Accompanying the base color is a dark black stripe. This stripe runs horizontally across the entire length of the fish. For some fish, the stripe is broken up into smaller dots. Either way, black coloration is present in almost all specimens.
In terms of shape, the fish have long slender bodies and very small fins. One unique feature is the dorsal fin. They have a small dorsal fin with several firm rays, giving it a somewhat spiky appearance. Perhaps the most noteworthy physical feature of the Chinese Algae Eater is their mouth.
These fish have a large mouth and sizable lips. The mouth is used to create a small vacuum against smooth surfaces.
If your fish is latched onto the glass, you can even see their mouths moving subtly to create the suction power. The average Chinese Algae Eater size can get around 10 or 11 inches in length when fully grown.
Sometimes in captivity, they can be a lot smaller usually around 6 inches if you place them in the minimum recommended tank size. Some home aquarists have been able to get theirs to surpass this size, but those instances are uncommon.
Regardless if you want to maximize the size of your Chinese Algae Eater or not, you should give them plenty of room more on that later. Chinese Algae Eater care is something that anyone can handle.
In fact, these fish are quite hardy and can do well in various conditions. Nevertheless, you need to set them up with a great habitat and stay on top of water quality to stave off stress or disease.
Plus, some issues could make these fish challenging for some aquarists. Here are some care guidelines you should be wary of.
So how big should your tank size be for a Chinese Algae Eater? At the very least, these fish need 30 gallons. That number is assuming you only have one Chinese Algae Eater in your aquarium. Author Note: While you can see success with 30 gallons, we always recommend getting a slightly bigger tank aim for 50 gallons. One of the biggest mistakes new owners make when caring for Chinese Algae Eaters is not staying on top of water conditions. Contrary to popular belief, these fish will not stay healthy in a dirty tank.
You want to aim for overall clean water, with some controlled algae so these fish can snack throughout the day. This means the water parameters need to be maintained and monitored consistently to ensure that no harmful shifts occur. Invest in some testing equipment and analyze the water regularly to ensure that conditions fall within the following parameters. Like any fish, the key to giving your fish an enriching environment is to mimic their natural habitat. To keep the Chinese Algae Eater in top condition and to develop its best coloration, supplement its diet regularly with small live and frozen foods, like bloodworms, brine shrimp, and Daphnia.
How often to feed these fish depends on the amount of algae in the tank and how often you feed your other fish. As such, match feeding levels to algae levels.
In general, these fish will do best when offered regular food daily, with algae wafers provided about every other day. Most aquarists report that this fish stops eating algae as soon as it discovers fish food. Aquarium Care These fish are easy to care for provided that they always have clean, well-oxygenated water. Aquariums are closed systems, and regardless of size, all need some maintenance.
Over time, decomposing organic matter, nitrates, and phosphate build up and water hardness increases due to evaporation. During water changes, a vacuum siphon can be used to clean the substrate of excess foods and other waste. Make sure not to remove the biofilm on rocks, decor, or on the viewing panes of the tank. A regular or magnet algae scraper works well to keep the glass clear.
Aquarium Setup The Chinese Algae Eater is an active fish that will spend most of its time on the bottom of the aquarium. For juveniles, a gallon aquarium is the suggested minimum, but a gallon tank or larger will be need to house adults, especially when kept in a group. This fairly hardy fish will adapt to most aquarium conditions, but it's best to introduce this fish into a biological, mature tank as they do require pristine water.
An undergravel filter is a great choice for these fish as it creates high oxygen levels throughout the tank and reduces waste. Adding a canister filter or power head to the setup give this fish the proper current. These fish can jump if given the chance, so make sure to have a tight-fitting cover.
These fish aren't too concerned about the decorations in the tank. An aquarium best-suited to this fish has lots of plants and other decor. To help the tank resemble the Chinese Algae Eater's natural habitat, use a soft sand and gravel mix substrate, and scatter a lot of smooth, water-worn rocks and stones throughout. These inquisitive fish like to explore, so make sure to have a lot of caves and crevices. A couple pieces of driftwood and some twisted roots will make a great place to retreat.
Since they graze on algae most of the time, postition the aquarium so that it receives some sunlight to promote algae growth. Social Behaviors When young, they are good community fish. The active young Algae Eater will mind its own business, greedily foraging for algae. When it gets older, however, it can become territorial and may harass its tankmates. Adult specimens are generally indiscriminately aggressive towards any companions, so they are often best kept alone.
