Problem

[Pleco mad man]

I was at lfs about 2 weeks ago and i saw a gold algae eater i loved him he was so call swimming up the sides of the tank so i asked the man there how big dose he get and he said no bigger than 2 inch i then said will he be ok in a 12 gallon he said yes. so i bought him and took him home i now know that he will get a lot bigger than that and when he is older i will have to get rid of him my question is how quickly do they grow because i have some one that will probably take him in but i want to keep him for as long as i can. Thanks for your help

 

[Kiara1125]

They grow big pretty fast. It really depends on the temperature of the tank and how much you feed it. You might be able to keep it for a few months, wait till it gets about double the size it is now, and trade it off to someone, or a pet store, for money/store credit.

 

[OrangeCones]

Do you have a picture of your 'gold sucking loach'?

 

[Pleco mad man]

i will post one

 

[Pleco mad man]

here he is

 

[OrangeCones]

Looks like the color morph of the Chinese Algae Eater (CAE). They grow quickly, and your gouramis are at most risk, as the CAE loves the taste of slime coat, and the gourmi has a nice flat surface to suck from.

 

[Pleco mad man]

oh ok thanks for that i will keep an eye out for that

 

[Kiara1125]

I see a lot of these at my lfs. They never keep any for over 2 weeks, they either sell out quickly or they use them as feeders to their display fish.

 

[nanu156]

they don't grow all that fast, but they are pests, they will hunt your other fish and eat little holes into them. They are also incredibly hard to catch.... I chased one until i was dripping wet and in a swearing frenzy. It is for sure a Chinese Algae Eater. Not a pleco. Not even in the pleco family... Return the fish ASAP for your money back, there is no trade in on them usually. Nor is there generally a trade in on common plecos once they get large.

Oh and final thought they also won't do any "housework"

 

[achase]

I bought that exact same fish (Albino Chinese Algae Eater). He grew pretty quickly and was a huge pain to catch.
I agree with Nanu, I would take him back as soon as possible. They are very cute but in the end are not worth the trouble.
There are lots of other less aggressive, more productive (actual algae eaters) and smaller sized bottom feeders out there.

 

[Kiara1125]

Marcy!! I haven't heard from you in a while. How's it been??

 

[nanu156]

I have been good. Just busy. Got a fish murderer on my hands. Same murderer that has been killing for a while. Don't know when he does his killing because i never actually see it. I thought i traded him in but not so much...

Congrats on the 55, once you have it up you will wonder why you ever messed with 10g tanks lol. They are so easy when they are larger

 

[Kiara1125]

Yep, lol. I'm still debating if it should be a tropical or goldfish tank.

 

[nanu156]

Tropical. Maybe cichlids Goldies are fun, particularly the big lion heads and moors (they like to be pet and are really smart) but you will really be limiting what you can house. I mean if you follow the 30g/fish rule you get 1-2 fish if you go goldie.

African cichlids are really neat, super active and very colorful. General tropical can also be really fun. Maybe a planted tank with angels? or discus? you could get frisky and risky and go discus.

 

[DclownD]

i kept a cae in my 30gal for half a year before my kids killed the tank. he kept to himself and took care of a snail out break

 

[Pleco mad man]

unfortunately i will not be needing to get rid of him because i came home today to find that my little gold alge eater had passed he was lying there in his little favorite spot of the tank upsidedown RIP midas the gold algae eater