What do i do?!?

[GuppyDude]

iv had mt chinese alge eater for a while now, bought him when he was a baby thinking otto but finding out later that it was not. he was less than an inch long when i got him and now hes about an inch and a half. iv heard these guys can grow up to 10 inches in captivity and become some of the meanest fish on earth. iv had little problems with aggression so far, he didn't take well to my corys so i moved him to a 20g with my medium sized pleco. the 2 get along well, but once my CAE grows even bigger i fear he will have to have his own tank. is there any kind of fish i can keep with a chinese alge eater in a 20g? i don t wanna give him away to the lfs, iv grown attached to him at this point but i guess ill have to do whats best for my other fish if thats waht it comes down too

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I suppose some small fast moving tetras might be ok, you'll need a tank bigger than a 20gal though when he reachs 10inchs, they can actually reach 15inchs in the wild.

 

[GuppyDude]

would they not eat small tetras? iv heard storys of them going for guppys i dont have any plans on getting anything largers than 20g, i just dont have the room i guess ill think of sumthing, maybe i can find him a home when he reaches his max size.

 

[LuckyLoach]

GuppyDude,

Don't get too worried just yet. I've read all of the horror stories also about CAE. That being said, I bought too young Golden Chinese Algae Eaters when they were about an inch long. Now one is over 6" and the other is 4"-5". I call the 6" one "Bull" because he zooms through the tank like a bull in a china shop uprooting any plant he can along the way. As big as he is though, he has never gone after any of the other fish except for the other Algae Eater and that's just a territory dispute. I have platies, tetras (lemon & neon), white clouds, danios, cories, and clown loaches in the tank with him, and they all get along fine. In fact, he sleeps in the tunnel with the clown loaches at night.

My best advice is just to keep watch on your Algae Eater. I'm sure some do turn into trouble, but it doesn't mean all will. Good Luck!!