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ok then, with the chinese algae eater, caslled sucking catfish in sydney, i wanna know what it is they actually eat. I know that I have never seen them touch algae of any kind. And I'm quite sure that I've never seen them touch Spirulina tabs either. Has any body ever had SEEN their CAE eating any kind of plant matter? I'm sure we have all seen this fish munching meat. I certainly have.

I'm relatively sure that I've heard many people say that the name is a misnomer (CAE). If so, shouldn't the profle be changed to carnivore. Or at the very least omnivore.
Might also be a good idea to include sucking catfish as a synonym. Because that's what every store knows them as in sydney.

Here in the UK they're known as Sucking Loaches. Because the majority of catfishes that found their way into dealer aquaria at the same time as Sucking Loaches were first imported were armoured catfishes such as Callichthys callichthys, the Hoplosternum catfishes and later, Corydoras. Because Gyrinocheilus aymonieri doesn't have armour, and looks like some of the temperate loaches apart from the sucking mouthparts, here in the UK is was named the 'Sucking Loach' for that reason.

This page from Sean Evans (now an internationally renowned oddball keeper) provides good information on the species. Sean knows his stuff: he's one of the few people that is actually consulted on fishkeeping matters by Practical fishkeeping's oddball expert Richard Hardwick, and that's saying something.

The problem with this fish is that although it will dine on algae as a juvenile, its tastes change as it matures (and probably do in the wild too). It is better characterised as an aufwuchs feeder that shifts from principally herbivorous to principally carnivorous as it ages, primarily because it is not well suited to a predatory lifestyle at small sizes, but better equipped once it reaches around 4 or 5 inches to switch to feeding on such things as small shrimps. Big ones (around 10 inches or so) are possibly capable of taking small fishes as food, though I suspect there are several reasons why this has not been documented. One, I cannot recall it being filmed in the wild. Two, large specimens tend to be kept with fishes their own size in the aquarium, partly because several large specimens have been observed to be aggressive. Thus they tend to be housed with other robust and capable fishes when large.

One experiment that has not been tried (to my knowledge) in order to test any hypothesis about the capacity of G. aymonieri to eat small fishes is this: place a large specimen in an aquarium, then add Neon Tetras as the sole compnaions for the fish. If the Neons began disappearing overnight under such conditions, then that would confirm that a large aymonieri is capable of being a predator on small fishes. They will certainly attack disc-shaped fishes for slime coat when older, Angel Fishes and Discus being two species that should probably be avoided as companions for a large aymonieri.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yes well that pretty much confirms what I, and surely most, have observed an experienced.

It would be so nice to own a 6' tank to try out some of these predatory traits...

Almost forgot. Another reason why the term 'Sucking Loach' was applied was this: the fish belongs to its own Family, the Gyrinochelidae, and this Family does NOT belong to the Order Siluriformes (which contains all the Catfishes). Hence it is not a catfish. It is also not a true Loach (these belong to the Family Cobitidae), and is more closely allied to the Hillstream Loaches (formerly belonging to the Family Homalopteridae, now the Family Balitoridae).

Ah, taxonomy. Wonderful discipline.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

When i had my CAE, it used to eat lots of Algae, buy when it grew up, it used to suck on my Angels & Gouramis aswell.


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

From birth, they are omnivorous. As has been aforementioned, unless given no other option, the said fish will not feed upon algae.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 22-May-2005 12:20