LOL

[sheloudre]

And i WISH they would tell you the truth at LFS's - these things are NOT siamese aglae eaters!!!!!! Was told at our store this thing WAS a siamese - found out AFTER it started attacking our fish that it wasn't!! - Gave it to someone who put it in with their baby piranhas!!! Piranhas can have it!

sorry to those who like these fish, but we lost 8 fish to the one we had, in a matter of weeks, because of it feasting on them at night! will NEVER buy another one! And ours wasn't even a large one! Was only about 2.5 inches long at the time.

Recognize them and AVOID THEM!!!!

[jpappy789]

To some above posters...remember that at 4-5" yours is not full grown. Most people that run into problems do not notice any signs until the fish are older and near max size. Which is what is part of the problem...LFS's sell small, cute 'algae eaters' and a few years later people end up with a large, aggressive fish that refuses to eat algae.