# Chinese Algae Eater



## steelie (Jan 28, 2009)

after purchasing 3 CAE's from Walmart labeled "Algae Eaters" last week I finally decided to sit down and research to properly identify. Well, to my surprise these little guys can reach a length of 12"  . I have a 15 gallon tank w/ 4 cardinal tetras, 1 guppy, 1 molly, 1 gourami, 2 platy's and the 3 chinese algae eaters. how big do you think the algae eaters will get??? is a 15 gallon tank sufficient knowing how big they can get and with the other fish?? why are they little spazz's??  

thanks in advance


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

like this guy?








mine haven't shown any substantial growth in the year or so I've had them.


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## steelie (Jan 28, 2009)

hi, the 3 i have look i these guys.


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

They are "OK" when small, but give it a year or so and they will easily start to reach 6", another few years and they will be 8" or 10". Also as they age and grow bigger they become more aggressive to other fish since they loose their taste for algea and start preferring to actually suck on other fish' slime coat. So to answer your question, your tank is definately way way too small for these guys full grown. You might be able to hold onto them for a year or so but I would definately start looking for a new home for them. If you are looking for algea eaters, what you want to look for is either a Siamese Algae eater (looks similar to these guys but only gets about 3" or 4") or Otto cats (quite small and more delicate).

Harry


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Actually, SAE can get fairly big as well, and they grow really fast too. Mines hit 8" before the accident. For a 15G, you might want to look at getting ottos instead. Er I think that is ottocicles or something like that, can't remember the spelling. Unfortunately, these guys are fairly sensitive though.

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## steelie (Jan 28, 2009)

thanks everyone for the suggestions and great tips.

my wife wanted to get a couple more cory cats but i was hesitate because we just recently lost 4. not sure why, as all the other fish seem to thrive. anyways, i'll keep my eyes peeled for some otto's next time around.


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

Zebrapl3co said:


> Actually, SAE can get fairly big as well, and they grow really fast too. Mines hit 8" before the accident. For a 15G, you might want to look at getting ottos instead. Er I think that is ottocicles or something like that, can't remember the spelling. Unfortunately, these guys are fairly sensitive though.


That's unusally large for SAE. I've had mine for a while, and it's true they grow quickly, but all of mine (3) have maxed out at maybe 4".

Harry


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## newbiefishfanatic (Dec 11, 2008)

otto cats are at Big Als kennedy...just thought id throw that in...


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## ka NUK (Dec 19, 2008)

I'd vouch for the otocinclus (checked the spelling  ) in small tanks as well. If you decide to go that route I'd highly recommend getting a group of them. They stay small and seem to do better in groups.

Cheers
ka NUK


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## KeeganDude (Jan 29, 2009)

I have golden algae eaters. I have actually owned a couple throughout the year.
For starters, they last about a month or more for me, and don't seem to grow at all on me.

I know my tank is healthy because all of my other cichlids are very colourful, and playful, but my algae eaters just sort of die randomly on me.

I don't understand why?
I was wonder if anyone could give me suggestions as to why they won't grow at all, or die suddenly?

Thank you!


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Umm ... Algae eaters are timmid plant eaters, the ciclids will eat them for lunch.

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## KeeganDude (Jan 29, 2009)

I bought them at Big Al's, and the lady told me they will be fine with cichlids, and that plecos aren't safe with cichlids. I've never seen my cichlids attack the algae eaters. Also at Big Al's (in Whitby) they have a viewing aquarium with cichlids and they have two golden algae eaters about 2-3 inches long. and they are all fine in that tank too.


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## newbiefishfanatic (Dec 11, 2008)

from what i have heard and read, the chinese algea eater is prone to latching onto slow moving fish. especially angelfish, and at night when they are resting. just a suggestion, but might want to consider trading him/her for a sae...up to you, but id rather be safe than sorry. 


ps-ppl at LFS dont always know wtf they are talking about. i dont know a ton about fish, but i sure know a heck of a lot more than some kids that work at big als on kennedy, and FOR SURE the guys at petsmart at kennedy commons. im not bashing them or anything, i love going there, they are my main stores right now.i just know more about fish than they do.


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## KeeganDude (Jan 29, 2009)

and a sae is a siamese algae eater?


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## newbiefishfanatic (Dec 11, 2008)

yes. they dont have the little suction cup on their mouths. i learned this when i was giving away a couple i got with a complete tank set up. it had 2 sae, and 1 cae. no one wanted the cae, and one person even suggest i literally "get rid of it" asap. i am keeping my zebra plecos in there, and they are expensive fish. so ive moved him from that tank, but i think ill have hard time even giving him away...maybe someone who might not know about them will take him, but i will be sure to tell them they can gow to be 6 inches, and they can start to latch onto fish to eat their slim coating. i might be being over cautious here, and maybe if you feed him well, he wont go for the fishs slim, but i really wouldnt suggest trying it out for awhile, just to see. 

hope ive hepled.  *nervous grin*


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## KeeganDude (Jan 29, 2009)

Yes thank you.

I think I should research on them some more to find out what I should get.
I don't want them to get too big, but I want them to get big enough so they can do a decent job helping keep the tank clean (asides from me doing my job on it too)

If I do decide on sae do you know what kinds of food I could feed them besides them eating algae?


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## newbiefishfanatic (Dec 11, 2008)

this website covers a lot of info on them.

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_sae.php

it says they will eat anything that falls into the tank! lol they mentioned flakes, pellets, par boiled veggies, frowzen bloodworms and other stuff, probably frozen krill and brine shrimp too. in any case, they are obviously omnivores, and should probably be fed like any other fish, a wide variety of food.


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## newbiefishfanatic (Dec 11, 2008)

theres actually 2 saes for free on the buy, sell, trade part of this forum...might want to check it out.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

Well....the little CAE in the pic I posted above has never shown any signs of being bothered by the chiclids....in fact, maybe the CAE might have chomped on my big Lab...


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