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 Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:33 pm
aghh so! once upon a time i went to the local pet store and came out with two baby algae eaters. the girl in the store told me they wouldn't grow much. rolleyes
so. now i have these two adult algae eaters which i don't really have space for. i had the both of them in a 20 gallon, and they were chasing each other about, so i moved the smaller one into my other 20g tank. now the one i moved is all aggressive and trying to suck onto all my platies! it's really weird!
i'm thinking i should just move him back with the other algae eater, because at least the other fish in there (mostly guppies) weren't stressed out by them.
thoughts?
i have a 25 gallon tank i'd like to have set up by christmas (no stand/heater/filter/etc yet) which i could maybe move them or one of them into..
thanks guys :]
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:15 pm
from what i've read about chinese algae eaters any fish that is flat or a semi flat surface is in danger of having them attack it. so im guessing some of your platies were big enough for their mouths to suck onto their sides and that it was mostly your male platies due to female ones being rounder least thats my experience, i had 2 chinese algae eaters once.. they attacked my honey dwarf gouramis and now most of my fish are flat so i no longer have those algae eaters so really just keep em in a tank where there are rounder fish or give the other fish many many hiding places.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:52 pm
I've read that they can be very aggressive like that. If anything, you can put them both in the guppy tank and section it off so each one gets a side. That's probably what I'd do, I don't like to waste tank space.
It should be noted, this is why it's a good idea to research any fish in depth before buying it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:27 am
The problem with CAE's is that they have a taste for the slime coat of fish. Young CAE's seem to be mostly vegetarian, but as they mature they become more omnivorous, or even carnivorous. I browsed around the net a bit and it seems that in extreem cases they may even take a bite ou of another fish or suck out an eye, though that may be after the fish was dead.
When they are still small they seem to be quite docile, but as they get older they get more agressive and territorial towards eachother and other fish. Especially other bottom feeders risk getting harassed.
They do seem to have a weak swim bladder so the fish that live in the upper levels of the tank are probably pretty safe from them.
Fast and strong fish are the best tankmates for them. Danios, barbs, and tetras are pretty good, but it seems that African chilids are better, since they can actually defend themselves. The only creatures a CAE won't or can't bother are crayfish and turles.
I'm guessing that if you keep these two together in a small tank one of them will kill the other eventually, though they'll probably bother the other fish less when they are fighting eachother.
Make sure they are always well fed though, to prevent them from making a dinner out of your other fish.
Just don't ever put them with goldfish, since golds are very curious and friendly and have a yummy thick slime coat.
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