Chinese Aglae eater vs other tank mates

R

rheann

Guest
I have noticed my chinese Algae eater to act some what agressivly towards my tinfoil barbs, and sort of try and attack the glass when my cat is watching a little too close to the tank, to all other fish he gets along with great, as I think the tin foil barbs may be sort of bully him, and the cat tries to bat the glass so perhaps maybe he is just trying to flee rather than act agressivly, not sure, but over all, I have really noticed my chinese algae eater to be quite timmid and shy, as I will approach the tank and he will flee and hide and as soon as i back away he comes right back out and starts nibbling his cucumbers and all the decorations I have in the tank, and I put him in the 20 gallon to try and keep the tank a little vacuumed so as my axie will go into a clean home lol. I thought at first perhaps he would not make a good algae eater for my Axolotls 20 gallon tank, but I have been thinking lately perhaps he could be a good tank mate, but I don't know, because I know they can get pretty big, not sure the size exactly, and can act mean, but he is so small right now, around 2 1/2 inches long, and I was wondering if I could keep him in the tank with the axolotl at least until he got bigger and then remove him to anthor tank? He is too big for my Axolotl to eat, and I think that he is way too fast for an axie to eat, my axie is going to have some axie tank mates soon, as I have been able to located a luecisic Axie and a black Axie. are there any other algae eaters that will be ok to be with my Axies if the Chinese Algae eater will not do? I have a light over my tank and have noticed some algae growing in, and I love the color of it, but I also want to keep my tank nice and groomed, as we have a lot of guests come over and they like looking in the tank, even though it hasn't anything living in it lol. I am putting my wild Axie in the tank tomorrow, hopefully the medication I mistakenly put it in days ago has all cleared up from the carbon, other than that the tank looks really healthy, algae eater does a great job lol. Any suggestions? Thanks guys, me with the questions again
happy.gif
 
nevermind, I came across a website where it talks about Chinese algae eaters would prefere to suck hickeys on fish rather than eat algae, and eww... don't think think my axies want any hickies. Never new that about chinese algae eaters, the little devils, hopefully I can find a nice tank mate that will be nice to my axies, and too fast for my axies to eat. Hopefully they wont mind water of 63 -65 degrees either, as I try very hard to keep my tank this cool. I'll keep looking. Thanks guys
happy.gif
 
Most people do not recommend tank mates of other species for axies. It generally just increases the chances of disease, parasites, and chance of injury. There are some other threads that talk about this.
 
I'm glad you found the site about algae eaters. They can be quite aggressive. I had one that sucked 2 adult angel fish to death.

Axolotls make the best tank mates for axolotls. It is cool you found 2 more and a one of them is leucistic just like you wanted!
happy.gif
 
Thanks Cynthia, Thanks Grant! I wont keep any tank mates with my axies in that case, except other axies of course
happy.gif
I saw a picture of a chinese algae eater latcing onto another fish, and it was creepy. I got my wild type axie about a week or two ago from capitial Aquarium. They had two gold, and two wild type. One of the wild types arm was twisted backwards, so I am sure one of his tank mates caused it, but other than that they were healthy. I am glad to say that he is still doing very well, I still keep him in the ice cream bucket and do water changes and also switch him to a 2 gallon now and again when I am doing water changes, he loves earthworms and it is so fun to watch him eat! I am going to put him in the 20 gallon tank either today or tomorrow, I am making sure things are ok before I put him in.
 
Chinese Algae Eaters are highly territorial, which makes them extremely aggressive fish. This species does not eat algae, as their name implies. They are responsible for numerous fish deaths. Just plain avoid them.

One of the most peaceful algae eaters is the Siamese Algae Eater (aka Flying Foxes). These are one of the few fish that will eat the brown, and string algae. They like to be kept in schools, and tolerate mid 60's temps well. They are not the "Hoovers" that plecos are. Also, they will eat the fish/axie food before they will eat the algae. The axies would not be able to sneak up, or catch, these guys.

I would stay from plecos re: the axies. Plecos can get HUGE, although there are very small species. (I have the Rubbermouth or Bulldog Pleco). These are excellent algae eaters. But it would probably be devastating for the axie should it succeed in sneaking up on one and swallowing it (barbed fins).

So it is a good decision not to keep anything but axies with axies.
happy.gif
 
Thanks Pamela! I will avoid all other algae eaters and try and find some of those flying foxes, I think I have seen them at a local store here, and I don't think they cost very much. I will see about getting a few so that they can school. Thank you again for your help
happy.gif
 
I haven't had any problems with algae in my tank. I just have some java moss covering some large river rocks that take up about half the tank. I also have this tree looking plant that he loves and climbs on. The live plants take nearly all the nitrogen so algae never gets a chance to grow. And I feed mainly just worms that are eaten as soon as they are dropped in so food isn't just sitting around. If you do this and have a decent filter you probably won't have any problems with algae.
 
are Otocinclus the same as siamese flying foxes? They look the same to me, but I am not sure. I put 3 little ones in my tank after I floated the bag in the tank for about 25 minutes and added tank water to the bag. They settled in nicely, and began sucking at the glass and plants very soon afterwards, and they seem shy and cute, but avoid the axolotl completly, as I have added him finally to the 20 gallon tank and he is so happy! he loves exploring the pvc pipe cave I worked so hard on, and he avoids the little Otocincluse. As they are a schooling species, the three of them like to spend time together, and they won't get much bigger than two inches, and they seem to like the cool water. Did i get the right fish? I hope I did, they are so cute and small, and its so fun to watch them to nibble the plants and the glass and they love green beans! If these aren't the same sort of fish, will they be ok to leave in the tank? they're very fast, I don't think the axie could catch them, and they avoid my axie. I wish everyone could see them they're such cute little fish!
love.gif
 
Hi Rheann,

The otocinclus is a different species. I have one, I think, haven't seen him in a while. They stay TINY, and are great algae eaters. They do not do well in cool water. Also they are very "touchy" fish. Don't be surprised if you lose one, or all of them
sad.gif
. They also don't live long, about 2-2.5 years. (Which is probably why I don't see mine, he would be at least 2 yrs old now.)

