Chinese Algae Eaters - Aggressive?

[Luzi]

4 weeks ago we bought 2 chinese algae eaters, marketed as good algae eaters suitable for a community tank. After reading about them on the internet i found that they turn aggressive as they grow and can even attack other fish. I also saw that they can grow to 12cm!
This is a serious problem because I only have a 25L tank with some platies who tend to have lots of fry. Although at the moment they only chase each other and only chase the platies when they start eating their food, they seem to be getting more aggressive and one of them is already as 5cm (we got him at 3cm)
Does anyone have cae's, and does anyone know how to deal with them?

 

[phil140701]

4 weeks ago we bought 2 chinese algae eaters, marketed as good algae eaters suitable for a community tank. After reading about them on the internet i found that they turn aggressive as they grow and can even attack other fish. I also saw that they can grow to 12cm!
This is a serious problem because I only have a 25L tank with some platies who tend to have lots of fry. Although at the moment they only chase each other and only chase the platies when they start eating their food, they seem to be getting more aggressive and one of them is already as 5cm (we got him at 3cm)
Does anyone have cae's, and does anyone know how to deal with them?

best thing to do is take them back to lfs they are nasty fish, they will get a taste for fish slime which in turn will lead to illnesses instead of just making fish ill actually killing them instead and they will eat any fry that are born in the same tank.
Hope this helps
Phil

 

[Luzi]

This isn't good... We bought them from Pets at Home, so I'm not sure if we can take them back. The store assistant said the slime addiction would only happen with goldfish, not platy. There's no other tank I can put them in. What do I do?

 

[phil140701]

This isn't good... We bought them from Pets at Home, so I'm not sure if we can take them back. The store assistant said the slime addiction would only happen with goldfish, not platy. There's no other tank I can put them in. What do I do?

hmm well sort of explains it self there, thats one chain of shops i've had serious issues with even to the point of them selling jack dempsys as "community fish" if you want to keep them just make sure they are well fed with sinking loach wafers
Exerpt from wikipedia :

The Chinese algae eater, Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, is sometimes kept in aquaria to control algae. It can range up to 11 inches (28 cm) in length. It has a reputation for becoming increasingly jealous of its territory as it matures, and also can be aggressive to fish, especially slow, flat-bodied fish. In the home aquarium, the algae eater makes a poor tank mate. It is very aggressive and boisterous; they often attack other fish and rip off scales, causing infection. It rarely swims to the surface as it likes to be on the bottom of the tank. It is very hardy and can survive in semi-dirty water, plus a wide range of temperatures, 60 - 90F (16° - 32°C), allowing it to be sometimes kept in unheated aquariums indoors. Similar to the Pleco, Chinese algae eaters tend to hide in caves when they are not feeding. If a cave is not available for them to hide in, they will attempt to make one themselves by digging under large rocks or against the walls of the aquarium.
Though in the wild they feed exclusively on algae, in the aquarium there is some controversy on the effectiveness of the algae eater. While they are young, they may be effective. But as they grow, they may develop more of a taste for processed foods and consume those instead. Some aquarists also report large specimens attacking and consuming smaller fish, such as Neon Tetras

 

[mossy69056]

take the 2 of them back to the shop and get a credit note
the fish a nuts,prob one of the most aggressive
get 2 siamese algae eaters if you can,they would be perfect
heard of some guys being sold chinese algae eaters thinking they were siamese algae eaters

rgds

 

[walkers101]

This isn't good... We bought them from Pets at Home, so I'm not sure if we can take them back. The store assistant said the slime addiction would only happen with goldfish, not platy. There's no other tank I can put them in. What do I do?

they have to take them back off you its law especially is you have a reciept

 

[Assaye]

4 weeks ago we bought 2 chinese algae eaters, marketed as good algae eaters suitable for a community tank. After reading about them on the internet i found that they turn aggressive as they grow and can even attack other fish. I also saw that they can grow to 12cm!
This is a serious problem because I only have a 25L tank with some platies who tend to have lots of fry. Although at the moment they only chase each other and only chase the platies when they start eating their food, they seem to be getting more aggressive and one of them is already as 5cm (we got him at 3cm)
Does anyone have cae's, and does anyone know how to deal with them?

