Golden Algae Eater thinks its a loach

[LoachOrgy]

this CAE i have had for 3 weeks thinks its a loach. it follows the loaches around and will feed with them. it even gets in on the pecking order. its funny!

[loachmom]

Your clown loaches look nice. What are they eating?

[LoachOrgy]

that is a piece of sqaush on one of those petsmart food clips. it has a suction cup that holds it to the glass. this is a better video of the sae taking turns on the squash with the loaches. when i put more than one squash they don't get as playful. i think they really like playing around with their food!

[YellowFinned]

LoachOrgy,

That is a Chinese Algae Eater! Looks nice, gets big quick, gets aggressive.

SAE ain't the same. I recommend them.

[/b]

[Emma Turner]

Yep, YellowFinned is correct. You have the golden variant of Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, the Sucking 'Loach'/Chinese Algae Eater. Likely to become a real problem as it matures.
SAE's are Siamese Algae Eaters (Crosscheilus siamensis).

Emma

[LoachOrgy]

Yes sorry Golden Algae Eater. That is what it said at the store. I was trying to get an SAE with no luck. Emma I do notice that this CAE is more aggressive towards the other CAE. It holds its own with the loaches but does chase them when food time comes around. If it gets any more aggressive I am going to trade it in for some loach food lol! But the loaches chase this CAE as well.

The CAE went from half the size of the smaller loaches to the size you see now in 3 weeks. Fast growers. The other CAE ate the enitre 35 gallon tank worth of algae in 3 days.