Are these Algae Eaters?

These are a variant of the Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri).

Chinese is a misnomer because this species originally came from Thailand, I believe. The gold colouring is, I think, from cross breeding.

They do eat algae of some types but seem to have a limited use in a planted aquarium. They can be a little on the agressive side, especially to one another.

Andrew Cribb

They do eat algae; while young. They can (but rarely do) grow to 11 inches. As adults (5+ inches) they rarely eat algae and perfer flaked foods and bloodworms. They can be VERY agressive and have been known to attach themselves on larger slow moving fish, (Oscars) sucking away at the slime coat, eventually penetrating the skin and killing the fish. (Wow that was a fragmented sentence if I ever type one!)

My LFS sells them as a Golden Chinese algae eaters. They will eat algae when younger but as they grow they will eat less and less and become more and more aggressive. I had one take a chunk out of my Gourami that later died, so beware.

Woot! thanks for the positive i.d.

Sigh. LFS should have a warning sign that adult albino algae eaters stop eating algae and start bothering other fish.

Lol they are mislabled in most LFS. Called anything from Chinese Algae Eaters (CAEs), Algae eater (very descriptive), Marbled Algae Eater, ALgae eating Shark, Albino Algae eater, and Flying Foxes!

my sister in law had one of these in her tank...it was a large 4-5"er. It actually did a very good job at eating diatoms and didnt bother the other tank inhabitants...it didn;t however touch the other types of algae. ..it was like a big oto in that regard LOL