Can CAE's live...

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Well, can Chinese algae eaters live together happily? Its just when i first started out in fish keeping ages ago i started off with some chinese algae eaters and mollys(yes i know CAE's are evil little fish but they jumped out of the tank i had back then before they did any damage), and even though they died i did get very attached to them.
My question realy starts off here because i was going to just sell all my current tanks when i get my 200gal but if i can keep CAE's together i'd like to keep an old 3ft tank of mine in the loft and just have some CAE's in it instead.
I would also like to know if there's a single fish that CAE's won't attack or are unlikely to?
The tank they'd go in if they can live together is 27gals, how many would be happy in this? Its just their max size seems to be a bit controversal- some people say they only grow to 7inchs in captivity while others, 15inchs in the wild.
Any info would be realy useful, thanks

 

[Bloo]

Tokis, I'm probably not the best person to ask about them as I've only kept 3 of these chaps in my lifetime. However all in a community tank (from about a 2" size) with no problems whatsoever.
The first one outgrew the tank but was a happy chap and never caused any problems so he moved on to the pond in the garden. We moved house and I don't know what happened to him.
The second one died after a few years in the community tank - I did not know that CAE's could die lol
My third and current one has been living in a community tank for almost 3 years now and has grown from about 1.5" to about his current 3". As and when he becomes aggressive or outgrows the tank, I'll make a plan with him. But as it's not been a problem so far, I don't see why I should fix it (at the moment)
So for what it's worth, that's my experience with them anyway.....

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thanks for the info, what fish were they in with in your community tank?

 

[Bloo]

Gosh I'll have to think back to the first one - that was ages ago. I think mainly varied live bearers, some plecs, cories etc. Then went into the pond with common goldfish that outgrew their tank.
The second one similar.
The 3rd & current one, live bearers, tetras, rainbow fish (red & neon), a couple of loaches and several plecs of varied size and also a pimelodus pictus (yeah I know they shouldn't be kept singly, but I didn't know that at the time and I can't do much about that now - he's fine and active and happy and so are the other fish. And have been for about 3 years in this tank).
Though I've never kept more than one CAE per a tank, so I wont be able to comment on that.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Ahh, you are probably just luckier than me then, i just remember i did keep another CAE about a year later in a tank with some livebearers and it killed all my platys and most of my mollys...They do seem to vary alot from keeper to keeper though.
How many types of CAE are there? I've seen the usual brown and grey patterened ones, golden ones and a silver one- are there any other types?

 

[Bloo]

Oh dear but are you really sure that he was the culprit ? Did you not have any other suspects ? Or was he actively chasing your live bearers ? None of mine have ever paid the slighest bit of interest to their tankmates. Though I've always had plenty of hiding places and plants etc. so that might have helped ?
Maybe I'm just lucky

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yep he was positively relentlesy chasing the other fish, i didn't notice anything at first- just lots of chewed up fish in the morning, until i decided to watch what happened at night when the tank lights were off and he(a golden CAE) started chasing all the other fish around and around trying to bite them. I got worse though when he started getting bigger and he started chasing them during the day time too.
At the time though the lfs where i bought him from refused to take him back, along with other lfs's so i ended up buying him a tank of his own. He died anyway during a power cut though...
Even though he killed the majority of my fish at the time, i didn't blame him cos he was only doing what instinct told him and he was very beutiful.

 

[Bloo]

Ah that's a shame. My current CAE is a really lively lovely chap to watch. I really do hope he doesn't take a nasty turn for the worst. I do understand the day will come when he just grows to large and will become more territorial, but then I'll make a plan.
This is him chomping away on an algae waver with some of his mates B)

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thats a lovely looking CAE
He looks like an albino )

 

[Erised]

I've had different experiences keeping them together. I've had 2 kill eachother off by headbutting eachother in fights ... but right now I have 3 living together without any trouble what so ever (actually, they're always together and like hanging out with eachother) in a 75G.

I used to have 2 in a 15G as well, and think that if enough wood to hide under/in/on whatever is provided, you can keep them together without any trouble. In a 27G though. I'd not keep more than 2, just to give them enough room

 

[sylvia]

CAEs can reach a max. size of 10". They only become realy bad with tankmates when they reach around 6" in length. They also gradualy stop eating algae as they mature. Honestly, wouldn't keep them with anything. Fish that are large or flat-bodied often make prime targets for being sucked on, small fish get eaten or killed, slow-moving fish also become victims and, though you might be able to keep them with a plec, it may still get picked on because they stay still and occupy the same water levels so that would just make them targets for sucking. Plecs also tend to lose eyes when in a tank with a CAE - but they are still less likely to actualy be killed than many other fish. Keeping more than one CAE together is also not advised. They are somewhat like RTBSs in temperament I suppose - but they get larger and are somewhat more destructive. Keeping 2 or 3 would undoubtedly end in disaster. You MIGHT be able to keep a large group (say 6) together - as that would spread aggression - but you'd need a pretty big tank considering their potential size. I should point out I have never actualy tried this (keeping 6 CAEs together) so that's just an assumption based on experiences with sharks and other fish with a similar temperament.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thanks for the info ,whats the advised minimum tank size for a single CAE? If you have enough space can they tolerate each other ok?