[Goat]

I have a golden algae eater that was one of the first inhabitants of the tank and probably the oldest at this point. He is large and in charge and guards his domain frequently (chases fish getting near his cave, or algae tablets/food)

It is a 72 gallon bow front with other algae eaters and bottom feeders. The dilemma is I have another golden algae eater, half black/half golden, who is half his size and cannot grow because (we will call her she for now) if she gets within 2 feet of his cave, he chases her extremely fast until she hides in the plants on the opposite side. Now, whenever he chases fish or chases the other golden, it upsets the fish and they freak out for a second etc. The question is, will this cause consistent undo stress on my fish, causing them to act out and be extra skittish, more than normal? They are fairly friendly (since I haven't messed with the plants in a couple weeks) Wondering if i should get rid of the large golden algae or possibly the small one. He doesn't bother the SAEs, Clowns, or Dojos much.

K that was long winded, but hopefully made sense. I just want to keep the peace!

I will be moving the rocks to other side of tank and adding some wood soon, giving more hiding places, but the smaller golden algae never comes out anymore.

Thanks,

 

[trenac]

I personally would get rid of it, any stress is not good. Plus goldens get fairly large, stop eating algae, become aggressive & cause injury or death to other fish. They are notorious for sucking slime coat off of other fishes.

 

[JanS]

I agree with Trena. They are just Chinese algae eaters (CAE's) in a different color, and they get nasty, disrupt the tankmates, and only eat algae when they are young.

If you can find them a new home, that would be the best.

I wish the stores would stop calling them golden algae eaters since so many people innocently buy them not knowing they are just the little CAE monsters in disguise...

 

[Goat]

Ah, thanks for the advice. I guess I should of put two and two together with the CAEs, since they look exactly the same except color. He still eats a ton, pretty much everything cause he guards his algae hah. I will get him removed from the tank, I believe Questin will take him for his 125 planted, since has has larger alphas. I will leave the smaller one for a bit and see how 'she' does, since she was a later addition and has never established any domain or alpha status.

Oh to add, I completely revamped the tank a few days ago, pulled all plants and did a dip and substrate cleaning, and pulled out his "cave", to redo my design, for more midground to also prepare for foreground. He is less aggressive due to no territory at this second. (The BBA is receding and almost gone due to excel dosing)

Now I have to find time to plant a hundred stems of HM/Baby Tears that I got.

Thanks again!

 

[Goat]

Big golden algae gone. Much more peace for a few days until my angels started laying eggs and nipping everybody hah.

 

[Goat]

Here is the algae eater that is left. Just cause I was bored.

 

[jaidexl]

Just remember that when you remove an alpha, a beta becomes the new alpha. The fish is the same species so it's likely to start acting the same eventually, but not definite.

There is always the option of keeping them apart for a bit, then adding them to a new tank along with more species mates, that is if you actually like the species and want to keep it.

eep:

edit: Actually, it just dawned on me to check a profile and it seems these guys get aggressive with each other as well, with age. So you're probably better off keeping it alone.