Weird orange sucker fish

[gale]

Went to the faraway lfs today and wanted to get some oto cats. I asked for them (is it oh-toe, or otto??) and he said they only had plecos and algae eaters. I asked what kind of algae eaters and he said regular ones. I go look and in one tank there are some kind of striped suckers. I ask what they are and he said dojos. Ok even *I* know what a dojo looks like and this was not it. So I grab the fish encylopedia off the shelf and look it up. It looks a lot like a dwarf loach. I do want loaches sooner or later, I think (probably not now that my 20 is going to be full) but really wanted some oto cats to control my algae. Plus I wasn't positive that this was a dwarf loach and if it would stay small. So I look around more and the only other suckers, other than plecos, are these slim light orange ones. The entire body of it was light orange. Very pretty but I don't know anything about how big they get, how aggressive, etc. The lfs guy had no clue what they were. Any ideas?

btw the lfs near me also doesn't appear to have oto cats but I am going to call and talk to the owner tomorrow so I'll ask then.

 

[Auratus]

Golden Algae Eater? I think they are just a different color strain of chinese algae eaters. My LFS has a lot of them but I don't know anything about them.

http/www.giveusahome.co.uk/allpets/fish/...nalgaeeater.htm

 

[jflowers]

If they are what Auratus suggested stay well clear. They get big and aggressive and will suck on your fish removing slime coat and even scales and eyes

Jon

 

[gale]

Yep those are the ones. Sheesh glad I didn't get one. Thanks!!

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Dojo They couldn't be more different! Lucky escape

 

[hellohefalump]

*feeling very stupid* I bought some of those just last week... two TINY ones... the man in the shop (who usually knows what he's talking about) said they'd stay small and peaceful!!! OMG nooooooooooooooooooo!!! does anyone know how long they take to get big and agressive??

 

[gale]

*feeling very stupid* I bought some of those just last week... two TINY ones... the man in the shop (who usually knows what he's talking about) said they'd stay small and peaceful!!! OMG nooooooooooooooooooo!!! does anyone know how long they take to get big and agressive??

I don't think they get fully aggressive until adulthood but I don't know how long that takes. When we had fish about 7 or 8 yrs ago we got one at walmart. It was adult size and it completely terrorized our fish. We ended up taking it back-it was a monster. The one there was labelled as a chinese algae eater and it was brown/gray colored, but we didn't know anything about them and the walmart people didn't either. The lfs at the time only had common plecos so we didn't want that.

Don't feel stupid. You trusted your lfs like we should be able to and it's not your fault. Maybe call and tell them what you found out and see if you can return them?

 

[Nenya]

I bought 2 of these fish (1 inch long) on August 1st. One died quickly as I now realise there wasn't enough algae for 2 even though I was feeding algae tablets. Mine is now 5 inches long. It is huge. Its very nice though. I have had to move him into a bigger tank. He didn't seem to be aggressive but the fish in the other tank seem very relieved and are much more active now. I have heard they will suck the slime off other fish if they get a taste for it.

 

[CathyG]

To be completely honest, the CAE has got to be the worst fish I have ever kept. Not only are they inefficient algae eaters, compared to some, when they mature they start to feed off the slime coat of their tank mates. This I found out the hard way.

I found one 8 inch CAE that had trapped a 15 inch long finned goldfish behind a rock...all I could see was part of the goldfish's tail and frantic movement...I moved the rock thinking the goldfish had got itself trapped, only to find a very still and submissive goldfish with many, many scales missing and all of his beautiful fins ragged... and a very arrogant looking CAE evacuating the area. I isolated the goldfish to treat him, and almost immediately the CAE started on a 12 inch shubunkin. He was an absolute terror! The first goldfish (a well loved 8 year old) was dead within 48 hours, despite my efforts. Note, this incident happened in the space of two hours from when my hubby left for work and I arrived home from work.

I decided then to isolate him, and they are a nightmare to catch ...I had to empty the tank of *everything* to get him out...the stress of the capture killed him within the week.

That said, for the previous three years I thought he looked cute, and appeared fairly shy. I think the balance was tipped when I removed a couple of older fish to a pond, then he just suddenly went nuts.

I won't be keeping one of those again. BTW, he was not my first, I had four previously (on different occasions) one died the day I bought him, another got lost permanently underneath an under gravel filter... and two died from the stress of
relocation. I used to love them, until I had one grow to maturity...

Just my experience. This might seem an extreme tale, but I doubt he is an exception to the rule.