# Chinese Algae Eaters



## limpert (Aug 28, 2007)

Will mbuna kill these? Or is there any chance of survival


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2011)

i have 3 in my tank so far so good


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Chances are it will be the other way around. They have a rep for eating the slime coat off the fish instead of algae when mature.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2011)

yea mine are still small... they will be going down the toilet if i catch them eating any slime coat off anyone thou lol


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## RRasco (Aug 31, 2006)

My friend had success with them in his mixed tank, not sure how many mbuna he had though, think mostly peacocks/haps. I put 3 in my mbuna tank and they disappeared into the abyss. :?


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## Freaky Fish (Feb 8, 2011)

I have one of those little suckers about 3" in size and he keeps an entire 6' tank algae free except for the two plastic plants I have that get algae growth. When I first got him, I had rocks with lots of brown diatom algae growth, probably due to actinic lighting and 20ppm nitrates. He tore through it all in about two weeks.

He doesn't interact with my cichlids at all but when it gets bigger than 3 1/2" or so, I'll give it back to the LFS because it's likely to get mean and eventually go after my cichlids' slime coats like DJ said above. They cost under a dollar so it won't be a big deal to pick up another small one.

I started off trying the bristlenose pleco recommendations here, but after having two of them get killed and eaten in my tank, I figured I needed something a little more robust.


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## limpert (Aug 28, 2007)

I just acclimated one about 2.5-3 inches in length in my 55 and my Ice Blue grabbed him by the tail bahaha... he was out for blood. I scooped the CAA out as i dont think he has a chance of survival.

Too bad as i have a nice coat of algae on my back glass


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## Guest (Feb 19, 2011)

get a hi-fin butterfly pleco.. im amazed at how much green algae was in my goldfish tank and only one day later it was all gone...


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## limpert (Aug 28, 2007)

m1ke715m said:


> get a hi-fin butterfly pleco.. im amazed at how much green algae was in my goldfish tank and only one day later it was all gone...


Can i just borrow yours? :lol:

The only thing i dislike about any algae eating fish is that you have to resort to algae alternatives after all of the algae is gone. I figured that with the CAA i could just buy him for a dollar and then give him back to the local fish store after he cleans up.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Oh, rent-a-fish. :lol:


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

Talk about a fish getting a bad rap for no good reason at all :lol: Somebody had a sick fish that a chinese algae eater (CAE) was sucking on .....now it`s reiterated all over the internet that some how a chinese algae eater is some kind of nasty killer! There is probably 1000x greater chance of an mbuna killing another fish then a CAE doing any serious damage to a cichlid. Yes, they can be aggressive and are probably not the best choice for a peacefull communit tank, but usually are tough enough and do OK with aggresive cichlids.

I`ve seen black sharks suck on other fish, as well large plecos on rare occasion ---as an aggressive action; sometimes in a fight. But I have yet to see a CAE do anything but hit with it`s head or chase. The fact of the matter is that, in general, a cichlid`s mouth is much more capable of doing seroius damage to another fish. As well, it`s very unlikely that a CAE is going to be very high up in the pecking order in an mbuna tank. No way it`going to get away with sucking on another fish when it`s subordinate to them, even if it was somehow inclined to do so.


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## insulman (Feb 12, 2011)

bernie is correct, no caa can mess with an african, i had 5 caa, about 3 inches long, now i have 2 left, it seems my mumba like chinese food


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2011)

lol thats funny... my lfs are being difficult and not taking fish back.. not jus not giving me credit for new fish.. just wont take my fish at all... which stinks cuz i have ALOT of fish i need to get rid of lol


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