Chinese Algae Eater FRY...what to feed them?! - Aquarium Advice

madasafish · 08-09-2003, 01:06 AM

Hi All,

I'm chuffed (British for "happy") to be posting my first message on AquariumAdvice, and such a joyous one!

I have a Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) in my tank, and she is (as I type) laying dozens of little eggs! If anyone is interested, I will give a full account of the egg-laying process, but I just typed the whole thing out and it got erased when I tried to send the message. SO, I'll ask my question first, and see if anyone has some answers! If someone's interested, I'll type the whole thing back up!

My question: the fry are about 1-2mm long. I've dropped some egg yoke in the tank, but am not sure whether this is appropriate for my algae-eating denizens. Any suggestions? Should I just leave them be, and allow them to scavenge the tank, or should I supplement their diet? This doesn't seem to be a well-documented process...

Sorry I can't get the picture attachment to work. I'll post images when I can.

Thanks in advance for any advice, and I'm glad to join your ranks!

justDIY · 08-09-2003, 01:15 AM

Welcome to Aquarium Advice!

Great job on getting your CAE to breed!

I believe most of the young algae eaters eat small algae, not protien like egg yolk.

Ideally, you would want then to live in a tank that had a plauge of green water, billons of tiny algae suspened in the water ready to be eaten!

But since we don't really want that in an aquarium, you might try culturing some and target feed with a syringe.

I've read all you do is take some tank water, a few pieces of lettuce and puree in a blender, then take a few drops of that mush and put it in a jar of tank water and sit on a sunny window sill - soon the algae will go crazy and you should get a good crop of plenty of flora and fauna for the fry to eat!

but I've never done this myself - so you might want to check google for more answers and I'm sure others from the forum will also share their experiences.

tkos · 08-09-2003, 10:19 AM

Growing some green water is a good idea. Until then I am sure that the little ones will scavenge the tank for scraps here and there.

madasafish · 08-09-2003, 01:07 PM

Thanks, guys. This advice will certainly help me! I will culture the algae after I write this reply.

Another idea I had is to add spirulina wafers (lots of them) to the tank. I've put 6 in, and took the last one, abraded it, and made sure that plenty of the spirulina was suspended in the water. Then I let it drop to the tank bottom. This might also work, no? But for a balanced diet, it is no doubt best to try several methods.

Thanks so much for the replies and on to the science: maybe I can shed some light on why CAEs don't tend to be seen breeding in tanks...

I never actually saw the breeding going on (perhaps it is carried out nocturnally, or perhaps I just missed it), but there is quite a good reason why the eggs might be missed if laid. The eggs, 1/10 mm in diameter and white, are almost invisible, and the female makes no attempt to clump them together (perhaps ultimately a good adaptation, so that predators don't find the eggs). She simply drops the eggs when she lays each one, allowing them to fall in between the gravel (hard to see them hatch, as a result). Thus, when the fry hatch, they do so not in a frenzy of life, but in a gradual nascence. In addition to this, the female's behavior is little altered. Though she looked shell-shocked for a few days, while laying the eggs, she was completely at ease--eating and laying at the same time--when giving birth!

The fry themselves are miniscule, and easily missed. In a community tank where the algae eaters are "merely" cleaners, and exist by force of necessity, not by virtue of their particular aesthetic charm, the tendency of the owner of the aquarium might be to miss any important events. AND the fry, starting out their life in an aquarium with little (community) fish who love tiny morsels, might easily be eaten before the owner even notices them (since they don't swarm)... In my case, I can count 20-30 fry--not quite the r-reproduction strategy one might expect from fish!

The fry are, as I think I already mentioned, 1-2mm long, and have a transparent body with a bright red spot at the head (the eye) and a bright green spot on the torso. They swim in darts, as you might expect because of the viscosity of water on such a microscopic scale.

What else? Ah... you might be interested to hear that the male was very aggressive to the female when the two shared the 10-gallon tank (temporary housing at the time). I could identify them, because there appeared to be some sexual dimorphism. The female is more brightly colored, with gold bars on the torso, while the male is more drab. The female is also more slender, while the male is more rotund.

[acronym:034da7b323="By the way"]BTW[/acronym:034da7b323], I've only had these guys for about a month, and I bought them small, so they can't be much more than a few months old. That's quite quick for a fish to reach maturity, no (though certainly not uncommon)?

Well, I know that I'm new to the fish-keeping game, but I hope my observations are informative and/or helpful to anyone interested in breeding these guys.

Thanks again for all the great advice!

tkos · 08-09-2003, 05:09 PM

Careful of adding too many algae waffers as that could lead to a spike in ammonia when they decay if not eaten. I would say that crushing them to a fine powder and putting that in the tank, 1 waffer per day would be a better idea.