However, keeping a group of 5 or more individuals can help alleviate aggression. The group will establish a pecking order, and the cantankerous behavior within the group can reduce aggression towards other species. In a community tank, they are best kept with fast-moving fish. Good tankmates are active, robust cyprinids, characids, or similar species that hang out in the upper regions of the aquarium.
They also do well with African Cichlids. Introducing the Chinese Algae Eater to the community tank last will also help curb its impulses toward territorial aggressiveness. Sex: Sexual differences Chinese Algae Eaters have multiple small tubercles or "thorns" around the mouth.
To our knowledge, they have not been intentionally bred in the aquarium or commercially, though there have been reports of accidental breeding. For a general description of breeding cyprinids, see: Breeding Freshwater Fish: Cyprinids.
Fish Diseases Chinese Algae Eaters have a scaleless belly and are prone to disease, so take caution when introducing these fish to an established tank. They are also very sensitive to medications used to treat many diseases, so a separate hospital tank is needed.
Cold water and condition changes can also stress these fish and make them prone to disease. Remember that any additions to a tank, such as new fish, plants, substrates, and decorations, can introduce disease.
Properly clean or quarantine anything you want add to an established tank so as not to upset the balance. These fish are very resilient, but knowing the signs of illness, and catching and treating them early makes a huge difference.
An outbreak of disease can often be limited to just one or a few fishes if dealt with at an early stage.
You can keep them both alone and in groups. However, the latter is true only for young species. Large species become territory-depended and can stand neither their relatives nor any other similar tank dwellers around.
Your chinese algae eater attacking other fish? It happens often. As a rule, Chinese Algae Eater show aggression towards their kind and species with similar size, appearance, and lifestyle — for example, SAE. In a tank, especially a small-sized one, only one fish can be kept; keeping a couple or a group of fish in such conditions will inevitably lead to the death of the weakest species. This genus is also not recommended as a tank mate for large slow fishes goldfish , discus , angelfish , Altum angelfish.
Gyrinocheilus may damage their integument by sucking on it and scraping off the slime covering fish body sides. Gyrinocheilus are welcome in community tanks provided with active average-sized tank mates. These can be tiger barb , clown loach , bala shark , harlequin rasbora , neon tetra , tinfoil barb , rosy barb , platy , swordtail.
Keeping a group of fishes is one way to decrease interspecific aggression. Still, you should get at least species and more since they have hierarchic relations, and in the case of a smaller group, the fish may start pinching weaker species. In the wild Gyrinocheilus feeds not only with algae and fouling on stones and plants, but with small maggots as well. Food such as bloodworm, daphnia and brine shrimp will do as well as high quality dry flakes and pellets.
Keep in mind, that if the fish is not hungry or overfed, it may stop eating algae and thus cleaning the tank. Except common live food and flakes you can feed the fish with spinach, cucumber, lettuce and cabbage leaves after pouring boiling water on them. It is hard to define gender, though adult females are fatter than males and look more rounded.
Chinese Algae Eater breeding in home aquariums is quite complicated. Since young fish species were imported into Europe in large numbers. This testifies that Gyrinocheilus is a rather infertile fish. Nowadays, it is bred in fish hatcheries using hormonal agents. This basically makes breeding them at home challenging — hormonal injections are required. Remember to rinse the filter media in tank water to get rid of sludge, and change the filter cartridges when required.
The Chinese Algae Eater has a scaleless belly, and that can make these fishes prone to diseases. Also, the species is very sensitive to many commonly-used fish medications, so you will need a separate quarantine tank if you need to treat your other fishes.
Chinese Algae Eaters are generally active fish that spend most of their lives grazing on algae and swimming around the bottom of the tank. These are quite curious fishes too, exploring their surroundings in a never-ending search for algae to eat. There are a few red flags that will alert you to health problems that could be brewing, including:.
Health Issue. Symptoms or Causes. Suggested Action. Ich White Spot Disease. Raise temperature to 82o F for three days, and treat using an over-the-counter, White Spot Disease remedy. Skin and gill flukes. Correct tank water conditions, treat with a condition-specific drug as directed. Fungal infections. Quarantine fish; dose water with an antifungal medication.
Bacterial infections. Reddened skin, cloudy eyes, skin ulcers. Quarantine affected fish; treat water with antibacterial medication. Raise the water temperature to 82 o F for three days, and treat using an over-the-counter, White Spot Disease remedy. The Chinese Algae Eater is extremely difficult to breed, and there are only a few reports of successful home-spawning.
Most of the fish that you see in fish stores have been bred in large commercial fish hatcheries, where hormonal agents have been used. Chinese Algae Eaters are commonly available from good fish stores and online, priced at just a few dollars each for a juvenile specimen.
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