Golden Algae Eater

[Edward Haworth]

I am lookingfor advice. I recently added a small fish to my tank,
that the shop assistant described as a golden cleaner loach. The tank
had been having some serious algae trouble (I've always only bothered
to scrape the front, leaving the back and sides, but this was getting
yucky). The new fish has really hit the algae, almost clearing the
tank in the last week.
I decided to get some more information on him and discovered that he
is a Golden (Chinese) Algae Eater. He is a pretty fellow, about
1.5/2". He shares the tank with a few GF and a weather loach.
So far he has totally ignored hsi tank mates, but i noticed with alarm
that older fish of his species are known to attack tank mates.
Does anyone ahve any experience of these fish? more specifically, how
worried should I be and how big do they usually get before becoming
aggressive? The slighest sign of attacks and he is out of there but
he is such a pretty and cosmetically beneficial fish that I don't want
to pull him out unless I have to.
Thanks,
Ed

[[email protected]]

get him out. all they have to do is discover slime coat and he will be after the GF.
Ingrid

Edward Haworth > wrote:

>I am lookingfor advice. I recently added a small fish to my tank,
>that the shop assistant described as a golden cleaner loach. The tank
>had been having some serious algae trouble (I've always only bothered
>to scrape the front, leaving the back and sides, but this was getting
>yucky). The new fish has really hit the algae, almost clearing the
>tank in the last week.
>I decided to get some more information on him and discovered that he
>is a Golden (Chinese) Algae Eater. He is a pretty fellow, about
>1.5/2". He shares the tank with a few GF and a weather loach.
>So far he has totally ignored hsi tank mates, but i noticed with alarm
>that older fish of his species are known to attack tank mates.
>Does anyone ahve any experience of these fish? more specifically, how
>worried should I be and how big do they usually get before becoming
>aggressive? The slighest sign of attacks and he is out of there but
>he is such a pretty and cosmetically beneficial fish that I don't want
>to pull him out unless I have to.
>Thanks,
>Ed



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[T]

I would get rid of the little bugger... I think my Oscar would enjoy him as
a treat... I lost many a fish due to these CAE, many gup's and tetras.. Get
a pl*co.. Keep and effective... I like the common plec's myself but I do
have some nice albino bristle nose as well... I also have Cory's for bottom
clean up....

Timmer.......
> wrote in message
...
> get him out. all they have to do is discover slime coat and he will be
after the GF.
> Ingrid
>
> Edward Haworth > wrote:
>
> >I am lookingfor advice. I recently added a small fish to my tank,
> >that the shop assistant described as a golden cleaner loach. The tank
> >had been having some serious algae trouble (I've always only bothered
> >to scrape the front, leaving the back and sides, but this was getting
> >yucky). The new fish has really hit the algae, almost clearing the
> >tank in the last week.
> >I decided to get some more information on him and discovered that he
> >is a Golden (Chinese) Algae Eater. He is a pretty fellow, about
> >1.5/2". He shares the tank with a few GF and a weather loach.
> >So far he has totally ignored hsi tank mates, but i noticed with alarm
> >that older fish of his species are known to attack tank mates.
> >Does anyone ahve any experience of these fish? more specifically, how
> >worried should I be and how big do they usually get before becoming
> >aggressive? The slighest sign of attacks and he is out of there but
> >he is such a pretty and cosmetically beneficial fish that I don't want
> >to pull him out unless I have to.
> >Thanks,
> >Ed
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> www.drsolo.com
> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
> endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Dave, Chris & Ben Oinonen Ehren]

It bugs me that stores stock this species. It seems like a real disservice
to their customers to sell these without some kind of warning. Yes, I
bought one in my teens, 'cause I didn't know any better. Caused no end of
trouble.

I wonder about the name this was sold under: "golden cleaner loach". Do we
think the name change was a cynical attempt to misinform on the part of the
LFS owner or the distributor? It would be more informative to call this
thing "Chinese Death Loach" or "Slime Sucking Vampire Loach".

Chris


in article et, T at
wrote on 10/30/03 8:58 AM:

> I would get rid of the little bugger... I think my Oscar would enjoy him as
> a treat... I lost many a fish due to these CAE, many gup's and tetras.. Get
> a pl*co.. Keep and effective... I like the common plec's myself but I do
> have some nice albino bristle nose as well... I also have Cory's for bottom
> clean up....
>
> Timmer.......
> > wrote in message
> ...
>> get him out. all they have to do is discover slime coat and he will be
> after the GF.
>> Ingrid
>>
>> Edward Haworth > wrote:
>>
>>> I am lookingfor advice. I recently added a small fish to my tank,
>>> that the shop assistant described as a golden cleaner loach. The tank
>>> had been having some serious algae trouble (I've always only bothered
>>> to scrape the front, leaving the back and sides, but this was getting
>>> yucky). The new fish has really hit the algae, almost clearing the
>>> tank in the last week.
>>> I decided to get some more information on him and discovered that he
>>> is a Golden (Chinese) Algae Eater. He is a pretty fellow, about
>>> 1.5/2". He shares the tank with a few GF and a weather loach.
>>> So far he has totally ignored hsi tank mates, but i noticed with alarm
>>> that older fish of his species are known to attack tank mates.
>>> Does anyone ahve any experience of these fish? more specifically, how
>>> worried should I be and how big do they usually get before becoming
>>> aggressive? The slighest sign of attacks and he is out of there but
>>> he is such a pretty and cosmetically beneficial fish that I don't want
>>> to pull him out unless I have to.
>>> Thanks,
>>> Ed
>>
>>
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
>> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
>> www.drsolo.com
>> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
>> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
>> endorsements or recommendations I make.
>
>

--

[Toni]

"Dave, Chris & Ben Oinonen Ehren" >
> It would be more informative to call this
> thing "Chinese Death Loach" or "Slime Sucking Vampire Loach".
>


Now *there's* a good idea.


