He is healthy, believe me. It is dilussional to think one could control, life, death, size, etc. Same for the CAEs, I bought them at the same size, some grew twice bigger than others (under same conditions). I also know the horror stories about CAEs, that the go for the slime coat fo other fish, etc. But people who actually have these fish, think totally different:
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/algae/4377-anyone-heard-yellow-algae-eaters.html
Quote:
If you're talking about the Chinese Algae Eater, yes, I have this one. While I don't see mine sucking on my fish's slime coating, they are known to do this. They are also known to grow more aggressive with time. While JP says they won't eat a lot of algae, mine eats ALL algae EXCEPT black brush algae. I've had this algae eater for OVER 2 years now and I have NEVER had a problem with algae in this tank. He is so effective at cleaning algae that I often put him in my 10 gallon tank (full of algae) for a night or two, and after that time, the tank is completely cleaned! I can't complain about him, even though he is generally known for many bad things. Besides, he DOES eat algae tabs and any flakes that fall to the bottom. He may eat brine shrimp, but whenever he finds bloodworms on the bottom, he spits them out. Now, these algae eaters are said to grow to about 10 inches, but this applies to a situation when they live in a natural habitat. In aquaria, they grow much smaller - unless one's aquarium is really big. My Chinese Algae Eater is about 5 - 6 inches long. Perhaps he is stunted, but he has never appeared sick to me - he looks very lively and well. I also believe that the aggression in this type of algae eater results from not enough space and poor diet. I feed my algae eater well, and while a 30 gallon tank is not that large, it's also not as small as a 10 gallon tank is. And most of the times, beginners usually get a small tank. On top of that, they're often sold fish that grow large and need large tanks - without the store staff telling the inexperienced beginners about it. No wonder that later various fish get an opinion for being "bad". But in reality, it is people's fault - we often fail to research fish before buying them and therefore we don't know how to provide the fish with appropriate conditions for it to be healthy. Going back to the Chinese Algae Eater, from my personal experience, I believe that if it will be provided with enough space and good diet, it will be a very good algae eater (with the exception of black brush algae) that won't be that aggressive either. Many people may confuse this algae eater's very fast swimming with "aggressiveness". So, unless you have a larger tank and are able to provide it with a good diet, don't get this algae eater.
P.S. I've never even once (during the time of over 2 years) had to use any "cleaning magnets" and "algae scrapers" in my 30 gallon tank.
So did you ever had these fish or you're just saying?
