chinese algae eater help

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tarpon

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Jul 1, 2011
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Dallas, Texas
Hi,
I was having an algae problem with my goldfish tank so I decided to go buy a snail or algae eating fish to control it. They didn't have any snails or anything else so I made a somewhat uninformed decision to buy 2 CAE's. I've recently read that they can be aggressive. I haven't had any problems yet, but I don't want my goldfish getting hurt or fins nipped or anything like that. Will he be okay? I'm going to move one CAE to another tank but I want to keep them if possible because I find them interesting.
The CAE's seem to be setting up territories within the tank as they each have places they like to spend most of their time. One CAE is about an inch and a half and the other is 2 inches
 
i have a CAE that was given to me, it's a few years old and has never had any issues with any tankmates and has been in a community setting this entire time. I'd just keep an eye on them and if they ever start getting aggressive then consider rehoming/replacing them. There is a general consensus that CAE's tend to get aggressive as they get older, but I'm not sure how many people actually have first hand experience with that vs. just reading about it.
 
In my girlfriends tank, she's had a cae in a comm. Tank since 2008 or so, and apparently its never been an issue...
 
Oh okay. Thanks. Ill keep an eye on it and hopefully I can get some more opinions as well. They just run away from my goldfish when he comes swimming by them now haha.
 
tarpon said:
Hi,
I was having an algae problem with my goldfish tank so I decided to go buy a snail or algae eating fish to control it. They didn't have any snails or anything else so I made a somewhat uninformed decision to buy 2 CAE's. I've recently read that they can be aggressive. I haven't had any problems yet, but I don't want my goldfish getting hurt or fins nipped or anything like that. Will he be okay? I'm going to move one CAE to another tank but I want to keep them if possible because I find them interesting.
The CAE's seem to be setting up territories within the tank as they each have places they like to spend most of their time. One CAE is about an inch and a half and the other is 2 inches

I'd suggest not putting any CAE in with goldies, because they will go after the slime of goldfish (one of my Moors has a scar from a CAE). I got rid if mine and opted for nerite snails and shrimp (ghost & amano) to deal with my algae. CAE's get 8-12" long and will need a large tank at some point. Take them back and deal with the algae yourself until you can find what you were looking for in the first place is my best recommendation.
 
tarpon said:
Ahh okay. Would it be a bad idea to put one in a larger community tank?

That I couldn't say, but I found mine to be lazy and they poop more than a goldie lol. That with the slime sucking and I made the call that 3 strikes and he was out. When they're full grown, I think you need a 55g+ from what others have said here.
 
I've only had them for a couple of days but they aren't eating hardly any algae. Probably not adjusted yet
 
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