Have a quick question... have a chinese algae eater that I got for free from someone... but it's not colored like all of the ones that I've seen. The typical one is light beige with darker spots going down the side... this one is dark brown/grey w/ reddish spots going down the side. It looks EXACTLY like a normal one with the exception of this coloration... does anybody have any input on this?
Chinese Algae Eater Coloration Question...
- Thread starter rsandelius
- Start date
If you just got ure chinese , it may be stress that makes him look different , Or if he has been in the tank for a while and has had a chance to relax of a couple of days , he may be just a lighter color, i have saw many stay a real light color all the time , some times light also makes them get real light in color
I went to one of the LFS's around here and saw they had a tank full of ones that looked just like mine... so... apparently, it's a CAE, but just a color variation. Darn... so much for having a unique fish... lol
So... get this. I replaced a bad heater in my tank to get the temp back down from 85-86 back down to 78... and within 4 days, he's changed color. Now he's getting more to the lighter brown with darker dots. Crazy....
rsandelius said:
CAE's are great. one of my favourite fish. One word of caution though, you have yours in with a bichir. As the CAE's get bigger they start to change their eating habits and you may find it sucking the slime coat on your bichir. Anything largish and relatively slow moving can become a target. Keep an eye on them both for signs of trouble
Yup. I'm aware and will do so. I'm not planning on keeping the CAE as it gets bigger, though... it was an unexpected freebie that came long with my little tank and I'd be more than happy to give it away at any point...