Chinese Algea Eaters

[Matina]

Hi. I had 7 chinese algea eaters in my 55gal tank. in the last 3 days i've lost 3 of them. the other 4 seem to be lethargic. they are laying around and are sucked up to the glass behind the filters. I have had these Algea eaters since late december and they used to be pretty active. here lately they have been real lethargic like and they don't even seem to be eating. and now these 3 have died. water is good. no issues. all the other fish are doing well and thriving. any advice?

 

[Brookster123]

It's for the best young one, cycle your tank and stock something colorful, fun and exciting if you had added anything else to that tank it would have been a bloodbath.

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[Matina]

I have other fish in the tank and they are doing well. That's why I am trying to figure out why the algea eaters died....

 

[Brookster123]

I have other fish in the tank and they are doing well. That's why I am trying to figure out why the algea eaters died....

Divine intervention??
Edit- tank stats please.
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[Matina]

LOL. maybe so...my husbands response was they got ahold of some "bad algea".

 

[Brookster123]

LOL. maybe so...my husbands response was they got ahold of some "bad algea".

In all honesty.. they are horrible fish for a community tank. As long as your water is in check and the rest of your stock is happy and healthy?? Move on let them be with Satan below..

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[Coursair]

What are your water tests showing ?
Only babies eat Algae. They switch to meatier foods as well as greens.
What are you feeding them ?

As adults like like to suck the slime coats off slower tank mates.

How big are these CAE ?

Could they be starving?

Are you sure these are Chinese algae eaters and not Otos ?


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[Matina]

Don't have the numbers for the water in front of me. When last checked everything checked out fine. Im positive they are CAE and not otos. The largest one is between 2-3 inches long. the other ones are a little smaller. The ones that died were smaller, so it could be they maybe were starving.

 

[Coursair]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+1162+1564&pcatid=1564.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cyprinids/chinesealgae.php

I would do a PWC and gravel vac the substrate and test the water.

Driftwood is helpful to grow Aufwuchs. Your word of the day ?


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[Coursair]

Don't have the numbers for the water in front of me. When last checked everything checked out fine. Im positive they are CAE and not otos. The largest one is between 2-3 inches long. the other ones are a little smaller. The ones that died were smaller, so it could be they maybe were starving.

Are you feeding them ?
I had a snail starve because I hadn't realized it'd eaten all of the algae in the tank. Algae eating fish typically eat soft algae not the super hard stuff so even though you may see a little bit of algae in the tank it doesn't mean they have food.


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[Matina]

Yes I'm feeding them, but I'm still a rookie at this and trying to keep the tank clean (as far as tanks go) and may have been under feeding them.

 

[Coursair]

You'll want to rehome all but one if you want to try keeping them.
They hit 11" and get nasty and territorial.


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[Matina]

Thanks a bunch for the info. I was aware of how big they got, but did not know that they became agressive. I had 2 that would fight amongst themselves, it seemed they both wanted to suck up to the same area of glass. But wasn't aware that they would suck the slime coat off of slower tank mates. But then again, I WAS getting my fish from a Petsmart. But I have since changed pet stores because everything I got from there died within a couple of days of bringing them home. The algea eaters have lasted the longest.

 

[treemanone2003]

Thanks a bunch for the info. I was aware of how big they got, but did not know that they became agressive. I had 2 that would fight amongst themselves, it seemed they both wanted to suck up to the same area of glass. But wasn't aware that they would suck the slime coat off of slower tank mates. But then again, I WAS getting my fish from a Petsmart. But I have since changed pet stores because everything I got from there died within a couple of days of bringing them home. The algea eaters have lasted the longest.

IMO/E, it's not really about where or who they come from for the most part but the amount of time and research you put into something prior to obtaining it. And there's not really a limit in regards to what that something might be. Animals, equipment, car, house, and so on. There's reasons that we can only speculate for now as to why things died off in your tank. Was it the fish, the supplier, tank conditions, human error, a combination of one, more, or all ? Who really knows.

Going forward, you've been given a pretty good amount of info here, and have a good source for more. As well, (while it's not entirely accurate) the Internet is out there. You can search anything and when it becomes too confusing, most here have a good grasp on things.


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[KristaButler]

I agree. I bought mine in the beginning. I don't like mine but I can't catch him. He's got to go!!!!

He's territory and going to get huge.


May the force be with you.