Dwarf Gurami + Chinese algae eater = problems

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

chrisk

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
2
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Hi,

First of all, I have been following this forum for a few months since I have acquired my 10 gallon tank.

I have run into a problem.
I have recently bought a Chinese Algae Eater to help me with some algae problems, especially with algae forming on live and fake plants. The guy has been great, he cleaned up the tank pretty well in about 3 days. 

I also bought a Dwarf Gurami, and that’s when the problem started. The Chinese Algae Eater tries to suck on the Gurami. I don’t think the Gurami will take this abuse for long, the sucker can chase her all over the tank for a good few seconds before loosing interest in her. The Algae Eater is quite good with the other fish (doesn’t bother them), and the Corries hang out with him as he was their own kind.
My question is: is there any other Algae Eater that would do a good job on plants/glass, and not be this aggressive towards flat large objects such as the Dwarf Gurami? I’m afraid I’ll have to take the Gurami back to the pet store if the situation doesn’t improve and I’d rather avoid that because both my wife and I got used to her.

---------------------------------------------
10G

- 1 Fancy Guppy Female
- 2 Elaganus Corries
- 2 Panda Corries
- 6 Neon Tetra
- 1 Chinese Algae Eater
- 1 Dwarf Gurami
- 70% live plants / 30% fake plants
 
first welcome to AA :D :D :D this is true with SW but i dont know about FW. some cleaners try to latch on flat fishes sides to get a meal and clean the other fish problem is the gourami isnt used to this and is trying to get away but i think some time one or the other will get tired of it and give up fighting but if eighter fish gets hurt by this you might consider separating them. :( but other wise they should be fine :D
 
If you have an arrogant CAE like that, chances are it will just get worse. They are quite worthless anyways IMO. They are only are good algae eaters in their youth, and will soon stop, or so this is the rumor. I've never had any. If you are looking for something small, get a few otocinculus catfish. These little guys are awesome, and won't suck to your fish like the CAE will.
 
I have 2 Dwarf Gourami's in my 10 gallon and 2 oto's and they get along fine. Otocinclus do a great job of keeping the glass clean and you won't have to worry about them getting too big for your tank. I would recomend them.
 
Nobody else mentioned it, but it might be the tank is a little croweded too. At only 10G, that's not a lot of room for the fish, the CAE might be a little territorial.

I've heard some folks say they'd leave CAEs as feeder fish - so, as you can see, opinions on them don't rate real high.

The Ottos should be great - they can be a little fragile, but once they're settled, they're pretty good. I think 2 would be the rule of 'otto' for count per tank (1 per 5 gal).

Good luck!
 
Yeah, the tank is a bit overcrowded. I didn't read the sig before, I thought it was only the CAE and gourami in there. If you plan on keeping all those you should look into a bigger tank. You should bring back that CAE though, it can harm the gourami from being sucked on. If you won't be able to provide a bigger tank I think you should bring back the cories also. Only pygmy cories should go in a 10 gal IMO.
 
Otocinclus all the way! I love those little blighters, cheap as chips and grow to a much more managable size than your CAE. I would be slightly worried about your stocking level to, when those guys grow a little you will be in big trouble, in all honesty your stock list is more appropriate for a 20 gallon than a 10.
 
Yes it looks like I overdid it with the fish stocking :oops: . I wish I went with the 20G, but for now I will have to live with the 10G.

Would this work?

- 2 Panda Corries (yes I know schooling fish, maybe 3?)
- 6 Neon Tetra
- 1 Otto
- 1 Dwarf gourami
 
Back
Top Bottom