Unfortunately they do get aggressive as they mature. They're well knowing for killing small fish, bullying larger fish and sucking on the slime coat (a special protective layer on the skin) of fish like plecs.

They are excellent algae eaters as babies but need some meat in their diet and can lose a lot of interest in algae as they grow up.

They also get rather larger then 12cm, I'm afraid. A mature adult should be around 20cm, and they can in theory get bigger.

They are most definitely not suitable for your little tank and I am really angry with whichever Pets At Home shop it was that recommended them. How unprofessional and cruel of them! Those fish will not thrive at all in the small tank.

The best thing is to see if the shop will take them back. I would print out a few pages from the internet that describe the fish and take those with you so they can't really deny that they missold you. If you can't get the shop to take them, see if you can find a new home in the classified section on here.

Spoiler

I used to work for them and I am so angry that you were sold those CAEs. My colleagues used to sell CAEs as "good algea eaters" for small tanks and it made me livid. I honestly don't understand some people. I tried to explain that they would get too large for the small tanks they were recommended for but the reply I got was "they'll be fine for now".

Sorry, you don't need to hear me rant but I honestly think you should go in there and make a fuss. It's absurd they can get away with this. If that doesn't work, write a letter or e-mail to head office (there is a contact form on their website).

Don't just mention the slime problem - they literally have a company policy that CAEs will only suck slime off goldfish. What I would focus on is the fact that they get to between 20 and 30 cm as adults and are very well known for becomming aggressive when mature.

Again, I'm sorry for this rant but I think it is cruel and unfair for this store to sell you these large, aggressive fish for a tank that simply will be a death trap for them when they get older.

Hope you get it all sorted!

 

[Luzi]

Thanks for all your advice! Everyone seems to think that i should take them back to the store so i'll look for the receipt and the minute they start bothering my platy I'm taking them back.
Assaye- you're absolutely right. I can't believe that cae's are sold as pets at all, especially for small tanks. We were told that they were good fish so we bought TWO. Not only will they kill each other, they might start on my fish but i feel bad for not giving them a good home so i'll only take them back if they get aggressive (they're fine now)
i'll probably get some butterfly plecs instead, any comments/advice about those?
Thanks a lot Pets at Home!

 

[phil140701]

Thanks for all your advice! Everyone seems to think that i should take them back to the store so i'll look for the receipt and the minute they start bothering my platy I'm taking them back.
Assaye- you're absolutely right. I can't believe that cae's are sold as pets at all, especially for small tanks. We were told that they were good fish so we bought TWO. Not only will they kill each other, they might start on my fish but i feel bad for not giving them a good home so i'll only take them back if they get aggressive (they're fine now)
i'll probably get some butterfly plecs instead, any comments/advice about those?
Thanks a lot Pets at Home!

Butterfly plecs are fine, don't grow very big but also not got a long life span either
Phil

 

[Assaye]

Thanks for all your advice! Everyone seems to think that i should take them back to the store so i'll look for the receipt and the minute they start bothering my platy I'm taking them back.
Assaye- you're absolutely right. I can't believe that cae's are sold as pets at all, especially for small tanks. We were told that they were good fish so we bought TWO. Not only will they kill each other, they might start on my fish but i feel bad for not giving them a good home so i'll only take them back if they get aggressive (they're fine now)
i'll probably get some butterfly plecs instead, any comments/advice about those?
Thanks a lot Pets at Home!

If you get them from Pets At Home, what they call Butterfly Plecs are actually Chinese Hillstream Loaches. They stay fairly small but do need cold, fast flowing water as they need an environment that replicates a river bed.

How many platys do you have? Are they the "variatus" platys with the gold bodies and orange tails? If I am honest, 3-4 of those would be a sensible limit on a 25 litre tank (despite what P@H say), espcially with the babies coming. Do P@H take the babies off you or do you have a back-up tank for them?

