Chinese Algae Eater Question

[neon_platy]

Ok, so after starting with fish and then finding this site, I've come to realize 100 times over never listen to fish store people or don't buy anything/do anything without consulting on here first. I just read the salt thing, and the people at the store knew what I was doing and still let me do it. Anyway, my fish seemed ok and maybe this is related to me having a little aquarium salt in the tank, I don't know, but my Chinese Algae Eater has grown a lot lately and just before he started getting huge, the skin on his head started peeling. I posted this elsewhere, but thought maybe this area is best for this type of fish and question. Sorry for the blurry pic but any ideas what would cause this? He hasn't had any other probs and maybe it is just salt related...Please advise

 

[Inchworm]

Hi neon platys,

Since your Chinese algae eater isn't a Catfish, it's a loach, I'll move your thread to the Cyprinids, Characins and Atherinids section. That's the place where you'll get the best answers to your question about it.

 

[neon_platy]

Hi neon platys,

Since your Chinese algae eater isn't a Catfish, it's a loach, I'll move your thread to the Cyprinids, Characins and Atherinids section. That's the place where you'll get the best answers to your question about it.

D'oh!

 

[Lateral Line]

CAE's do grow big, and get tetchy as they get older. Most get lazy and stop eating algae, and most get decidedly territorial. Some can become absolute terrors taking the eyes out of other fish, (especially Corys), and eating the slime coats from the sides of others, particulaly flat sided fish like gouramies and angels.

They are, sadly, often sold to new keepers. They are somewaht a specialist fish, and the world is full of big CAE's in a tank by themselves because they cannot live with anything else, and nobody wants to take them.

As a scaleless loach, they are far more vulnerable to salt than scaled fish. Salt permeates the skin much easier than scales. The reaction of the skin is to produce more slime to try to reduce the irritation. It is the extra slime sloughing off you are probably seeing. It is a general rule that salt is far more dangerous to scaleless fish than scaled.

Unless you have specific reasons for adding salt, (i.e. brackish fish), salt is a pollutant and should not be added. The people who claim salt reduces disease are only partly right, what they actually mean is that in a poorly maintained, overstocked, stressed situation, the salt does more harm to the disease organisms than the fish. Well maintained, sensibly stocked, low stress tanks without salt are also typically disease free.

 

[neon_platy]

Thanks for the reply...grrrrr i really hate fish store ppl right now Anyway thanks for the info...from what I can tell my CAE hasn't attacked any fish, although it could explain some odd deaths in the tank the other day...Anywho, I won't be using anymore salt thanks for the info...i still can't believe someone at hte lfs told me he'd be ok with the salt must be a part time person taht doesn't know anything more than a newbie...

Thanks again!!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah i agree with lateral line, other than just stop using the salt and start doing lots of water changes, it may be a good idea to add some StressCoat when you are dechlorinating your water as it will help aid the fishs protective slimecoats, which at current will be a bit knackered after the salt use . Melafix is also another good general physical health med aid as well when used in small doses.
Apart from the whole agression thing that CAE's can often experience as they mature, make sure your tank is big enough to hold one as they can grow to 10inchs+ as well given time and they can be fast growers at that .