ktk4beees Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 I badly want to get rid of a Siamese Algae Eater. It has turned full on into a bully and is picking on my large Goldfish and my equally large blue Crawdad. Problem is it is fast and keep hiding in the crawdad's area which is a wood "jungle gym". Short of taking out all the tank decorations and the crawdad's home, does any one have experience or suggestions how to get this problem fish out of the tank? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Are you sure it is a SAE but not Chinese Algae eater or something else? I have 3 SAE in my community and they only chase each other and thats it. They never touch any other fish Rehoming is the only option I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted June 7, 2023 Author Share Posted June 7, 2023 Yes I Know what it is and I would love to rehome it if I could get it out of the tank. The problem is I cannot get it out of the tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 (edited) On 6/8/2023 at 12:57 AM, ktk4beees said: Yes I Know what it is and I would love to rehome it if I could get it out of the tank. The problem is I cannot get it out of the tank. Can you share a close up picture of your fish please? I have dwarf crayfishes in my 3 SAE tank and I'm kinda suprised at what I'm reading ngl. If there is a bully, that should be the crayfish 😄 Edited June 7, 2023 by Lennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 adult SAE's can be challenging to catch. id suggest 2 nets. one to catch it, and one to use to chase it into the other net. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted June 7, 2023 Author Share Posted June 7, 2023 Here ya go. This behavior started about 5 weeks ago and I have tried everything to stop it so he has to go. PS all fish have personalities and my crayfish is a pacifist. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 On 6/7/2023 at 1:46 PM, ktk4beees said: Problem is it is fast and keep hiding in the crawdad's area which is a wood "jungle gym". Short of taking out all the tank decorations and the crawdad's home, does any one have experience or suggestions how to get this problem fish out of the tank? Basically the fish is trying to tell you what it wants. It's weird to think of it but those fish do like to have shade to hide under. Mine would get pushed out of the caves by my RTBS, she's the same family of fish, very similar in terms of her shape and she definitely did not want the SAEs in her area. At the time I had 2 other tanks that needed SAEs and so the ones that were most aggressive towards my RTBS went to other tanks. The ones that remained would sleep on big plant leaves and on chunks of wood all day. The fish might just need a bit of a territory to call home and to rest during the bright hours of the day. If you're going to net the fish out, use a 5 or 7" wide net. Use your hand to guide the fish to the net (Cory has a video on netting fish) and then just have some patience. Cypranidae rish are extremely fast swimmers. On 6/7/2023 at 2:57 PM, ktk4beees said: The problem is I cannot get it out of the tank. The only real trick is to drop the waterline and then use the method: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted June 7, 2023 Author Share Posted June 7, 2023 On 6/7/2023 at 5:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Basically the fish is trying to tell you what it wants. It's weird to think of it but those fish do like to have shade to hide under. Mine would get pushed out of the caves by my RTBS, she's the same family of fish, very similar in terms of her shape and she definitely did not want the SAEs in her area. At the time I had 2 other tanks that needed SAEs and so the ones that were most aggressive towards my RTBS went to other tanks. The ones that remained would sleep on big plant leaves and on chunks of wood all day. The fish might just need a bit of a territory to call home and to rest during the bright hours of the day. If you're going to net the fish out, use a 5 or 7" wide net. Use your hand to guide the fish to the net (Cory has a video on netting fish) and then just have some patience. Cypranidae rish are extremely fast swimmers. It has plenty of other wood in the tank it could use to hide and other plants and things for security and since it has been warm the light has not been turned on. When it was smaller it was a nice fish eating black hair algae off the plants but now that it has gained size, it turned into a bully. It had one of my large 7 in goldfish hunched in a corner the other day. Truth be told I have been hoping the crayfish would get tired of it and just eat it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 (edited) On 6/8/2023 at 2:00 AM, ktk4beees said: PS all fish have personalities and my crayfish is a pacifist. All fish do have personalities for sure, but food is a food. I personally think otherwise. I've always kept shrimp in community tanks. I keep a male betta, angelfish, black rams and gourami in my big tank. They are extremely peaceful, but for today and based on my past experience. Who knows what tomorrow brings. One of my male bettas live with endlers and shrimp. Today for the first time ever, I've seen him making a move on a shrimp. He legit swims together with newborn endler fry. He is that nice. I personally can't guarantee any pacifist behavior myself for crayfish, bettas, cichlids or any predators. My female betta sorority is an extremely peaceful community tank. For today. They even have so many pet-like snails, shrimp, bottom dwellers and sparkling gouramis in their tank. Again gouramis and bettas. You should see them once they saw a male guppy in their tank. Oh boy. I personally would not trust a big crayfish by any means in a community tank, especially with a goldfish, but it's your decision. Goodluck catching the fishy and rehoming Edited June 7, 2023 by Lennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted June 7, 2023 Author Share Posted June 7, 2023 The 4 gold fish are 2 6 years and 2 2 years old in the tank. All are over 5 inches long with the biggest and oldest coming in at 12 inches (mostly tail). The crayfish has about 1/3 of the tank as a home with both hiding spaces and more opened all protected from the top so the gold fish cannot get to it and he has no desire to get to them. There is also a bristle nosed pleco that is the crayfishes buddy. The only problem in any of my current 12 tanks is that blasted SAE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 On 6/7/2023 at 4:47 PM, ktk4beees said: The only problem in any of my current 12 tanks is that blasted SAE I would move it to another tank. Hopefully you're able to catch em out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastie Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 While it works only sometimes and has failed me, I always try a bottle trap first. With sae you might entice it with nice food, and if you choose a good sized lid, other fish wont be able to get in. And if you manage to make it suspended in mid air, no crayfish catch either. I suggest you poke holes in the end to help get air out, but like small holes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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