Comments on: Chinese algae eater with malawi cichlids?

By: Jack_the_Wong

Jack_the_Wong — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

it’s definitely a yes

Although I haven’t experienced that, but i’ve read everywhere that is possible, not much risk.

In my big tank,
i have about 12 African cichlids (mbuna), with a red tail shark, 5 clown loaches, 3 yoyos.
My cichlids never bothered any non-cichlids. Chinese algae-eater should be stronger than these loaches too.

But my tank is big, with tons of hidings places, everywhere. If you have that, then there’s nothing to worry at all.

Hope this helps.

By: Emms

Emms — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Assuming you have a big enough tank, it’s possible to keep these together. Keep in mind though that the CAE’s name is extremely misleading. While it will eat algae as a young fish, as it matures it will become carnivorous and will actually attach itself to other fish in the tank and literally eat them alive. With cichlids you may have a shot at keeping them safe since they are pretty feisty, but be aware that it’s possible that the CAE will kill other fish in the tank.

These guys really should be sold with great big bold warning labels. They get huge and they are not meant for most fish tanks. Unfortunately they are often sold as community fish algae eaters.

By: Michael_M

Michael_M — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Let me preface this with the fact that I have raised and bred African Cichlids for over 30 years. Malawi cichlids, particularly Mbuna, are notoriously aggressive. Usually the aggression is towards fish of the same species. However, I’ve seen some P. auratus that would terrorize the pope. In this case, you may be OK, however, if I were selling you a fish to keep down the algae in the tank, I would recommend a plecostomus. They are very efficient and I’ve never seen one that was of any interest to these cichlids. Hope this was helpful!