Killer Loach

[kyektulu]

Heya everyone, I have one problem fish he is a sucking loach about 3 1/2 inches long.
Basicly he is a bully. He lives in my Rio 125 with quite a few other fish (cardinal tetras, khuli loaches, corydoras, harliquins, white cloud maountain minnows) and he is aggresive towards all the fish, even his mate. None can go in range of him as he will headbutt them and drive them away.
I tried seperating him but he went very ill and lost all of his colour (he is now a sickly yellow) so I put him back in the community tank. He is well now but has never regained his colour.
I do not know what to do, friends have mentioned killing him with various tentative methods but I feel quite bad as I bought him and took him to his new home, I cannot even 'pass him on' to someone else as all of my aqaurist friends know his behaviour (I wouldnt feel comfortable doing this anyway.)
I have nowhere else to put him as my other tanks are used for breeding or otherwise engaged, Yet I feel bad for my other fish putting them through this...

Any advice?

 

[Zagz]

You could take him to a lfs and see if they will take him. Or if you have a local aquarium club, you could contact them and they might be able to help you find him a home. Glad to hear you aren't planning on killing him. You are right, he didn't choose to come and live with you.

 

[czcz]

Is he a schooler? Maybe he needs more buddies to establish a pecking order and occupy his time.

 

[FishLover14]

Do you know exactly what kind of loach he is. I know a few kinds are kind of aggressive to other fish.


HTH

 

[Zagz]

I'd be interested in a pic if you had one.

 

[zenkatydid]

i assume you mean what i know as a sucking catfish, and other people here tend to call chinese algae eaters - http://www.fishprofiles.com./files/profiles/cae.xml . they do tend to get aggressive and territorial as they mature, especially towards their own species, and also towards others, as you've discovered. if your community tank isn't working for him, i would take him back and get yourself a bristlenose or something.

 

[kyektulu]

The type of loach is a Asian Golden Sucking Loach (Gyrinocheilus aymonier.)

It says on a page I found it is a very bad fish for community tanks and flat sided fish.
Totally not what I was told of its charecter upon purchase, I am glad I look information on all the fish I intend to buy now.


This is not my fish but just a pic of a golden sucking loach.

 

[kyektulu]

Ps. If anyone could PM me with infromation of how to modify a photo with Paint Shop Pro Nine I could get a pic of my loaches up here, I have no idea how to modify the pixels, or do anything else with paint shop for that matter! 8O

 

[TankGirl]

I'd bet you could get your LFS to take him - that is probably the best thing. He could go in a tank with larger cichilds that would not kill him but he would not be able to bother them.

 

[Zezmo]

I am sorry to say that once a Golden Algae Eater (which is yet another name for what you have in the pic) goes aggressive it will just keep getting worse. Here is a picture of mine, when he was still friendly. It is unfortunate, because these guys are superb algae eaters. they keep the glass nice and clean.

A while later after he went crazy, I put him in Q-tank for 2-weeks. He did not behave when he returned to main tank, if anything he got worse. He especially chased after my pore female Dwarf Gouramis. Well when I went to get him out again, he was not into being netted. I gave up after like 15 minutes, and just left the net in the tank. While I was at work the next day my Girlfriend took this picture. Well after seeing him mocking me in this picture there was no way I wasn't going to catch him. I sold him at the next Aquarium Society auction.

 

[TankGirl]

That picture is too funny- he really was mocking you! "Hey! Look at me! Neener, neener, neener!"

Really neat pic, seriously, though I am sure you were less than amused. :?

 

[zenkatydid]

aren't they just a colour variation of the chinese algae eater?

 

[kyektulu]

I know what u mean these loaches have a total power complex when it comes to Dwarf Gouramis, my poor male and females were tortured!
I only returned the 'evil' loach back to the community tank once they had passed on.
To be honest I doubt my LFS will take him back because of his lack of colour and bad personality... cant hurt to ask though thanks guys.

 

[Heiko]

Hey guys,

I bought two CAEs from my lfs, i was informed they were peacful and grew to no more than 4 inches. How badly can they lie? Im not sure wat 2 do cos there so peaceful as 1" juveniles. Recon i shud take them back while i still can?

Sorry 2 but in, but i can sympathise with u man, these things can be evil or so ive herd. im getting worried about mine now.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

CAE's get bigger than 4 inches.........

They can get up to 10 inches, but more than likely will stay under 6 inches. I haven't seen it yet with my 4 CAE's, but people say they stop eating algae when they get older. Mine were about 1" when I got them, and one is now just over 2", and still cleaning the algae. They are awsome when small, will see as they get older and bigger.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

And yes, mine are extremely peaceful, except with themselves. Now and then you will see a CAE chase, but not too often. They are fun to watch. And they really don't terrorize each other, just an occasional chase. The only fish in my tank that doesn't like the CEA's too much is the rainbow shark. He occasionally chases them, but not too often. All the other fish pay no attention to them, not even the albino rainbow shark.

 

[Zezmo]

My GAE (Albino CAE) also did not get along with the rainbow shark. More it was the GAE, did not like the Gouramis and the Rainbow Shark did not like the GAE. The Rainbow Shark would sit there for hours puffing his fins at the GAE. The GAE would ignore him and instead would chase the Gouramis around non-stop.

 

[crazycat]

my albino cae is about 4.5" now.he's definitely one of the largest fish in my tank, and somewhat aggressive. he never really fights, but he definitely chases other fish away from food and territory. he's not the best algae eater anymore, but i really rely on my saes and elbow grease for that . he's definitely one of my hardiest fish, and sometimes eats SOOOO much that he looks like he's going to pop! i have a soft spot for him, since he's my oldest fish--nothing will kill him--not even my early newbie mistakes!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I had 3, now have 2, they definately have a pecking order, all 3 were purchased at the same time, they were 3 very different sizes when the smallest of them died an unknown death (just wound up dead one day, no illness or other cause), the largest is about 4" now, seconded by 3" and the one that died was about 1.5" (obviously the weaker of them)..

I've noticed they don't do as much cleaning now as they once did, I also noticed they tend to chase the other fish (and they have quite a burst of speed..) they are also pigs, they devour everything they can... I always keep an eye on them for chronic aggression (hey, we all have bad days), the larger one is bordering on extreme territorial behaviour (his territory being the whole tank), I've been considering returning them to the LFS for use in their display tank, they are in very good shape (no marks or illness), but they are getting to close to aggressive for a rather peaceful community tank. the display tank houses some of the same size and at worst will force them to re-establish their pecking order (put them in their place)