Feeding alge eaters

Question
Hey Christy,

After going through the pictures and some more online we are pretty sure it is the chinese one.  It's realy small so i wasn't sure, and on our receipt for the fish it just says "algea eater".   You said that they tend to get agressive, and we have mollies and platties in the tank as well so should we be concerned about them?  I don't want any fighting!!

But yeah, if you could give us some more information on which which type of pellets or food to get for it, that would be great.  

Also, we've noticed that the other fish can tell when we are going to feed them and they get really, really excited and swim to the surface and wait for food.  Does this mean we are feeding them too much?  Or are they starving?   We've talked to a couple people about how often and how much to feed them and we keep getting different answers! Fish are so complicated!!

Thank you for your help! Hope to hear from you soon!


Lindsay and Kristen


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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
My friend and I just got a 10 gallon fish tank and we have a small alge eater in it. (sorry i am not even sure what kind!) I remember my mom putting little pellots of food in the tank every so often for the alge eater i had at home, and I was wondering if you HAVE to be feeding the alge eaters? It always seems hungry, sucking on anything it can get it's hands on. PLEASE help me out!
-----Answer-----
Hi Lindsay
First, here's some links of fish with pictures to help you figure out what you've got, need to copy and paste to your browser.

Hopefully you have this, an oto cat, because this is really the only one that will fit in a 10 gallon tank.  If it is this, might try picking up a few more, they like the company of other's like them.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/catfish1/p/otocinclus.htm

This ones a Chinese algae eater.  Not a good one.  They tend to get aggressive to other fish when older & stop eating the algae.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/cyprinids2/p/falsealgae.htm

This is a common pleco.  They come in a bunch of different varieties and sizes.  But all pretty much look similar to this one.  If it's this one, they grow up to 2 feet, and are not good for your tank.  There's also a bristlenose pleco or a rubber lip pleco, those grow to about 4-6 inches, and would be better in your tank, though it's pushing it lol.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/photocontests/ss/photoace082005_6.htm

Usually algae eaters/plecos will eat most/all of the algae in a tank fairly quick.  I have a 55 gallon, I purposely left the light on and let the algae grow pretty good.  I brought in my pleco from the pond before winter started, and he had the tank cleaned in 1 day!  They're good!

Regardless of which type you have, you will need to supplement them with algae wafers & shrimp pellets.  Pick up one of those clip things at the pet store, put some romaine lettuce or spinach leaves,(don't use iceberg, no nutrition in it) cucumbers, zucchini, etc.  I'd feed them once a day, and feed towards the evening, better if the lights are out since most are nocturnal.  Just be sure to vary their diet as well.  

Also, once you figure out what you have, you can check back with me, & I'll give you some profile links for better foods to feed.  Some plecos actually need pieces of driftwood in the tank to chow on.

Hope that helps!!!

Christy  

Answer
Hi Lindsay & Kristen
I forgot, there's another fish that's confused a lot with the Chinese algae eater(& also mismarked a lot at pet stores), it's called a Siamese algae eater.  They're totally different fish.  Basically, if the mouth is down turned, it's a Siamese algae eater.  If it's a round sucker type mouth, it's the Chinese one.  But compare the coloring and markings as well to be sure.  

The Siamese algae eater would be good, they're peaceful and don't grow as large.  If it is the Chinese one, I'd strongly suggest giving it back to the fish store.  I've never had one, but I"ve heard from a lot of people how aggressive they can be, and reading through a lot of sites, they're saying the same thing lol.  If you need an algae eater, go with a apple/mystery snail for that size tank.  I just bought 2 small mystery snails for my 10 gallon.  They're still working on the algae, slowly lol.  Only problem you may have if you get more then one, is being overrun with snails.  I wish I could have that problem, I have a puffer fish that loves to eat snails.  This first 2 links are the Siamese one:

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/395.htm

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/cyprinids2/p/siamesealgae.htm

Some links for the Chinese one:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1564&N=0

This next one, at the bottom of the page in Your Comments, the first post/paragraph, the guy thinks his algae eater is "playing" with the other fish by attaching on them.  It's not playing, it's sucking the slime coat off the fish because it's hungry.....
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile47.html

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/638.htm

Both pretty much require a veggie type diet. Supplement with the algae wafers and spirulina flakes.  They'll probably also eat some of the leftover flake food on the bottom.  If you can't get rid of the CAE, just be sure to keep him well fed.  Some say that may help cut down on the aggression.

Fish are like dogs, total beggars!!  Don't be fooled by them lol.  I've heard that fish or certain fish breeds can actually overeat themselves to death.  Not sure if that's true, but I know they'll eat non stop so....My goldfish are the worst at it.  I can't walk by without them going nuts lol.  General rule of thumb though, feed only what they can eat/finish in 5 minutes.  Be sure to scoop out any excess, otherwise it'll raise the ammonia levels in the water.  
I feed my fish once a day, and I usually skip a day or two during the week and don't feed them.  Be sure to feed a varied too.  Those mollies and platies will love the flakes, spirulina flakes, frozen(or live) brine shrimp, frozen blood worms.  Once a week I feed most of my fish a pea (or parts of it depending on their size), either canned or frozen, just open it and plop it in.  Just be sure to clean out what isn't eaten.  Peas are good for swim bladder problems and constipation.

One last question, I just noticed that you said you just got the tank.  Do you know about cycling a fish tank?  If not, here's a link on about.com.  Has a few articles on there, read in particular the first one How an Aquarium Cycles.  That'll explain it all if you're not familiar with it.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/startupcycle/Step_5_The_Cycle.htm

Well good luck with all your new info lol :)  Anymore questions, please ask!!

Take care!!

Christy