Aquarium Lore: Golden Algae Eater

Data Sheet		Siamese Algae Eater (a distinct different spieces)
Scientific Name:	Crossocheilus aymonieri
Other Name:	golden algae eater, Chinese algae eater, Indian Algae eater
Family:	Cyprinidae
Origin:	India and Thailand
Adult Size:	Up to 25 cm has been reported
Social:	See Mixing with other fishes.

Tank Level:	bottom, but good jumpers	Chinese Algae Eater can cling to rocks in fast moving waters
Minimum Tank Size:	25 gallons
Diet:	primary algae, but will eat other fish food and smaller fish as it grows bigger
LifeSpan:	8-10 years
Care:	Easy
Ideal pH:	6-7
Temperature:	23 - 28 C,(72-83 F)
Tank setup:	Preferably with logs / caves and other hiding place
Sexing:	Males develop breeding “horns” on their heads.Females get heftier.

Aglae Eaters are excellent glass
cleaners when young

a siamese algae golden algae eater color is a nice contrast against the plants.

a golden algae eater

Description:

Golden Algae Eaters tend to have an slender body and a disc-shaped mouth, which enables them to hang to slippery surface in fast moving water. Golden Algae Eaters come in a wide variety of colors, from being golden yellow, and some of them have a notable black stripe from the tip of its "nose" to its tail. The stripe is often broken, and there can be black spotting along the back and at the base of the dorsal and caudal fin.

Habitat/Care:

Golden Aglae Eaters comes from fast flowing rivers in Thailand and India, so a tank with a small current will suit golden algae eaters just fine. Like most bottom feeders, Golden Aglae Eaters favour places where they can hid, so ensure plenty of caves or hiding places for these fishes.

Mixing with other fishes:

When small, golden algae eaters make good tank mates with most other fishes, as they feed primary on algae and leaves other fish alone. However, it has been noted that even small golden algea eaters has a tendency to nip at slower moving fishes such as goldfishes, or flat sized fishes such as discus and angel fishes. As such, it is recommended to keep small, fast moving fishes such as danios

Breeding:

There are very few articles I could find about getting golden algae eater to spawn, but an article from William Berg shows some success. Below is an extract from his article. To read the full article, please click here.

.. When I found the fry their parents had been in the holding tank for about 2-3 months. Before that I had kept them in a 50 gallon tank which was heavily circulated and contained very few plants. Temperature was 25Â°C/ 77Â°F. I’ve been wondering if the fact that they were kept in a heavily circulated aquarium and then moved to an aquarium with close to no circulation and warmer water (28Â°C/ 82Â°F) may have simulated a natural change in conditions that precedes spawning.

The breeding tank was as I said before, heavily planted, and had little or no circulation at all, due to the vegetation. The water was old and clean. I can’t say the exact water conditions as I don’t know exactly when the spawning took place. However the water conditions had been relatively stable and it is reasonably safe to assume that the stated water conditions are correct.

The Chinese algae-eaters had been fed a varied diet which consisted mainly of boiled lettuce and broccoli, Hikari sinking algae wafers, and shrimps. They also ate the leftovers from the food I gave the barbs and loaches, which consisted mainly of different frozen foods.

The author believes that getting the fish into spawning condition seems to be quite simple if they are fed a good diet.