stuck with a blood sucker

[sanguinarydragon]

i resently had a algea problem so i got a chinese algea eater(i know, i should always research first ) and when i got home i found out that it gets huge and becomes violent when it gets older. (not to mention it isn't really an algea eater and only feeds on algea when young)

well, im trying to find a peacefulk solution to my prob. and i was thinkin about leaving it behind in my 10gal its in when i move my fishys from the 10gal to a 20gal in a year or so when i have space for another tank.

do you think an adult chinese algea eater would be happy in a 10gal and if so, what else could i put with him? would a beta work?

 

[CathyG]

You have a bit of a dilemma, really. I would not advise a Betta (or any other fish who is slow moving and/or prone to sit in the water) Yet a 10 gallon is not really big enough to give you a massive choice. I would possibly consider a school of small, fast swimming shoaling fish (maybe neons, cardinals or rasbora) and plenty of plants for cover

My first reaction, though, would be to see if a shop would take it off my hands. I wouldn't expect any store credit though.

How big is it at the moment? Mine only turned vicious when it reached 8 inches, then it began to terrorise my tank.

Good luck!

 

[gadazobe]

OK, so you've got a CAE. Not all of them turn nasty, as can be seen in this link. Hopefully, you've got one of the nice ones. Your 10 gallon is really too small for him coz they grow to a minimum of 6", possibly much more. Keep him well fed, give him plenty of hiding places and that should keep him happy.

 

[FishyNewbie]

I just got 3 CAEs for my 45 gallon on friday. One of my tetras is missing...But those were the bigger cardinal tetras and my SAEs are still small. I looked for the tetra but couldn't find him....

 

[asdf]

you coud always try and sell it to a small pet store
or try to give it away good luck

 

[Erised]

When I first started keeping fish this where the only algae eaters sold around here, so right now I'm stuck with 4 of them. 3 in a 10 gallon (bad! but hey, I was a beginner) and 1 in a 15 Gallon. I've tried convincing my boyfriend that we should get rid of them, but he loves them to pieces and doesnt wanna say goodbye to them untill they start causing a problem. Honestly, I can fully understand this as they are absolutely beautiful fish.

Right now they're not causing me any problems at all, some will get moved to a 30 gallon I'm planning on getting soon, the others will go into a 15 Gallon.

From what I've read from websites that I actually trust a lot, they are not as bad as everyone here seems to think! Like a lot of suckermouths (including plecs when they get a chance!) they sometimes prefer the slimecoating of a fish over what we want them to eat. They dont all do this, and for this to happen you'll need slow moving and flat bodied fish. I'm quite sure they will do not do much to your school of danios, cardinals, neons or whatever. They do however get big and aggressive towards others of their kind, simply because of the fact they're terretorial.

*stops ranting now*

--Edit--

I just read the website that gadazobe posted, and I cant agree more!

 

[Tempestuousfury]

TheY may not be so bad, but having these fish in a tank limits the other fish you can put in the tank--what with their max size and their tendencies to go after tall or big fish.

Just give it back if it hasn't been too long since the purchase. You could get a couple of (or one ) otocinclus instead.

 

[gadazobe]

As I said before - they're not all bad. Most of the problems with CAE's relate directly to the fact that they are terratorial fish that are kept in unsuitable tanks. Give one space to call his own without other fish constantly entering his domain (taking into account the fact that his terratory will grow in size as he does) feed him well and all should be ok. CAE's need large tanks and if put into small, overcrowed tanks, they will become aggresive very quickly, as do most other creatures (including me) when put into unsuitable conditions.