Compatability Help

[revilo88]

Hi there.

Im looking for some advice regarding compatibility in my tank with my two algae eaters.

Its a 48x14x18, so relatively large. Ive got two algae eaters both around 7 inchs long, Ive been letting my tank ticking over with them for a fair while now.

Quite frankly i find them pretty boring and unexciting, im either at the stage where i tear the whole tank down or get some more fish.

Just wandering what sort of neighbours may be compatible with them, also i dont want something thats going to live for ages like these blo*dy algae eaters are doing .

For filtration ive got a UG filter linked to a Rena canister filter, so fairly powerful flow overall.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[MermaidMel]

So you want fish that will die quickly, is that what you're saying? What a bizarre preference.
What do you mean by 'algae eaters' exactly, a scientific or even a common name would be very helpful.

 

[revilo88]

So you want fish that will die quickly, is that what you're saying? What a bizarre preference.
What do you mean by 'algae eaters' exactly, a scientific or even a common name would be very helpful.

I dont mean it in a brash manner whatsoever, What im saying is that i dont want to commit to a fish thats going to live for 5+ years. It would be irresponsible and completely unfair to the fish.

As for the name the latin name i can find is Gyrinocheilus aymonieri and they do seem to be just referred to as Algae Eaters or Chinese Algae Eaters.

 

[england]

sorry you don't want something to live a long time
ok well in that case buy some of these

no seriously why don't you want them living a long life?

They are beautiful fish in my oppinion, had a nice 8+inch until a short while ago, why is it cruel? You could go for a nice community or just a species tank

 

[MermaidMel]

So you want fish that will die quickly, is that what you're saying? What a bizarre preference.
What do you mean by 'algae eaters' exactly, a scientific or even a common name would be very helpful.

I dont mean it in a brash manner whatsoever, What im saying is that i dont want to commit to a fish thats going to live for 5+ years. It would be irresponsible and completely unfair to the fish.

As for the name the latin name i can find is Gyrinocheilus aymonieri and they do seem to be just referred to as Algae Eaters or Chinese Algae Eaters.

Why is it unfair? In all honesty a well cared for fish, IN GENERAL will last at least 5 years. Not many of your average fish shop buys are going to specifically have short lives. Perhaps you should concentrate on Killifish, I *think* they have short life spans. I don't know why you say it's unfair though, for them to live long.

Although, saying that, CAE are known for their aggression so whatever you stock will need to be able to handle that and not be peaceful. Otherwise, move the CAE's on to someone else or your LFS and restock with a more peaceful community.

 

[revilo88]

sorry you don't want something to live a long time
ok well in that case buy some of these

no seriously why don't you want them living a long life?

They are beautiful fish in my oppinion, had a nice 8+inch until a short while ago, why is it cruel? You could go for a nice community or just a species tank

Its not that i want them to die, looking back and reading my first post it does sound somewhat like that; for which i apologise. Ive had them now for about 4 years, the rest of their tankmates have gradually died off over the years.

So the situation i was faced with is either give up totally or get some more fish to get the tank up to scratch again. I love this hobby a hell of a lot and would never want my fish dead( surely i would have put them to sleep if this was the case?), anyone got any suggestions for suitable tankmates?.

Those plastic fish are rather endearing but they look marine to me, any freshwaters available?

 

[england]

just jesting mate,

depends really what you want to go for, i have really got onto channa of late aka snakehead's...I love these guy's.....
cichlids are full of life for example south central american but its a hit n miss situation so you have to like fish as you may end up changing fish at shop for different ones if they dont get on
community where fish live in harmony<best choice for you, or a single species

 

[revilo88]

In terms of the Cichlidae family i have had angels before and absolutely loved them, amazing personalities.

Looking in various LFS they only seem to have young angelfish which i dont think would be able to stand up to the algae eaters, my other pair that i used to own did a remarkably good job at it.

I would imagine discus are out of the question.

Any other suggestions?

 

[england]

you could try placid cichlid's like chocolate cichlid's....I have one and it's so peaceful i actually forget it's a cichlid......
TBAR Cichlid / eartheater's/blue acara's