wes.crockett Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 Went to the LFS looking for an otto and/or Amano Shrimp. Left with a Lemon Pleco and a Chinese Algae Eater. They are twinsies. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melkor Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 Chinese algae eaters can be aggressive as they mature. Siamese algae eaters are pretty chill. But they usually like a school of 3 or more, and at least 40 gallons. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 (edited) On 8/7/2022 at 4:21 PM, wes.crockett said: Chinese Algae Eater. be careful with this one. It very quickly will not eat algae and will bully other fish, potentially trying to bite them. Quote Your chinese algae eater attacking other fish? It happens often. As a rule, Chinese Algae Eater show aggression towards their kind and species with similar size, appearance, and lifestyle – for example, SAE. In a tank, especially a small-sized one, only one fish can be kept; keeping a couple or a group of fish in such conditions will inevitably lead to the death of the weakest species. This genus is also not recommended as a tank mate for large slow fishes (goldfish, discus, angelfish, Altum angelfish). Gyrinocheilus may damage their integument by sucking on it and scraping off the slime covering fish body sides. Gyrinocheilus are welcome in community tanks provided with active average-sized tank mates. These can be tiger barb, clown loach, bala shark, harlequin rasbora, neon tetra, tinfoil barb, rosy barb, platy, swordtail. Keeping a group of fishes is one way to decrease interspecific aggression. Still, you should get at least 3-5 species and more since they have hierarchic relations, and in the case of a smaller group, the fish may start pinching weaker species. Edited August 8, 2022 by nabokovfan87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 8, 2022 Author Share Posted August 8, 2022 On 8/7/2022 at 7:26 PM, nabokovfan87 said: be careful with this one. It very quickly will not eat algae and will bully other fish, potentially trying to bite them. Gotta love the LFS for saying it'd be great in there... lol.. I'll monitor it for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 On 8/7/2022 at 7:38 PM, wes.crockett said: Gotta love the LFS for saying it'd be great in there... lol.. I'll monitor it for sure. They get about a foot long. I would try to return it if you don't have a 75G tank or larger. If you've familiar with the cookie cutter shark, I have seen CAEs make similar wounds. Unfortunately it happens. Marketing a fish as an "algae eater" has to be the oldest trick in the book and I would love for these guys to get renamed! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 8, 2022 Author Share Posted August 8, 2022 I keep looking hoping that maybe they sold me a Siamese Algae Eater, but I don't think that's the case... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotatoFish Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 On 8/8/2022 at 1:13 PM, wes.crockett said: I keep looking hoping that maybe they sold me a Siamese Algae Eater, but I don't think that's the case... Yeah, I had to unlearn a lot of stuff my old LFS "taught" me. "Sure, those ghost shrimp would go great with that figure-8 puffer...sometimes they might be aggressive towards shrimp. We got you a docile one though." 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anitstuk Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 On 8/8/2022 at 7:02 PM, PotatoFish said: Yeah, I had to unlearn a lot of stuff my old LFS "taught" me. "Sure, those ghost shrimp would go great with that figure-8 puffer...sometimes they might be aggressive towards shrimp. We got you a docile one though." Most LFSs do give you lots of good information and tips in the fishkeeping hobby but they also give you lots of bad info. XD 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 I hadn't seen a sulking loach (Chinese algae eater in the UK) for years than I visited a different (slightly odd LFS). Anyway when I asked if they weren't aggressive she just said she didn't get many returned. You have to read between the lines sometimes, they are cute when they are small though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 9, 2022 Author Share Posted August 9, 2022 I have the worst freaking luck... Lol. Pleco is dead 24 hours later. Floated for an hour and introduced tank water 1/2 way through. He was sucking sides of wall and looked fine. Got home this afternoon to it totally lifeless. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotatoFish Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 9:55 AM, wes.crockett said: I have the worst freaking luck... Lol. Pleco is dead 24 hours later. Floated for an hour and introduced tank water 1/2 way through. He was sucking sides of wall and looked fine. Got home this afternoon to it totally lifeless. I'm sorry to hear about that. Did it look emaciated already? Sunken in belly? They should have pretty round tummies when you pick them. With some of the young, longfin varieties, it was a little harder for me to judge fitness. Perhaps I am misunderstanding. Did you mean it was in the QT tank and you put it in another container to gradually introduce the tank water? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 9, 2022 Author Share Posted August 9, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 9:36 AM, PotatoFish said: I'm sorry to hear about that. Did it look emaciated already? Sunken in belly? They should have pretty round tummies when you pick them. With some of the young, longfin varieties, it was a little harder for me to judge fitness. Perhaps I am misunderstanding. Did you mean it was in the QT tank and you put it in another container to gradually introduce the tank water? Originally, he looked fairly plump (round belly) but when i tool him out he was very thin. He was in the main tank. Unfortunately, I don't have the setup to do a full quarantine but I did float them for over an hour and introduce tank water for a while before putting him in... certainly not ideal... In looking at it more, I'm not convinced it was actually a Lemon Pleco as it looks more like an Albino Bristlenose (https://fresno.craigslist.org/grd/d/clovis-albino-bristlenose-pleco/7513406069.html). The LFS opens at noon and I plan to call. I'm not sure if they have a guarantee on their fish or anything but I need to see about returning the Chinese Algae Eater (he's OK right now, but I don't want him getting older and more aggressive in the tank) and see about replacing the pleco. If I get replacement pleco, or if i just go to a different shop and get a Otto or something, I will do a water change in my tank and just leave the water in the bucket and set up my small sponge filter and put the fish in there... I should try to get a 3 gallon tank or something for this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 9, 2022 Author Share Posted August 9, 2022 An update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 A Chinese algae eater and a betta probably won’t end well. I wouldn’t go away from a bristlenose based on that one dying. they have been hardy in my experience. Otos are cool fish too though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 9, 2022 Author Share Posted August 9, 2022 I just called the LFS: No guarantee on the fish, so no free Pleco replacement They will take back the CAE Will discount a new pleco to $8 (was $20). All in all, I'll happily take that. A bit frustrating about getting the CAE in the first place, but all good in the end. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 4:41 PM, wes.crockett said: I just called the LFS: No guarantee on the fish, so no free Pleco replacement They will take back the CAE Will discount a new pleco to $8 (was $20). All in all, I'll happily take that. A bit frustrating about getting the CAE in the first place, but all good in the end. Stinks that won’t refund for the one that died. $8 isn’t bad for a lemon if that is the kind you want. Do you have any other LFS around you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 6:34 PM, _Eric_ said: Stinks that won’t refund for the one that died. $8 isn’t bad for a lemon if that is the kind you want. Do you have any other LFS around you? Yeah, there seem to be a few. I haven't been to any of them yet though. There are other bristlenose ones I like more, for sure, so I'll see what they have. I would really prefer a hillstream loach, but I'm not sure my tank could support that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 8:50 PM, wes.crockett said: Yeah, there seem to be a few. I haven't been to any of them yet though. There are other bristlenose ones I like more, for sure, so I'll see what they have. I would really prefer a hillstream loach, but I'm not sure my tank could support that. The lemon is pretty nice. I have a “standard” and an albino. The blue eyes are pretty cool on the lemon. I was going for that but my son saw an albino one in a shop that he really wanted so we went that route. Bristlenose are cool fish. They will do a better job on algae than a single hillstream but hillstreams are neat looking and can be something unique. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 7:39 PM, _Eric_ said: The lemon is pretty nice. I have a “standard” and an albino. The blue eyes are pretty cool on the lemon. I was going for that but my son saw an albino one in a shop that he really wanted so we went that route. Bristlenose are cool fish. They will do a better job on algae than a single hillstream but hillstreams are neat looking and can be something unique. For sure. I'll get another one. Side note... 2.5g too small for a betta? Saw a koi betta and thought "i need this' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Eric_ Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 10:19 PM, wes.crockett said: For sure. I'll get another one. Side note... 2.5g too small for a betta? Saw a koi betta and thought "i need this' In my opinion, that is too small. There are plenty of those size tanks sold for Bettas at the Petcos and Petsmarts of the world and plenty of people that keep them in tanks that small but I think it is kind of sad for the fish. I think 5 gal is good for a betta though. As a side note, koi bettas often change coloration and lose their koi-ness after a year or so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes.crockett Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/9/2022 at 8:29 PM, _Eric_ said: In my opinion, that is too small. There are plenty of those size tanks sold for Bettas at the Petcos and Petsmarts of the world and plenty of people that keep them in tanks that small but I think it is kind of sad for the fish. I think 5 gal is good for a betta though. As a side note, koi bettas often change coloration and lose their koi-ness after a year or so. I agree, 5 is probably the minimum... but i just bought the 5 gal for quarantine!!!! lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotatoFish Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 On 8/10/2022 at 6:41 AM, wes.crockett said: I just called the LFS: No guarantee on the fish, so no free Pleco replacement They will take back the CAE Will discount a new pleco to $8 (was $20). All in all, I'll happily take that. A bit frustrating about getting the CAE in the first place, but all good in the end. It's all a learning process. Just be glad you learned it without that CAE nomming on your other fish's slime coat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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