rm
Passport
- Grows to
- 28 cm (11")
- Lives
- 10+ years
- Temperament
- Aggressive
- Care
- Beginner
- Swims
- On the bottom
- Keep
- One is fine
- Water
- 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
ThailandLaosCambodiaVietnam
Care requirements
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On record for Chinese Algae Eater: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 208 L / 55.0 US gal
- pH 6–8
- Hardness 2–20 dGH
- Diet algae grazer
- Tank length 150 cm minimum
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Chinese algae eaters are sold as a solution and become a problem. They arrive as small, cheap, unremarkable fish recommended for algae, and they grow into large, aggressive animals that stop eating algae entirely.
The habit that makes them genuinely unsuitable is what they do instead. A mature Chinese algae eater latches onto the flanks of broad, slow-moving fish and rasps at their slime coat — angelfish, discus, gouramis and goldfish are the usual victims, and the damage opens them to infection.
They're not Chinese either, coming from Thailand and neighbouring countries. Almost nothing about the name is accurate.
Tank setup
Think hard before buying one at all. This is the honest advice, and it's the reason the species has such a poor reputation among experienced keepers.
If you do keep one, keep it alone or with fast, robust fish that aren't shaped like a target. Nothing broad-bodied and nothing slow.
Give it a large tank. They reach a substantial size and a mature one needs real space.
Provide caves and hiding places. They're territorial and having somewhere to own reduces patrolling.
Give them good flow and firm surfaces. They're stream fish with a suckermouth and they grip.
Feeding
Juveniles graze algae reasonably well. Adults largely stop.
Feed them properly and don't rely on the tank: sinking pellets, algae wafers, blanched vegetables and some protein. A hungry Chinese algae eater is far more likely to start on another fish.
Include vegetable matter throughout their life even after they lose interest in grazing it off the glass.
Avoid: keeping them underfed on the theory that they'll eat algae. That's precisely what drives the slime-rasping behaviour.
Filtration and flow
Good flow and strong oxygenation. They come from fast-flowing water and they're built to hold position in it.
Filter well. They grow large and eat well.
Keep nitrate down with regular changes, as for any large bottom fish.
With plants
Chinese algae eaters are largely safe with plants, though a big one will dislodge things while manoeuvring.
They'll graze algae off leaves when young, which is the period they're actually useful.
Tough plants attached to hardscape survive them best.
Health
They're extremely hardy and long-lived, which is part of the problem — a fish bought in error is around for a long time.
The medical issues belong to the other fish. Check broad-bodied tank mates for missing scales, cloudy patches or raw areas on the flanks, which is what rasping leaves behind.
They're strong and difficult to catch. Use a container rather than a net, and plan the tank so you don't have to.
Breeding
They're not bred in home aquaria and there is no established method for it.
Commercial production uses hormone induction on farms, which is how a fish this common stays cheap.
The wild spawning trigger involves seasonal river conditions that a tank cannot reproduce, and there are no useful accidental spawnings on record to work from.
Tank mates
Avoid5
- Angelfish Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Angelfish is peaceful and easily intimidated.
- Guppy Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Guppy is peaceful and easily intimidated.
- Honey Gourami Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Honey Gourami is peaceful and easily intimidated.
- Otocinclus Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Otocinclus is peaceful and easily intimidated.
- Threadfin Rainbowfish Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Threadfin Rainbowfish is peaceful and easily intimidated.
Only with care86
- Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid is peaceful.
- Amano Shrimp Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Amano Shrimp is peaceful.
- Assassin Snail Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Assassin Snail is peaceful.
- Bala Shark Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Bala Shark is peaceful.
- Bamboo Shrimp Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Bamboo Shrimp is peaceful.
17 species are not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.