[F] Algae eater sucks on dwarf frogs
Joshua Goldman
fine, but the algae eater seems to suck on them looking for algae. It
doesn't seem to be doing any harm, but should I be concerned?
I feed the algae eater pellets and zuchini every week or so. He's on the
small side (under 2 inches).
Tank info:
29 Gallon FW tank, plastic plants, Aquaclear 300, environment has been
stable for almost a year, pH seems to be drifting down
2 swordtails
4 zebra danio
1 blue danio
5 headlight/taillight tetras
3 Diamond tetras
2 Koi loaches (spelling?)
1 algae eater
5 cardinal tetras
2 glass cats
3 dwarf frogs
1 catfish
--
Joshua Goldman jo...@osf.org 617-621-8857
Open Software Foundation
11 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142
Thomas Narten
> I got three dwarf frogs to add to my tank and they seem to be doing
> fine, but the algae eater seems to suck on them looking for algae. It
> doesn't seem to be doing any harm, but should I be concerned?
> 1 algae eater
If this is a chinese algae eater, get rid of it. They are more trouble
than they are worth. Some (not all) have a tendancy to attack other
critters with the inevitable result being infection and death once the
protective slim coating is broken.
I don't understand why fish stores sell them. Actually I do. It's
$$, pure and simple. First you sell the algae eaters, then you sell
replacement fish. Can't lose. I recently visited an aquarium store
in the hometown where I grew up that that doesn't sell chinese algae
eaters because of their agressiveness. This is the first time I've
ever run into a fish store with that attitude. The store is run by
knowledgeable hobbyists, and I must say I really approve of their
philosophy.
--
Thomas Narten
nar...@cs.albany.edu
Rebecca Y. Ng
I have a Chinese algae eater and African dwarf frog in my tank.
They get along fine. I haven't had any problems with the algae
eater sucking on my frog. I also have a territorial rainbow
shark that the algae eater is afraid of. Maybe my rainbow shark
puts some fear into the algae eater so the algae eater behaves
itself.
The only recent problem I had with the algae eater is that it
jumped out of the tank once.
Nathan Tenny
Being sucked on is probably a source of stress for the frogs, even if it's
not obvious. In my experience, they're tough little guys, but the
conservative approach is probably to get rid of the algae eater.
On this note: What recourse exists for those of us who need something to
clean up the algae, but have tank inhabitants who are stressed out by
algae eaters? I have a Surinam toad that seems to get upset when there's
a pl*co in the tank. At the moment, I'm letting the snails take care of
the algae, but if the planned breeding project ever takes off, I'll have
to get rid of the snails too (they eat the eggs).
NT
--
Nathan Tenny @
topologist and loose cannon @ A part of wisdom, the easiest part,
sv...@cs.uoregon.edu @ is called mathematics.
te...@euclid.uoregon.edu @ -Omar Khayyam
Wade Hines
>I got three dwarf frogs to add to my tank and they seem to be doing
>fine, but the algae eater seems to suck on them looking for algae. It
>doesn't seem to be doing any harm, but should I be concerned?
>I feed the algae eater pellets and zuchini every week or so. He's on the
>small side (under 2 inches).
Maybe it's getting stoned off the neuroactive slim peptides?
It works for Zippy :^/
--Wade
Jeff Cohen
: > I got three dwarf frogs to add to my tank and they seem to be doing
: > fine, but the algae eater seems to suck on them looking for algae. It
: > doesn't seem to be doing any harm, but should I be concerned?
: > 1 algae eater
: If this is a chinese algae eater, get rid of it. They are more trouble
: than they are worth. Some (not all) have a tendancy to attack other
Agree totally! If it's a "chinese algae eater" I would suggest putting it
in a small bowl of water, and placing that in front of the nearest cat.
These things don't belong in the aquarium trade, who ever named them was a
fraud artist. These things just don't eat algae, but they will try to eat
a hole in the side of your larger fish or in this case frogs. If you want
to control algae in your tank get a Pl*costomus type of suckermouth fish.
These are the fish that deserve the name of "algae eater".
If only internet lore was that a chinese algae eater would die anytime it
appeared spelled out on the net.........
chinese algae eater
chinese algae eater
chinese algae eater
chinese algae eater.....
the Dodger
Jeff Cohen <jco...@superior.carleton.ca> wrote:
>
>Agree totally! If it's a "chinese algae eater" I would suggest putting it
>in a small bowl of water, and placing that in front of the nearest cat.
>These things don't belong in the aquarium trade, who ever named them was a
>fraud artist. These things just don't eat algae, but they will try to eat
>a hole in the side of your larger fish or in this case frogs. If you want
>to control algae in your tank get a Pl*costomus type of suckermouth fish.
>These are the fish that deserve the name of "algae eater".
>
This is interesting. I keep hearing how 'chinese algae eaters' are so bad to
have in your aquarium. I never heard this until *after* I bought mine of
course, but I've *never* had a problem with them yet. I've got 2 of them in
a 55 with lots of other fish, including gouramis, clown loaches and a black
ghost knife. All the algae eaters do is eat algae! And they do a VERY good
job of it. They've completely put my pleco out of business. He never touched
the stuff anyway. That's why I bought the two little buggers.
