Chinese algae eater

they do start to eat the slime coat, and often the scales on the fish too.
they like to latch onto tall bodied fish like angels, discus, bose. rainbows, etc. that have alot of area for them to eat, opposed to something like a platy or swordtail, as they are pretty slender.

bottom line- they get big, agressive, and eat the scales off of fish. only suitable for specimin tanks IMO

your LFS is correct.

Hello,

In most cases thats probably true, but in my case it isn't. I have a four year old CAE, he's a little agressive, but never have I seen him suck on to any fish. I even have angels! The kinda weird thing about him is that he likes to hang out with the Cories, and he loves when they whisker him. Before when I had no Cories, he was a little agressive, but now, since I got Cories, he's much more peaceful! He still eats quite a bit of algae at age four.

Cory Lover

marlboro said:

My LFS told me today that they don't sell Chinese algae eaters because they eventually get too big and they stop eating algae and start eating the slime coating on other fish.
The "too big" part I"ll accept, but I never heard the slime coat part. Anybody got an opinion/knowledge they'd care to share?

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Take good care of that LFS, a store that cares more about fish than money is very hard to find. I wish I had a place like that near me.

My personal experience with the CAE: had one a little over a year, before I knew the trouble with keeping them, then one day I see it chasing around my late oranda(Socrates, R.I.P.) and see some of it's scales worn down. Long story short, the CAE didn't live very long after that. I didn't do anything intentionally, I just had a rather lucky accident, used the wrong bucket to put him in while doing a major water change. The point is, you would be better off not getting one.

Look for a Siamese Alge eater or a Flying Fox instead. Much better alternative to the Chinese alge eater for the reasons stated above

Reminds me of the day I went all over the city looking for the SAE and at one store, when I asked about the SAEs the guys couldn't understand why I wouldn't just buy CAEs instead. So I told them about the reasons and they still thought I was a nut.

It's always interesting to be treated like a nut when you're correct. I always wondered how guys like Galileo felt.

:read:

again, different personalities with the fish.
i have them in 2 tanks, and the only time they get aggressive is if another fish tries to get into there cave... then they'll put on a short chase.

besides that, i havent had any problems in the 2 yrs theyve been around