A CAE that actually Es A?

It seems as though I've had turbulent few days in cycling my new tank.
From one CAE dying from what I honestly believe was hypoxia, to a thick
green cloud of bacterial bloom caused by naively lowering ph with
vinegar, to a growth of green/grey hair algae that literally grew
before my eyes to reach 1/2" long in a day.

After spending 1/2 day reading about algae (thanls to all those who've
gone before me), I decided that I'd tackle it by lowering ph to 7.0
(which was my target anyway), doing a partial water change (my 1st step
in treating *anything*), leaving the light off for a bit, reducing the
amount of food I was feeding and introducing a few more fish
(specifically those that eat algae - keeping in mind that my tank has
not yet cycled).

I had left the light off today when I went to work. I stopped in at the
LFS on the way home, and picked up 3 SAEs (which of course turned out
to be false SAEs).

When I got home to perform a 10% water change, I found that a bulk of
the algae was already gone. I couldn't believe that only 1 day without
lighting could do this. It was at this time that I noticed my 1
remaining CAE (golden) devouring whisp after whisp of the green/grey
algae.

I changed the water as planned, introduced my (false) SAEs, and they
joined my CAE in polishing off the algae. Only a few short hours later,
and my algae problem is all but gone.

Have I indeed got the one good CAE in existence?

How big is the CAE? Up to about 6" they a fantastic algae eaters. After
that, they get more and more territorial and grumpy with other tank mates. I
have an 8" golden CAE and he is actually pretty good so far. Only arguing
with the Osteochilus that was in there for a short time. Nothing else tries
to take his turf so they get left alone.

--
Cheers

Rick

http://www.aqua-maniac.co.uk
http://bmw.aqua-maniac.co.uk
"Rod Bacon" wrote in message
oups.com...
It seems as though I've had turbulent few days in cycling my new tank.
From one CAE dying from what I honestly believe was hypoxia, to a thick
green cloud of bacterial bloom caused by naively lowering ph with
vinegar, to a growth of green/grey hair algae that literally grew
before my eyes to reach 1/2" long in a day.

After spending 1/2 day reading about algae (thanls to all those who've
gone before me), I decided that I'd tackle it by lowering ph to 7.0
(which was my target anyway), doing a partial water change (my 1st step
in treating *anything*), leaving the light off for a bit, reducing the
amount of food I was feeding and introducing a few more fish
(specifically those that eat algae - keeping in mind that my tank has
not yet cycled).

I had left the light off today when I went to work. I stopped in at the
LFS on the way home, and picked up 3 SAEs (which of course turned out
to be false SAEs).

When I got home to perform a 10% water change, I found that a bulk of
the algae was already gone. I couldn't believe that only 1 day without
lighting could do this. It was at this time that I noticed my 1
remaining CAE (golden) devouring whisp after whisp of the green/grey
algae.

I changed the water as planned, introduced my (false) SAEs, and they
joined my CAE in polishing off the algae. Only a few short hours later,
and my algae problem is all but gone.

Have I indeed got the one good CAE in existence?

He's only about 3" long, so I guess there's still time to get older and
grumpier... hmm... maybe my wife is a CAE ?