Chinese Algae Eaters Beautiful And A Right Pain In My Big Toe.

[Tauempire]

Hi all just wanted to warn of the dangers of the cute little chinese algae eaters, ok so a year ago i needed some form of algae eater for my daughters tank so i went to my lfs and there they were 2 golden tiny CAE i enquired as to there requirements and was told there small and friendly......... Anyone who has kept CAE knows thats a lie. So i put them in a tank with guppys mistake 2 now i have 2 5 inch psychopaths which have killed all the guppys and have had no choice but to put them in my cichlid tank. Which btw they are now bothering my moori dolphins, mbuna and peacocks not to mention my weather loach and plec however the plec puts them in there place. Could anyone who has kept or know about CAE post some help for me i have considered a species only tank but i have 3 tanks already 1 200 gallon cichlid tank, a 28 litre fry tank in which i have 4 moori doplhin fry and a 28 litre guppy tank for my daughter. A little help would be really appriciated thanks

 

[nmonks]

It is well known that Gyrinocheilus spp. make poor community fish. They are never recommended by expert fishkeepers.

I've kept them successfully in a 200 gallon tank with Central American cichlids -- a jaguar, a midas, some convicts and a large Ictalurus channel catfish. Blue dolphins and peacocks are far too gentle (and mixing them with mbuna was a bad idea, too).

Cheers, Neale

 

[Tauempire]

Thanks for the reply it was more necessity than choice though lol. I dont want to give the little fellas up i love the CAE all my cichlids apart from 1 the albino mbuna are large so hoping for the best and just seen the plec put them in there place that amused me mind you i also seen a plec fettle some pirahna on youtube that was fun.

 

[Ronananator]

hmhm weird iv got a CAE in my tank with two goldfish 4 guppies 1 weather loach and a pleco doesnt seem to bother any of them ever but i has seen in the LPS they were attacking the hell out of some goldfish and befor i left i seen that the goldfish had died so i guess these guys are aggresive but iv had no problems yet

 

[This Old Spouse]

I received a CAE from a friend along with her guppies and a goldfish, all in the same 5 gallon tank. Things were fine for about two weeks, then the CAE started getting very aggressive with the guppies, tearing their fantails and being a general nuisance. So I put it in my 55g where it was fine for about a week, then started chasing everything around in there. I finally ended up rehoming the darn thing. My guess is they can be fine until they get older, then look out. Sure kept the tank nice and clean, though! I'd like to find something else that would do as good a job.

 

[daleboy]

I have had these in various tanks over the years and never had a problem.
We recently got back into tropical fish and bought some....big mistake.
They go after everything that moves.
If they dont chill out a bit they will be rehomed.

 

[Tauempire]

I have had these in various tanks over the years and never had a problem.
We recently got back into tropical fish and bought some....big mistake.
They go after everything that moves.
If they dont chill out a bit they will be rehomed.

like i say i have a 200 gallon tank so aint catching them anytime soon lmao

 

[zeke the black ghost knife]

Hi all just wanted to warn of the dangers of the cute little chinese algae eaters, ok so a year ago i needed some form of algae eater for my daughters tank so i went to my lfs and there they were 2 golden tiny CAE i enquired as to there requirements and was told there small and friendly......... Anyone who has kept CAE knows thats a lie. So i put them in a tank with guppys mistake 2 now i have 2 5 inch psychopaths which have killed all the guppys and have had no choice but to put them in my cichlid tank. Which btw they are now bothering my moori dolphins, mbuna and peacocks not to mention my weather loach and plec however the plec puts them in there place. Could anyone who has kept or know about CAE post some help for me i have considered a species only tank but i have 3 tanks already 1 200 gallon cichlid tank, a 28 litre fry tank in which i have 4 moori doplhin fry and a 28 litre guppy tank for my daughter. A little help would be really appriciated thanks

i guess give them back to your lfs

 

[catfishblues]

these are great fish and are beautiful!!!! until they get older. then anything slow and with a flat body will have holes sucked out of it. i lost my beautiful gouramis to one of those monsters.

 

[Tauempire]

i now added them to my daughters tank that houses tiger barbs so should be good

 

[char la]

This is the problem with these fish, they're sold all the time as great algae eaters. Which they are but as they age they need more meat in their diet and will chase after fish and suck on to their sides to get it. I always keep one in my open water hap/tanganikan cichlid tank and its well behaved but i go have ALOT of other loach species in there as well. I usually find they're alright in barb species tanks aswell.

 

[nurglespuss]

Yes my local garden centre has 2 full grown 10inch specimens, man they are bullish! He has had to put thir heaters in seperate divided sections as they keep wrecking them!

 

[envious]

i also got 1 to help with algae, i kept mine with neon tetras and various other small fish and there was never a problem then whilst in my local fish shop an old fella fetched a 6 inch golden one in to be rehomed guess he was having simualar problems as you, but in my tanks its been fine. i had it housed in my 200l comunity tank and it spent most of its time hiding

 

[Flubberlump]

Mine was a nightmare. He got taken back to my LFS. Was sad to see him go as he was very active and great to watch. He was stressing my other fish out too much though so he had to go.

 

[adamsym37]

I have a 7 inch golden one who's never bothered any of my other fish, which are mainly platies. It seems it depends on the individual fish...