# Chinese Algae Eaters - HELP



## Christian (Mar 22, 2005)

I posted a long time ago that i got 3 CAE for my 46 gal to clean up algae. One was eaten the other two became used to the fish and learned how to get around and where all the hiding spots were. Since then all the algae is gone, i was afraid they were starving so i put in algae wafers, they dont touch them. Then they started getting bloated, i though maybe it's because their starving to death, so i tied lettuce to a rock and it was all gone when i came bac an hour later, but it may not have been them who ate it. Now their still bloated and their fat stomachs are getting a little red tint to them. Now im worried it's a disease, but it only spread to them, weeks after i got them? What is this?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Sounds like a normal maturing healthy CAE to me. Note to the wise. They will stop eating algae soon. May even go after other fish in your tank.


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## Christian (Mar 22, 2005)

thanks for the reply, that was relieving. I never really thought it was just them maturing. yea, i heard that they might stop eating algae, after i got them, ....and that they tend to suck on other fish, after i got them, ill deal with it when it comes, i have an extra tank i could set up just in case.

thanks for the info


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

Usually when you buy them they are very young. It takes them approximately 1 1/2 years to mature or the size of 3 1/2 to 4" in length before they become aggressive against other fish. I have one that became aggressive a while back, (he now lives with dwarf puffers in a 15 gal tank and behaves, I guess even he knows what's good for him), the other is still doing an excellent job in my 75 gal tank and I have had him for over 1 year. You really never know with them. But mine never looked bloated. Try some blanched zucchini, both of mine love it. You can weigh it down with a plant weight or a veggie clip. Or try some shrimp pellets or other sinking wafers, mine eat most of them as well. But they both still eat algae and keep the tanks clean but they need protein in addition. The shrimp pellets give them that. One of mine also loves cut up fresh shrimp from my local grocery store. The other one will have nothing to do with it. Go figure. You just have to try different things. Anything that will sink or can be held in place with a veggie clip is fair game.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

CAE's are not mature at 4 inches. They grow to 11 inches long. a 15 gallon will stunt his growth although they grow slowly.


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

While they can theoretically approach 11", this length has never been attained in an aquarium. Most sites list 5 to 6" max. They mature at the age of 1 1/2 years or at about 4" even though they will continue to grow larger. That size is normally the point when their behaviour changes. Mine will stay in this 15 gal tank until a larger tank becomes vacant (I have 11 fish tanks) where I feel comfortable to put him into. But for the time being he is fine in there.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

garfieldnfish @ Thu May 12 said:


> While they can  theoretically approach 11", this length has never been attained in an aquarium. Most sites list 5 to 6" max. They mature at the age of 1 1/2 years or at about 4" even though they will continue to grow larger. That size is normally the point when their behaviour changes. Mine will stay in this 15 gal tank until a larger tank becomes vacant (I have 11 fish tanks) where I feel comfortable to put him into. But for the time being he is fine in there.


Funny.  I just sold a 7 inch CAE to my LFS about 3 months ago.  5 to 6 inches is way small.  (Mine was approx 3 years old)
http://www.petresources.net/fish/cyprinid/gyr_aym.html
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cyprinids/chinesealgae.php
http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/
http://species.fishindex.com/species_3707gyrinocheilus_aymonieri_algae_eater.html
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile47.html
A mature 5 inch CAE is stunted.


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## Tankscaper (Oct 26, 2008)

hay guys,
i have 2 cae's and one of them has been turning yellow. the other one is still dark in color. is that normal? they are about 2 1/2 inches long. does it have some kind of sickness? the behaviour of the yellow one seems normal. its quick, sucks on everything very fast and chases after the other cae. what is it?


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## Jeanette (Jan 2, 2009)

My CAE (Allie) is the biggest fish in the tank (about 7 inches) but it's lazy. I see it grazing on the algae but it perfers sinking shrimp pellets. They're very amusing fish. 

I first got attached to them when I had a 10 gallon tank as a child. The one I had then used to come to the top of the tank and eat the flakes before they settled. I got the idea to stick some flakes on my finger to see if it would suck them off my finger and it did! I used to amaze my buddies that I had a fish that would eat the food off my finger...and it felt funny too! LOL! 

Initially I had two in a 10 gallon, before I got my 55 gal. and Allie killed the other one. I got a pair of golden ones and he chased both of them clean out of the tank. He doesn't like any other fish that looks like him (I say 'him', but it may be a 'her'). He chased out my Flying Foxes when they got about 5 inches long but hasn't paid any attention to the two new baby ones I just got yet.


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## mangos (Sep 7, 2009)

*CAE Diet?*

I talked to a pet store employee who said that mature CAE's actually eat fish poo and leftover food and don't really eat much in the way of algae. Is that true?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

they do not eat excrement..they also get very mean.


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## Fishhorder (Sep 21, 2009)

At the other aquarium store I worked at we took in on trade a 7 to 7.5 inch CAE who was eating his tank mate, a 9 inch Oscar. This CAE would attack and chew on the oscar when he was sleeping. The lady who brought him in was so angry because the oscar was her baby and she said that if she knew about this fish when she purchased it she would have never bought it. Here is a perfect example of buying a fish from a chain store. Sales people who have no idea about the live stock they are selling.


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## DarrylR (Dec 16, 2007)

Not technically chewing on the fish, but munching on their slime coats.


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## Fishhorder (Sep 21, 2009)

DarrylR said:


> Not technically chewing on the fish, but munching on their slime coats.


Slime coat, scales and skin were gone. I saw the fish and we kept the oscar for recovery. The holes healed on the oscar but it took awhile.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

gotta agree wioth the fish lady here..a CAE will "technically" chew on a fish..they have rasplike teeth and will attach to another fish..maybe for only a couple of seconds;but they will go after that same spot again and again..i have seen them do it..


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## Luti-Kriss (Nov 18, 2009)

Well I HAD a CAE until just today when he died -_-

I asked people on a different site if it was because his stomach burst (which I'm pretty sure it did). And it was my own fault for being so careless with his food. He was only 2 inches long. The past few times I've been feeding him his pellets I haven't been bothering to take them out after a few hours and just letting him eat until it was all gone and he had gotten a pot belly. 

This last time I did it a couple nights ago he got so big and he did start acting weird for once. I thought he would recover from it yet again but he didn't this time. Last night he wasn't being very alert and would look like he was trying to swim but he would stay in one place. Then this morning I found him floating in my tank, his stomach bulging out very abnormally, and it was a very very dark color, yet the rest of him was still his regular color. I feel so bad -_-

Anyways... The site I asked other people about it on, some guy said it might be "Dropsy". Then he gave me all the symptoms to "Dropsy" but none of them fit my fish. You should look it up because it does have some stuff to do with bloating stomachs. The guy thinks that's what was wrong with my fish cuz his stomach would bloat. But the thing is he would only do it when I wouldn't take his food out after a couple of hours. And all my other fish would get bloated too from eating too much of the pellet (Cuz they don't know they're not supposed to eat it). But they would throw it all up eventually... I don't think CAE's can throw up...

But yeah. I would check out that "Dropsy" thing just to do some research.


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