Crossocheilus reticulatus, where have you been all my life???

[Magnum Man72 187]

spot tail algae eaters… they look amazing, are peaceful functional community fish…

I recently got 7 of them, that came in tiny, so I added them to my hillstream tank to grow out, they have settled in, and are playful, and curious as a panda garra… at least as fingerlings they are schooling… I’m surprised they are not more popular in the hobby, they are more interesting than most of the common algae eaters…

anyone else keeping them???

these are my fingerlings now…

this is a picture of an adult, and where I last acquired them…

Spot Tail Algae Eater

Estimated size at shipping: 1.25-2"Adult Size: around 3-4"Overview: Just like their cousin the Siamese algae eater, these guys are great at eating all types of algae. The current group is young and has yet to develop their full color and pattern, but it will come with time.

dansfish.com

 

[emeraldking52 103]

I've kept them as well in the past. They've even lived in my outdoor pool for a little while.

FYI, they can reach a good size. So, space is of importance.

 

[Magnum Man72 187]

@emeraldking … I’d be curious how big yours got in an outdoor pool…

the seller, and google, don’t agree, but both say a

reasonable size…

 

[Magnum Man72 187]

the google size is similar to my Denison barbs, so that is kind of what I expected at the largest…

 

[emeraldking52 103]

Just over 15cm...

 

[Magnum Man72 187]

I’m noticing an interesting behavior with these guys… all are doing well in the hillstream tank, and are now spreading fully around in the tank, this morning there seems to be one, everywhere I look, but last night just before the main light goes off, in 20 minutes of looking I could not find one… so the babies seem to have a definite “bed time”, and it’s still during the last hours of the main light being on, before it gradually gets dark… most other fish seem to be fully active in the tanks at least until the main light goes out…

I think there may be a few tetras that disappear before it starts getting dark in their tanks, and while it’s still light in their tanks, it is dark outside so I suspect the fish that do this, have a well developed internal clock???