# Very unhappy with the store owner...



## go9ma123 (Dec 22, 2007)

I went to pet store about 10 days ago and I got these 3 fish for $11. I asked one of the lady in the store about this fish I was looking at. She didn't know anything about the fish and got a onwer for the store and told me that it was called tiger something... I can't remember the exect name... Any ways the guy told me it was alage eater, very friendly and they are 100 % non-aggressive. Went home and I put them in the fish tank which I had 5 guppies, about 10 guppy fries which is about 4 weeks grown up, and 12 neon tetras. There were doing fine about 3-4 days and after 5th day, I noticed that 2 of my tetras are gone and 3 of my 4 weeks old guppies are gone. I was watching the fish tank about 10mins and I saw those tiger fish were standing next to my tetra and small fish. They were attacking them them!!!. It is like cryfish hiding and catching fish for food. Those guppies and tetra weren't that small but, some how they manage to get attacked from them. I removed them to my small guppy breeder tank. I was really mad and is very unhappy with this fish store owner!!! Any ways, I'm going to call them tomorrow if I can get exchanged with another fish. They are not alage eater at all!!! They do not even eat alage or green stuff! Here are the picture of the fish I got. Looks cool but, I don't have another tank to keep them. 
http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00049lz4.jpg


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## dirrtybirdy (May 22, 2007)

dang that sucks. id tell her to reimburse me for the lost fishes..plus extra


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## NoSvOrAx (Nov 11, 2006)

Looks like a chinese algae eater. Not very good with algae and they get large and aggressive. I'd be mad too.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 19, 2008)

Oh man, you got a Chinese Algae-Eater. Anyone that tells you that CAEs are great, non-aggressive algae-eaters is very wrong, including the store owner  
Yeah CAEs don't eat algae at all. Maybe at first they will, but once they get a taste of fish food, they drop algae completely. And they are muy aggressive.
They will get very big too, about 12"+. When they get bigger, they can actually become a parasite to flat-bodied fish, such as Discus or Angels. I've seen CAEs sucking on the sides of Angels before and this always kills the victim. 
Do yourself a favor and get rid of it now.


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## Deni (Jul 6, 2005)

Be sure that you know what you're getting when you get another fish. This is a really tough lesson to learn.


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## helgymatt (Sep 12, 2007)

It is partly the responsiblity of the buyer to know what they are buying. I never go to a pet store and buy "some" fish before I know what species it is, how big it will get, what problems it may have in my tank, what it might eat, etc.... It's still unfortunate many pet stores do not even know what they are selling.


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## KatjaT (Dec 7, 2007)

Are you sure that is CAE in the picture? It looks like a _Parodon_ some sort to me


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## go9ma123 (Dec 22, 2007)

They are not chinese alage eaters. They just looks at the small fish and when they get near they attack like bass do. If it was chinese alage eater, they would do fine with my fish.


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

I agree that the picture doesn't show a chinese algae eater.

I disagree as to whether a chinese algae eater would do well in your tank, well, at least not from your perspective as the owner of the fish. In fact, it is the one fish I despise and I wouldn't recommend putting it in any tank for any reason.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 19, 2008)

How large is the fish now? It looks like a young CAE with the patterns on its back.


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## go9ma123 (Dec 22, 2007)

They are gone now... The fish were about 3-4cm I think... I went to pet store and they exchanged me with 2 cherry shrimps and 6 brown shrimps.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 19, 2008)

3-4cm... It probably was a young CAE. It looks just like the babies we've had in my job at a LFS. Some CAEs are perfectly fine with other fish, but most aren't. You must have gotten one of those.


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## go9ma123 (Dec 22, 2007)

legomaniac89 said:


> 3-4cm... It probably was a young CAE. It looks just like the babies we've had in my job at a LFS. Some CAEs are perfectly fine with other fish, but most aren't. You must have gotten one of those.


They are not 100% CAE. I have 2 CAE on tanks with them.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Yea, you gotta know what you're buying. Or try going to a fish store instead of a pet store. 

GL next time.


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## Peteman (May 28, 2007)

Tiger Tetra maybe, pic doesn't look right but it's kinda blury. But a TT would fit what happened.

For an algae eating fish this is the standard
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/crossocheilous_siamensis.htm

Number one thing is the black stripe goes THROUGH the tail fin to the end. CAE it stops short.
Funny little guys to keep, but need a tank lid for sure as they are jumpers. I've had some massive bangs on my hood, if it wasn't there I'd think it would have hit my apartment roof!

Cheers
Pete.


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## Impatient (Nov 12, 2007)

Follow the link, scroll down and you'll find a drawing of your guy! Chinese (or Indian) Algae Eater according to The Krib.

http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/


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