Chinese Algae Eater/Golden Loach Behavior/No3 Levels

[8534kim]

Hi, I hope someone can help! I got my fish tank 5 months ago and have a 60litre tank. I have 3 guppies, 2 neon tetras, 3 mollies, 1 plec, 2 cory cats and 'goldilocks'- the golden loach. The tank has been going fine up until recently but then my fighter fish was attacked, i then got guppies and they were attacked, one eaten. This morning ive woken up to find one of my new cory cats has been attacked and killed- again half eaten. My golden loach appears to be attacking them all and constantly chases them around the tank, im wondering if hes too big for the tank- any advice? Hes grown to 6 inches long now and is beautiful and likes to bury under the pirate ship ornament.
Also my NO3 levels seem very high, I have had to do a 10% water change very regularly just to keep it in check- help would be much appreciated, this is my first tank and the pet shop dont seem to have much advice apart form buy him a bigger hiding place?

 

[fishfinderdave]

hi.

In answer to your question about your golden algea eater being aggresive towards other fish, is he attacking them around his hiding place?
if so its beacuase these fish can be very terretorial towards other fish and even ther own kind
when brought and added to a new tank when small they are fine with other fish but as they mature they can get very aggresive towards fish
so its best there put with other semi-aggressive fish i.e. black sharks, ther own kind, rams, gourami's ect.
I myself have a chinese algea eater which atm is still premature..but im expecting it to start being aggresive as it grows
not all are this way....depends really on the fish itself.
doing regular water changes will help keep your fish in good shape, but it wont stop it from attacking your fish im affraid.
At 6 inches its at its biggest...i doubt it will grow anymore...possibly but un-likely
and being a 60 litre tank it wont need placing into another tank.

i suggest finding a bigger hidding place for it...
and if any of your fish die....if you dont take them out quickly then expext your algea eater to eat them as they are scavengers
there job is to keep the tank clean...and will eat anything thats ed-able...

good luck with your loach.

 

[Assaye]

Chinese Algae Eaters are always beeing recommended as good algae eaters for small tanks but pet shops and it is some of the WORST advice I ever hear.

They can get to nearly a foot long and can be pretty aggressive. You need a much bigger tank than 60 litres for him, especially now he is killing your fish and is 6 inches long. Please consider rehoming him to someone who has a much, much larger tank or getting a bigger tank yourself. Most plecs that new hobbyists end up with also get massive so you'll probably need a new tank soon anyway. The mollies would also appreciate some more space.

You're probably looking at at least a 200 litre tank for the algae eater on it's own and if your plec is a common plec

then he'll need about 400 litres. Obviously, if you want to keep other fish with them, you'll need bigger tanks again.

Sorry to say this, but it seems you've been given some pretty bad advice in the past. I work in a fish store and some of the advice my colleagues and managers give is shocking. We sell Chinese Algae Eaters by the bucket load to tiny tanks and I get an earfull if I even suggest we shouldn't.