08-09-2003, 01:06 AM	#1
madasafish Aquarium Advice Addict Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NY, NY Posts: 2,260 Images: 73	Chinese Algae Eater FRY...what to feed them?! Hi All, I'm chuffed (British for "happy") to be posting my first message on AquariumAdvice, and such a joyous one! I have a Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) in my tank, and she is (as I type) laying dozens of little eggs! If anyone is interested, I will give a full account of the egg-laying process, but I just typed the whole thing out and it got erased when I tried to send the message. SO, I'll ask my question first, and see if anyone has some answers! If someone's interested, I'll type the whole thing back up! My question: the fry are about 1-2mm long. I've dropped some egg yoke in the tank, but am not sure whether this is appropriate for my algae-eating denizens. Any suggestions? Should I just leave them be, and allow them to scavenge the tank, or should I supplement their diet? This doesn't seem to be a well-documented process... Sorry I can't get the picture attachment to work. I'll post images when I can. Thanks in advance for any advice, and I'm glad to join your ranks! __________________ [acronym:3ff24413a5="Malaysian Trumpet Snails or Multiple Tank Syndrome, depending on context"]MTS[/acronym:3ff24413a5] is a blessing, not a disease.

08-09-2003, 01:07 PM	#4
madasafish Aquarium Advice Addict Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NY, NY Posts: 2,260 Images: 73	Thanks, guys. This advice will certainly help me! I will culture the algae after I write this reply. Another idea I had is to add spirulina wafers (lots of them) to the tank. I've put 6 in, and took the last one, abraded it, and made sure that plenty of the spirulina was suspended in the water. Then I let it drop to the tank bottom. This might also work, no? But for a balanced diet, it is no doubt best to try several methods. Thanks so much for the replies and on to the science: maybe I can shed some light on why CAEs don't tend to be seen breeding in tanks... I never actually saw the breeding going on (perhaps it is carried out nocturnally, or perhaps I just missed it), but there is quite a good reason why the eggs might be missed if laid. The eggs, 1/10 mm in diameter and white, are almost invisible, and the female makes no attempt to clump them together (perhaps ultimately a good adaptation, so that predators don't find the eggs). She simply drops the eggs when she lays each one, allowing them to fall in between the gravel (hard to see them hatch, as a result). Thus, when the fry hatch, they do so not in a frenzy of life, but in a gradual nascence. In addition to this, the female's behavior is little altered. Though she looked shell-shocked for a few days, while laying the eggs, she was completely at ease--eating and laying at the same time--when giving birth! The fry themselves are miniscule, and easily missed. In a community tank where the algae eaters are "merely" cleaners, and exist by force of necessity, not by virtue of their particular aesthetic charm, the tendency of the owner of the aquarium might be to miss any important events. AND the fry, starting out their life in an aquarium with little (community) fish who love tiny morsels, might easily be eaten before the owner even notices them (since they don't swarm)... In my case, I can count 20-30 fry--not quite the r-reproduction strategy one might expect from fish! The fry are, as I think I already mentioned, 1-2mm long, and have a transparent body with a bright red spot at the head (the eye) and a bright green spot on the torso. They swim in darts, as you might expect because of the viscosity of water on such a microscopic scale. What else? Ah... you might be interested to hear that the male was very aggressive to the female when the two shared the 10-gallon tank (temporary housing at the time). I could identify them, because there appeared to be some sexual dimorphism. The female is more brightly colored, with gold bars on the torso, while the male is more drab. The female is also more slender, while the male is more rotund. [acronym:034da7b323="By the way"]BTW[/acronym:034da7b323], I've only had these guys for about a month, and I bought them small, so they can't be much more than a few months old. That's quite quick for a fish to reach maturity, no (though certainly not uncommon)? Well, I know that I'm new to the fish-keeping game, but I hope my observations are informative and/or helpful to anyone interested in breeding these guys. Thanks again for all the great advice! __________________ [acronym:3ff24413a5="Malaysian Trumpet Snails or Multiple Tank Syndrome, depending on context"]MTS[/acronym:3ff24413a5] is a blessing, not a disease.

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08-09-2003, 01:15 AM	#2
justDIY Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Earth Posts: 1,191 Images: 12	Welcome to Aquarium Advice! Great job on getting your CAE to breed! I believe most of the young algae eaters eat small algae, not protien like egg yolk. Ideally, you would want then to live in a tank that had a plauge of green water, billons of tiny algae suspened in the water ready to be eaten! But since we don't really want that in an aquarium, you might try culturing some and target feed with a syringe. I've read all you do is take some tank water, a few pieces of lettuce and puree in a blender, then take a few drops of that mush and put it in a jar of tank water and sit on a sunny window sill - soon the algae will go crazy and you should get a good crop of plenty of flora and fauna for the fry to eat! but I've never done this myself - so you might want to check google for more answers and I'm sure others from the forum will also share their experiences.

08-09-2003, 10:19 AM	#3
tkos Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 1,423	Growing some green water is a good idea. Until then I am sure that the little ones will scavenge the tank for scraps here and there.

08-09-2003, 05:09 PM	#5
tkos Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 1,423	Careful of adding too many algae waffers as that could lead to a spike in ammonia when they decay if not eaten. I would say that crushing them to a fine powder and putting that in the tank, 1 waffer per day would be a better idea.