chinese algae eater...

"sophie" wrote in message
al.net...
I have been watching my chinese algae eater very carefully since
a few weeks after I got it and realised exactly what I had let
myself in for. The guy in the shop said that in his experience,
they only became aggressive if they didn't have enough to eat -
and as he's a trustworthy fish-hobbyist I decided to give things
a go.

a year and a half later - this tiny shrimp of a fish is now
three inches long and FAT. He's in a four foot unheated tank
with a thick coating of green velvet on the rocks and wood. I
quite like the algae - almost none grows on the glass and none
on the sand, it looks quite nice and the goldfish eat it too, so
I'm not at all fussed about eradicating it completely, though I
realise not a lot of people would feel like this. Anyway, he
doesn;t touch the rocks much, but he rasps up the fuzz on the
driftwood like you would not believe. So far, he's easily the
mellowest fish in the tank (three goldfish, two weatherfish and
a bunch of white clouds) and as a chubby fish I find him really
appealing. Face like a frog and a very attractive way of resting
on his fins.

Now, I know this fish could get miles bigger and stroppier (I
have an acquaintance in a fish-shop who says she'll home him in
a giant sump if he turns bad) but at the moment he's so
un-stroppy that he doesn't actually move when two loopy loaches
are hyperactively trying to nose him out of the way to check
for food - whereas in a small, relatively crowded previous tank
with fairly low algae levels he was a monster. So I'm currently
wondering if CAEs need (a) room and (b) loads of algae. No good
at keeping algae out of sight, but in a tank with an owner like
me who doesn't mind green velvet on the rocks and wood,
appealing fish. Bear in mind I like quirky fish, though.

And I'm still wondering if I'll think the same way in another
year or so...

-- spacereturnsophiereturn
http://www.freewebs.com/fishstuff/peculiarpangio.htm

LOL, I have had customers who swore by the CAEs, as being very docile
*and* great algae eaters, so I guess it just goes to show you, ymmv.
They do get quite large though, so I think you're right. They need lots
of room & board.

ps: I have a 40g with rocks stacked to just below the surface (it holds a
colony of Julies). I've gotten the algae on the rocks to the point where
it looks like a lawn, rippling in the turbulence. It's probably one of
the reasons the tank can be so overstocked (the Julies won't stop
reproducing) as it must be soaking up the waste products. Algae, done
properly can be quite nice imo.
--
www.NetMax.tk