If you don't take them back you will need to upgrade your tank considerably in the next few months. An adult CAE needs a 5 foot tank and lots of places to hide and sulk. They are wonderful animals for the right set-up but it is not someting to be taken on (or kept on, in your case) lightly.

Enquire around - you might find someone local (or on here) who can take the beasties off you and put them in a huge tank.

I'm going to be really predictable and drop my favourite linkin here - P@H do things very differently to the way we do it here and give you different advice about water changes and how to cycle and maintain a tank, so check that link out for a more up-to-date and frankly much better method of fish-keeping.

Good luck =)

 

[Luzi]

I have 2 red platies, 1 variatus platy, 1 black & white platy, 1 spotted (orange) platy and 2 orange platies. We used to have 5 of them with a pleco in this tank and they all got along fine, even had a few fry (1 survived) but now i've had to move the platies from my other tank into this one as we had an issue with overfeeding & fungus.
There's no way I can have a 5 foot tank so i think i'm just going to have to give them away or return them

 

[walkers101]

I have 2 red platies, 1 variatus platy, 1 black & white platy, 1 spotted (orange) platy and 2 orange platies. We used to have 5 of them with a pleco in this tank and they all got along fine, even had a few fry (1 survived) but now i've had to move the platies from my other tank into this one as we had an issue with overfeeding & fungus.
There's no way I can have a 5 foot tank so i think i'm just going to have to give them away or return them

dont wait for the CAE to have a go at your platys you can gaurentee that they will find the recipt asap and take them back

 

[Assaye]

I have 2 red platies, 1 variatus platy, 1 black & white platy, 1 spotted (orange) platy and 2 orange platies. We used to have 5 of them with a pleco in this tank and they all got along fine, even had a few fry (1 survived) but now i've had to move the platies from my other tank into this one as we had an issue with overfeeding & fungus.
There's no way I can have a 5 foot tank so i think i'm just going to have to give them away or return them

That is a lot of platys for a small tank. Whether you upgrade your tank (for those platys I'd suggest a 60 litre tank, which gives you a tiny bit of extra room) is up to you, although I very strongly suggest it. P@H have a stupid stocking rule of 1 cm of fish per litre which is over double what we recommend here for beginners. In addition, P@H very often break their stocking rule as it isn't hammered into the staff so people tend to go on "instinct" which leads to things like White Clouds being recommended for 8-10 litre tanks. Anyway!

Given that platys get to about 6.4 cm long (well, 2.5 inches or so) even going on the 1cm per litre policy you would need a 45 litre tank for them (just done the maths). As I said, what you do is ultimately up to you but you definitely should not get anymore fish and you really need a back-up plan for the babies.

I'm sorry that we've just shot you down with bad news =( the risks of overstocking are numerous, including stress, pollution and sickness. Often the fish seem fine until the poop hits the fan and many of them get sick or you have a problem with your filter not handling the bioload of the adult or sub-adult fish. P@H genuinely don't know a lot of the finer aspects of fishkeeping which is why everyday I had to deal with people coming in with dead fish because they'd followed some very basic "advice" and ended up with an ammonia spike or bullying, sometimes weeks or months after buying the fish.

None of this is your fault - you've just dealt with a store that doesn't actually know as much as they'd like their customers to think.

 

[FeliciaLong1961]

4 weeks ago we bought 2 chinese algae eaters, marketed as good algae eaters suitable for a community tank. After reading about them on the internet i found that they turn aggressive as they grow and can even attack other fish. I also saw that they can grow to 12cm!
This is a serious problem because I only have a 25L tank with some platies who tend to have lots of fry. Although at the moment they only chase each other and only chase the platies when they start eating their food, they seem to be getting more aggressive and one of them is already as 5cm (we got him at 3cm)
Does anyone have cae's, and does anyone know how to deal with them?

I was given a cae when I was supposed to be buying otos. He was in the tank with my mated pair of angelfish for months but once he got as big as my male, he started attacking him. I flushed the cae but he did some damage to my angel's tail and had run him to exhaustion. Get rid of them.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

YES but mainly as adults and mainly towards slab sided fish eg' Gourami Angelfish(small to medium size ones) silver dollars(small ones)