Interesting.
Keith
--
Keith Murray | Developing Multimedia | Aria
mur...@prism.cs.orst.edu | applications for OS/2 | P.O. Box 1889
the Dodger | 2.x MMPM/2. | Corvallis, OR 97339
Thomas Narten
> This is interesting. I keep hearing how 'chinese algae eaters' are so bad to
> have in your aquarium. I never heard this until *after* I bought mine of
> course, but I've *never* had a problem with them yet.
Not every algae eater is aggressive. But all it takes is one out of
the bunch. There also does not appear to be a way to tell in advance
whether a particular algae eater will be aggressive. The other fish
in your tank are also a factor. Some will fend themselves pretty well
against attacks (at least for a while), while others just seem to sit
there and let themselves be eaten. I think this depends more on the
fish's personality than on what kind of fish it is. Thus, one really
takes a chance with the chinese algae eaters. Once you've been
burned, you'll know why so many of us hate 'em. You've been warned.
--
Thomas Narten
nar...@cs.albany.edu
Paul Bucciaglia
I bought a flying fox and what teh pet store called a 'chinese' algea
eater--this fish looks like the 'siamese' algae eater described in the
faq. It is absolutely peacelful--and eats algae like crazy, better than
the flying fox by far. of course, this is only 2 samples so I can make no
grand conclusions--but are we talking about the same species here? Many
people on the net haev complained of otocinclus spp. taking slime snacks
from fish....is yoour 'chinese' algae eater an oto?
also the 'siamese' algae eater was 1/3 price of flying fox, so I'm going to
get another.
BTW, thanks MUCH to the faq editors/conttributors. They were a big help to
me in setting up my planted 30 gal. FW aquarium, which seems to be really
kicking into gear (plants have been in for 3 wks). Its been a real fun
learning experience.
paul bucciaglia
Thomas Narten
> I bought a flying fox and what teh pet store called a 'chinese' algea
> eater--this fish looks like the 'siamese' algae eater described in the
> faq. It is absolutely peacelful--and eats algae like crazy, better than
> the flying fox by far. of course, this is only 2 samples so I can make no
> grand conclusions--but are we talking about the same species here? Many
> people on the net haev complained of otocinclus spp. taking slime snacks
> from fish....is yoour 'chinese' algae eater an oto?
OK. Here is what (little) I have learned about algae eaters.
1) Many stores sell something commonly called "otocinclus". Of
course, this says nothing since there are lots of fish with that same
name. From what I've seen in fish books, this is actually an
"otocinclus affinis", which doesn't get large (less than 2 inches max,
and I've only seen ones a little over an inch in size). It is an
algae eater, but doesn't do as good a job as the more agressive algae
eaters. However, they do not bother fish. These fish are cheap, I
see them for $1-2 all the time.
I bought seven of them a month or so ago, and they are all doing
fine. They are actually kind of curious fish. They like to hang out
together, whether feeding or just hanging out.
2) The "chinese algae eater" is another beast altogether. They are
also cheap, start out small, but get very large. I've seen them up
5-6 inches in size during the summer, when they presumably go in
outdoor ponds. Oddly enough, I never see them in the store during the
fall when people presumably would want to trade them in since they
won't survive the winter outdoors :-).
These fish *sometimes* like the slime coating on fish and will
*sometimes* go after fish. I've lost angels and gouramis to them.
Not every fish will be attacked, and not every algae eater is a
killer. Your mileage may vary, as recent comments to this list have
indicated.
They are great algae eaters, however.
Also, these fish are not from the otocinclus family. I found them in
an atlas once, but have since forgotten the name.
3) Lots of pl*cos are good algae eaters. But they all seem to get
pretty large. If you've got a plant tank, they will sometimes eat
plants, especially when they get bigger. Contrary to what the FAQ
says, my understanding is that none of the common (read: affordable)
pl*cos I've seen in local store stay small. They all max out at 4
inches (minimum), usually quite a bit larger. And a 4 inch pl*co is
big (fat). I think (but have no experience) that pl*cos don't attack
fish like the chinese algae eaters do.
Can someone recommend an aggressive algae eater that stays small,
doesn't eat plants, doesn't bother fish, and that I can buy somewhere
in town? :-)
4) According to the FAQ, two other good algae eaters are the "siamese
flying fox" (Epalzeorhynchos kallopterus) and the "siamese algae
eaters" (E. siamensis). When small it is almost impossible to tell
these two appart. However, the flying fox gets big and aggressive,
eventually beating up other fish. Most fish stores I've been to don't
know the difference between these two fish. Most likely, they are
selling the flying fox, as it is the more common of the two.
--
Thomas Narten
nar...@cs.albany.edu
Howard Rebel
the most unoffensive of fish (or somthing in that flavor) but mine attacked
the slime coats on other fish.
There is a pleco know as the bornio(sp) pleco. This is a flat fish that
hangs on the glass or plants unless moving from on place to another.
I have heard that this fish does not attack other fish. We have on in
with our tropical fish but I have not tempted it with goldfish as yet.
Does anyone have more experiance with this fish?
Howard
Thomas Narten (nar...@percival.albany.edu) wrote:
--
Howard Rebel how...@col.hp.com
FAX: 719-590-5701