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/aquarium.htm

[Edward Haworth]

You've all convinced me it has to go before he does any harm. However
I don't really have another tank to put it in, and don't want to
euthanise him. What should I do?

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 03:07:07 +0000, Edward Haworth
> wrote:

>I am lookingfor advice. I recently added a small fish to my tank,
>that the shop assistant described as a golden cleaner loach. The tank
>had been having some serious algae trouble (I've always only bothered
>to scrape the front, leaving the back and sides, but this was getting
>yucky). The new fish has really hit the algae, almost clearing the
>tank in the last week.
>I decided to get some more information on him and discovered that he
>is a Golden (Chinese) Algae Eater. He is a pretty fellow, about
>1.5/2". He shares the tank with a few GF and a weather loach.
>So far he has totally ignored hsi tank mates, but i noticed with alarm
>that older fish of his species are known to attack tank mates.
>Does anyone ahve any experience of these fish? more specifically, how
>worried should I be and how big do they usually get before becoming
>aggressive? The slighest sign of attacks and he is out of there but
>he is such a pretty and cosmetically beneficial fish that I don't want
>to pull him out unless I have to.
>Thanks,
>Ed

[Donald Kerns]

Edward Haworth wrote:

> You've all convinced me it has to go before he does any harm. However
> I don't really have another tank to put it in, and don't want to
> euthanise him. What should I do?

Take him back to the store, with prejudice.

-D
--
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof." -Galbraith's Law

[Edward Haworth]

I'll clean a jam jar and do that. I don't expect a refund but I want
them to stick a warning label on the tank.

They are a pretty good shop and I hope that ignorance is the problem
rather than wilful misinformation.

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 14:30:32 -0800, Donald Kerns
> wrote:

>Edward Haworth wrote:
>
>> You've all convinced me it has to go before he does any harm. However
>> I don't really have another tank to put it in, and don't want to
>> euthanise him. What should I do?
>
>Take him back to the store, with prejudice.
>
>-D

[Edward Haworth]

Thanks for all the advice.
The 'vampire death loach' has been returned to the store, along with
some print outs on the species and its behaviour. After a
conversation with the lady in the shop I hope that they will issue a
warning to future customers. She said they specifically asked the
distributor if they were safe with other fish and were told yes.
Ed


On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 09:55:23 -0600, "Dave, Chris & Ben Oinonen Ehren"
> wrote:

>It bugs me that stores stock this species. It seems like a real disservice
>to their customers to sell these without some kind of warning. Yes, I
>bought one in my teens, 'cause I didn't know any better. Caused no end of
>trouble.
>
>I wonder about the name this was sold under: "golden cleaner loach". Do we
>think the name change was a cynical attempt to misinform on the part of the
>LFS owner or the distributor? It would be more informative to call this
>thing "Chinese Death Loach" or "Slime Sucking Vampire Loach".
>
>Chris

>
>in article et, T at
wrote on 10/30/03 8:58 AM:
>
>> I would get rid of the little bugger... I think my Oscar would enjoy him as
>> a treat... I lost many a fish due to these CAE, many gup's and tetras.. Get
>> a pl*co.. Keep and effective... I like the common plec's myself but I do
>> have some nice albino bristle nose as well... I also have Cory's for bottom
>> clean up....
>>
>> Timmer.......
>> > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> get him out. all they have to do is discover slime coat and he will be
>> after the GF.
>>> Ingrid
>>>
>>> Edward Haworth > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I am lookingfor advice. I recently added a small fish to my tank,
>>>> that the shop assistant described as a golden cleaner loach. The tank
>>>> had been having some serious algae trouble (I've always only bothered
>>>> to scrape the front, leaving the back and sides, but this was getting
>>>> yucky). The new fish has really hit the algae, almost clearing the
>>>> tank in the last week.
>>>> I decided to get some more information on him and discovered that he
>>>> is a Golden (Chinese) Algae Eater. He is a pretty fellow, about
>>>> 1.5/2". He shares the tank with a few GF and a weather loach.
>>>> So far he has totally ignored hsi tank mates, but i noticed with alarm
>>>> that older fish of his species are known to attack tank mates.
>>>> Does anyone ahve any experience of these fish? more specifically, how
>>>> worried should I be and how big do they usually get before becoming
>>>> aggressive? The slighest sign of attacks and he is out of there but
>>>> he is such a pretty and cosmetically beneficial fish that I don't want
>>>> to pull him out unless I have to.
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Ed
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
>>> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
>>> www.drsolo.com
>>> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
>>> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
>>> endorsements or recommendations I make.
>>
>>