Post
by Kitishane » Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:06 pm
Be VERY careful with Chinese Algae Eaters.
I was one of the novices way back when that decided that having one would be awesome. My first one died suddenly, but gave my old beta no problems.
I picked up a new one in the hopes for peaceful co-existance, which worked for the first month or so, until the CAE started growing. He began to be VERY agressive with his tank mate, to the point where I brought him home to my semi agressive tank, to see if it would calm him down a bit. He began attacking the fish in that tank, and we think he was responsible for the deaths of at least two of our fish, while we were away on our honeymoon.
We took him to our LFS who had no problem taking him off our hands, and were astounded that we didn't want store credit! We just wanted the mean bugger off our hands!
The bigest problem with CAE is that most fish stores will sell them as awesome algae eaters, which is not true. As juvenilles, they do eat algae, and well, but as they get older, they tend to loose all interest in algae, and as I've noted above, tend to become VERY agressive. A lot of fish stores will also sell CAE under the false name of Siamese Algae Eaters, in the attempt to fool novice aquarists. I fell for it way back then, and now that I know what to look for, I can't believe how different the two species are.
Just keep an eye on it, and on the condition of your other fish.
Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
