Chinese algea eater behavior. New Tank

[officernate3236]

Hello,

I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank that has gone through its initial cycle and seems to be doing grreat. I have a few Mickey fish and other Platy's that are active and like to frolick around. I also have two chinese algea eaters (thin bodied silver with a horizontal line). One is very active and fast eating regular stuff and defending his little corner of the tank. The other one is the problem. He/she just sits there. Mouth is opening and closing and gills are doing the same. It just seems to be lazy or unwilling to swim like the other one. I was told one was male and the other was female but I have no idea which is which. I forced some food flakes near it and it ate them so I am lost in what to do next. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Reaper216]

I'm going to follow along on this. I have the same situation. 2 algae eaters, the larger one is very active. So much so that ive caught my zebra danios trying to school with it lol. But the other smaller one lays very inactive.

 

[Mebbid]

Chinese algae eaters are literally the single most hated aquarium fish in fresh water. Keep an eye on them as they grow as they will commonly start attacking other fish sucking off their slime coat and eventually killing them.

As for how it is acting, that's hard to tell. It might be sick or stressed out from something.

 

[Fishman88888]

Hello,

I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank that has gone through its initial cycle and seems to be doing grreat. I have a few Mickey fish and other Platy's that are active and like to frolick around. I also have two chinese algea eaters (thin bodied silver with a horizontal line). One is very active and fast eating regular stuff and defending his little corner of the tank. The other one is the problem. He/she just sits there. Mouth is opening and closing and gills are doing the same. It just seems to be lazy or unwilling to swim like the other one. I was told one was male and the other was female but I have no idea which is which. I forced some food flakes near it and it ate them so I am lost in what to do next. Any thoughts or suggestions?

aren't the Chinese algae eaters the orange ones? That get really aggressive as they get older? It sounds like he has a Siamese algae eater, those guys are peaceful from what I know, and have heard.

 

[Slavo]

No, I don't think so. The orange ones you're referring to are: Gold Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilos aymonieri), I think. From the description, they sound like they are indeed: Chinese Algae Eaters (Gyrinocheilos aymonieri), which are semi-aggressive and increasingly so as the mature. I've had 1 or 2 in the past and IMO they are very aggressive, and will often pester other fish, causing them to be stressed.

In addition, Chinese Algae Eaters can reach 10", in which case will be a big threat to your Mickeys and other platys.

If you want a peaceful algae eater than can co-exist in a community tank, if would go with 3-4 Otocinclus Catfish for 29g tank. They are raveneous when it comes to algae consumption and are very peaceful.

Hope this helps!

 

[Mebbid]

Oto cats are nice but are very very difficult to keep alive. They really do need a well established tank with great parameters to thrive. I would stick to nerite snails as an alternative for an algae eater.

 

[Sherriff]

Oto cats are nice but are very very difficult to keep alive. They really do need a well established tank with great parameters to thrive. I would stick to nerite snails as an alternative for an algae eater.

I have to disagree here, Otos were the second group of fish I added to my tank (ember tetra came first) and I have had no problems in the two years they have been here!!! Lovely little characters too!

 

[Mebbid]

I have to disagree here, Otos were the second group of fish I added to my tank (ember tetra came first) and I have had no problems in the two years they have been here!!! Lovely little characters too!

Your experience with them seems to be a typical. I tried buying a school of 5 of them for my planted tank and ended up going through 11 of them before giving up and keeping the 1 tht managed to survive the transition. Acclimation was done over the course of an hour. They definitely aren't a fish I would recommend for beginners.

 

[Sherriff]

Your experience with them seems to be a typical. I tried buying a school of 5 of them for my planted tank and ended up going through 11 of them before giving up and keeping the 1 tht managed to survive the transition. Acclimation was done over the course of an hour. They definitely aren't a fish I would recommend for beginners.

A typical what?
I got a school of 12 and lost one over the years. Acclimation for myself was using a syringe over the course of an hour also.
Well I was/am a beginner, I think it also depends on the sourcing of the fish.

 

[Mebbid]

A typical what?
I got a school of 12 and lost one over the years. Acclimation for myself was using a syringe over the course of an hour also.
Well I was/am a beginner, I think it also depends on the sourcing of the fish.

Drunk typing Atypical.

This is true about the sourcing of the fish, but its very common for people at least on this forum to lose most if not all their otos.,

 

[Slavo]

A typical what?
I got a school of 12 and lost one over the years. Acclimation for myself was using a syringe over the course of an hour also.
Well I was/am a beginner, I think it also depends on the sourcing of the fish.

I agree, where you buy fish is a great determining factor. IMO, if you buy fish from Petco or Petsmart where the husbandry is poor to non-existent, more than likely you'll get poor quiality fish. However, if you buy them from a LFS, obvisously, the quality of the fish will be much better, as the husbandry is much better.

Concerning acclimation, I floated my school of 8 Otos for about 20min, then released them in the tank. So I was not as delicate or patient, yet after 6 months I have only lost maybe 2-3, which I replaced about 2 months ago and this is my first time owning Otos.

 

[flitabout]

Both the gold and the standard color are the chinese algae eaters. This is the single fish that I would never own. They get big and mean! Siamse and the otos are great little fish, But the standard for otos is in an aged tank. Most otos are wild caught and the way that they are caught are the reason that they are so delicate and may still be suffering and die in your tank even after being in there for months

 

[Reaper216]

Is this a chinese algea eater? I just saw a picture of one labeled chinese algae eater but it didnt look like mine

 

[flitabout]

It actually looks like a Siamese algae eater which is a whole lot better than a chinese one!!!!
Tropical Fish for Freshwater Aquariums:Siamese Algae Eater

 

[Reaper216]

could it be one of these? an Oto

 

[flitabout]

It's hard to tell but it's nose is to blunt to be an oto. And after going over the pics again it's still in my opinion a chinese algae eater.

 

[Rivercats]

The reason that some Oto's do better than others is because of their catching methods. Many but not all Oto's are caught by stunning them with cyanide. They are then easily collected. These fish don't usually die right away but over time and the stress of all the handling and changing of enviornments multiple times from catchers to the home aquarium is just too much for fish that have been compromised by poison in their system. Since not all Oto's are caught that way a lot really depends on the initial catching method. I've kept Oto's for years and have gotten great batches like the 25 I brought in a couple months ago and lost only 1 and that was during transit to having gotten that many in the past and lost most of them. You just never know with Oto's.