Should the tank become free of algae, this species WILL die. They do not take to the algae wafers well, and they won't eat the axie food if they are hungry. I will try to find the post that will help you identify the Siamese Algae eater, and other similar fish. Most petstore people cannot distinguish them from Chinese Algae eaters, etc.

Going to go look for the link.
 
Okay Rheann,

Here are some good links for you re: algae eating fish. Note that the ones called FLYING FOXES are not the SAE (Siamese Algae Eaters), but the SAE are commonly sold as FF. My SAE were labeled as FF, but I grabbed 4 as I knew they were SAE, and that they only come in shipments once a year.

Also, an article on Otos. You will note that they need warmer temps. Anyway, these are good articles, and have pics linked to them. This will help you to ID the algae eater that you want. Notice how much they look alike, but you will get used to the differences. If you see the real SAE, grab them!
 
thank you so much Pamela, I don't have any where else to keep them right now, I feel so bad, i can try and return them, so far they seem to be doing well, and they like eating the green beans. Thank you for looking for the link for me I really appreciate it
happy.gif
Its sad they don't live long
sad.gif
The pet store told me they were also known as Siamese flying foxes, so I am glad that you have cleared that up for me. They really need to get some edgucated employees, this happens way too much where I or other costomers will go in there looking for something and they sell us the wrong thing. I don't want my little Otocinclus to die. I feel so bad.
 
thank you pamela, the links helped a lot! Now I know what I'm looking for lol. Thank you again!
 
I have been keeping SAE (the real ones) for about 6 years now. I would not keep them with axolotls.
They move very fast and chase each other. On occasion they torment other fish (just a lil fun nip). They move like Red Tailed sharks that probably more of you are familiar with.

They are a fantastic community tank fish, but not axolotl tank mate. I really love watching them they love sitting on plants in a group and nearly always hangout within inches of each other. Do keep more than 2 in your community tank, they do best in groups.

Fish stores seem to have a problem telling SAE from other fish. Here they are often confused with otto cats, "chinese algae eaters", flying fox and when I bought mine they were marked as "algae eating sharks".
 
thank you so much Cynthia
happy.gif
I feel really bad about the Otocinclus, because only if they could live longer and could handle hard water and cooler temperaters, they would make the perfect tank mates for axies! I have read up on them a bit and it seems like they are pretty friendly easy going little fish, who work very hard to keep tanks clean, and they are quick. I have watched mine for a while now since I have brought them home, and they enjoy the green beans so much, I think they were starved before I put them in! My axie is just igoring them, he sniffed one of their green beans and I was afraid he was goign to eat it, so I moved it a bit so the Otocinclus could eat. they aren't afraid of me and at first i thought they were! I love it! They are shy, but not afraid, and love to nibble. What about snails as Algae eaters? Will these be ok in the tank, or will they mass produce in the tank? I have never had snails before, I don't really know anything about them. If snails would work, what species would be ok to put in the tank that wont hurt my axies and will eat provided veggies and algae and wont mind sharing food with axies? I have noticed a lot of pet stores here that have algae growing in their tanks, and the say that its from the local water, but can tap water do that? I grew up on well water my whole life, just up intil last august when I moved to california and have city water. I asked them about this a long time ago when I went to a store and saw their tanks had green algae growing on the glass, and they have one or two plecos in some of the tanks, and in these tanks it seems that the algae was more clean, also in the ones that had snails in them. Algae robs oxigen from the water? is that correct? This over all has really proven to be my favorit hobby, as I have always loved aquariums and fish, but never thought I would own an Axolotl! I love it as much as I love drawing and writing lol! Hence why I am so distracted from my work lol
lol.gif
 
I am afraid that algae removal is "your job". All tanks will grow algae its just part of the deal.

I really can't recommend any tank mates for axolotls besides other axolotls.

I just wipe the glass down as part of the normal tank maintenance once a week.

The tank my axolotls are in used to be a planted community fish tank. I moved the fish and plants out and changed the substrate. I tried to remove all the snails but you can never really get them all. The snails that were left behind were eaten by one of my axolotls (Jude). This particular axolotl really seemed to like them. I never saw the other two eat one. Jude hunted them down, dug them out of the sand.
 
Your are right Cynthia! I have the TRUE Siamese Algae eaters also. They were labeled as Flying Foxes. The links I posted for Rheanne show just how confusing the identification of these algae eating fish can be. But when all is said and done, I do believe that the SAE is the best of the bunch. They are underrated, and unappreciated. They are very amusing little fish.

Rheanne, forget the snails. Snails just add more waster, and lots of it! Not to mention, they will proliferate like crazy.

Also, I do not mix anything with my axies, not even snails. I just do the manual human hand removal of algae
happy.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top