CAE's

[shellieca]

I'm wondering if any of you have experience with Chinese algae eaters? I wanted a bottom feeder for my 10g & went to Petco where I saw the Golden CAE & asked the sales person about them & thought I was getting something that would stay small & eat algae. When I got home I did some online reading to find out they're not what I thought. So far I've had no problems & they've been quite enjoyable except they hide when they see me. From my reading I've found out they won't eat algae forever but I'm not sure when that stops & am unsure what to feed them at that point. Right now I drop algae tabs every few days. I'm guessing they're eating them because they're still alive after a couple of months. I've also read they can become quite aggressive as adults. Would love to hear your personal experiences.

 

[jondamon]

I have 2 golden algae eaters in my 50g community.

They don't seem to bother any occupants in my pretty peaceful tank. Bolivian rams, penguin tetras and Zebra Danios. However 10g is a bit small for them.

IMO you would be better taking them back and exchanging them for some shrimp.

If you don't fancy taking them back expect them to stunt in growth after around 6months.

Although they are bottom feeders and generally are sold in most LFS as algae eaters they only eat algae for a very small amount of time during their juvenile period. They will scavenge and find any left over food. Don't worry about feeding them they will do just fine.

I throw in the occasional multi wafer for my Bolivians and the CAE have a little munch on that too.

I have had my 2 CAE for approximately 7months. One is nearly 5inches in length from head to tail the other is still only around 3inches. They tend to hide in my cichlid caves or under my Mopani when they aren't darting around the tank.

The larger of my 2 seems to be the aggressor but only with the other CAE.

Since finding out they only eat algae during their juvenile time I have since added Amano Shrimp to my tank.


Hope this helped a little.



Jon

 

[shellieca]

Thank you Jondamon that does help. I asked what I thought were the right questions & found out I got the wrong answers. They seem quite happy with their hidey holes & chasing each other around the tank. So far they don't bother my female Bettas. I've definitely learned to read before I purchase.

 

[jondamon]

Thank you Jondamon that does help. I asked what I thought were the right questions & found out I got the wrong answers. They seem quite happy with their hidey holes & chasing each other around the tank. So far they don't bother my female Bettas. I've definitely learned to read before I purchase.

I did the same thing when I was running a 10g with the danios. Approached my LFS for something to deal with a bit of algae and was steered towards CAE. They should have steered me towards shrimp. Lol. But that's LFS for you.

I'm just at the point where I'm watching them to see how they grow/act. I've heard horror stories of them sucking the slime coat from fish etc but at present they are a great part of my community.

The only thing that would concern me about your situation would be the size of your tank. In my 50g there is plenty of room to accommodate them with my other stock. You may get more aggression with only a 10g as well as the stunting side of things.

Do you plan to upgrade your tank at all?



Jon

 

[shellieca]

I did the same thing when I was running a 10g with the danios. Approached my LFS for something to deal with a bit of algae and was steered towards CAE. They should have steered me towards shrimp. Lol. But that's LFS for you.

I'm just at the point where I'm watching them to see how they grow/act. I've heard horror stories of them sucking the slime coat from fish etc but at present they are a great part of my community.

The only thing that would concern me about your situation would be the size of your tank. In my 50g there is plenty of room to accommodate them with my other stock. You may get more aggression with only a 10g as well as the stunting side of things.

Do you plan to upgrade your tank at all?

Jon

That is one of the reasons I've asked the question; I've read the horror stories. I'd love to upgrade but right now money & space are preventing it but I do have a plan. Hopefully in the next few months I can get a 20-30g tank set up for my community fish & then move my male Bettas into my 2 10g tanks & make everyone happy. I've been keeping an eye them but I wasn't sure at what age they get aggressive, like everything else there is conflicting information. So far they run from the Bettas & have each claimed their own hidey hole. Hopefully I can make the change before they become overly aggressive.

 

[bettaowner]

I had CAEs when I started off then I swore to never keep them again after I learned about their nasty behavior. I had one try to climb out of the tank.

 

[jondamon]

I had CAEs when I started off then I swore to never keep them again after I learned about their nasty behavior. I had one try to climb out of the tank.

After you learned about their behaviour.... How long did you keep them?

Other than trying to get out of the tank did yours exhibit any behaviour problems?

Just trying to give the OP a true rather than speculative side to these fish.

Like I said mine are quite happy, they dart around and stick to the tank/decor using their sucker disks.


Jon