Hi! I have had a big algae eater for a while now and today I put in two little ones in my tank, They were doing fine until I saw that when a little one was eating the big one came and chased it away from the food and is keep on laying on it! I was just wondering if this is normal and if the little ones will be ok? And if not what could I do? Thx!
2007-03-27 10:17:19 · 6 answers · asked by guppylover 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
CAEs can be feisty buggers. They're probably not doing much real damage to each other. If the dominant one is, you can put more CAE's in the tank in to spread out the aggression amongst the weaker ones so no single one gets harmed too much, or you can remove all but the dominant one. Don't feel bad when they skirmish, its normal for them & not really a sign of anything wrong. They're not particularly friendly to their own kind and they're designed to weather regular harrassment.
Personally, I don't like keeping them as their are more docile species for a community tank. They're not the worst on the aggression scale, but they are not on the good side of it.
2007-03-27 11:00:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You didn't say the type of food they were eating..the bigger the algae eater gets the more aggressive they can get, and the bigger their hunger. If you don't already, feed algae wafers { buy them at a pet store} they come in two sizes, small and large, they will sink to the bottom so drop the large wafer first and the larger algae eater should go for this one and then drop a couple of small ones for the smaller algae eaters. Hopefully the war will stop.
2007-03-27 11:15:32 · answer #2 · answered by pet lover 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chinese algae eaters are bad fish. As they get older, they become very aggressive and will begin to attack other fish, especially flat-bodied, slow-moving fish. They will suck the slime coat off other fish and eat the eyes out of slow bottom dwellers like corys. They are really not suitable for a community tank.
2007-03-27 10:34:34 · answer #3 · answered by rdd1952 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if it's just the first few days you notice this behavior, it could be that your larger one is establishing who the top dog is in the tank. If it continues to be a problem and you notice any fin damage or suction marks (little red circles on their body) then it's a problem and you need to remove the smaller ones. Good luck and I hope they'll be able to get along okay!!
2007-03-27 10:22:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep, totally normal. As they get larger and older CAE's get to be really nasty tempered, hostile little buggers. Nothing you can really do about it, but as they all age they will just fight more and more until you split them up.
MM
2007-03-27 10:23:23 · answer #5 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That usually happens at first but they will get used to each others ways.
2007-03-27 10:21:58 · answer #6 · answered by Angel W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