Black and Gold Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilos aymonieri)

Black and Gold Algae Eaters is an ornate color variety of the familiar Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilos aymonieri). Chinese Algae Eaters  are one of the best algae eaters you can get as they spend much of their time is spent searching for food/algae.  They are easy to care for so even beginners can keep them and they make a great addition to a community aquarium that needs bottom-dwellers.  Adult size is 13 cm and a 200 litre tank or larger is recommended.

Surprisingly, the Chinese Algae Eater is rarely found in China. They are mainly found in rivers and lakes that run through Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.  To help water reach the gills when their mouth is attached to something, they have specialized organs (two branchial apertures force water across their gills to help with respiration).

Behaviour

Black and Gold Algae Eaters are natural loners, they are not social and don’t need to be kept in groups. In fact, they are likely to fight fellow members of their own species.  They generally keep to themselves and don’t cause much trouble, but they may show signs of aggression towards tank mates of a similar size. Most of their time is spent in the lower levels of the tank, where they attach themselves to surfaces around the aquarium to feed on any algae they find. This is usually the main appeal of these fish, they help to keep algae levels low which saves you time when cleaning.

Tank Conditions

Typically they are found in rivers and lakes flowing through Asia. The water there is warm and fast moving.  They spend their time in the lower levels around a rocky floor surrounded by stones, gravel and sand. They seasonally migrate to muddy waters and flooded coastal areas.

Layer the bottom of the tank with substrate – you can use sand or gravel. We recommend sand as it is less likely to scratch them as they swim over it.  Place rocks and decorations on the substrate to provide plenty of crevices for them to hide in. They can then claim a territory and retreat here when stressed. You can add live plants as another form of shelter, they will also help to keep the water clean. Though they will eat vegetation, they probably won’t eat your plants.

They need a well-lit environment (this helps the algae grow also), so standard aquarium lighting should be fine.

Compatibility

They don’t get on well with all types of fish, and can even become aggressive towards certain types. The ones to avoid are fish of a similar size, appearance, or lifestyle. Large, slow-moving tank mates should be avoided as latch onto something like the flat-bodied Discus, in order to eat their slime coat.  However, there are still plenty of possible tank mates such as small, speedy species will easily be able to escape.  But your Algae Eater will probably ignore them anyway.

Suitable tank makes are: Mollies, Tiger Barbs, Platies, Clown Loaches, Dwarf Gourami, Swordtails, Zebra Danios, Cherry Barbs, Emperor Tetra, or White Cloud Mountain Minnow.

It is safest to keep Algae Eaters singly, as they are likely to show aggression towards other members of their own species. They are sometimes kept in groups, but this requires a much larger tank so they each have plenty of space and don’t get in each other’s way – each fish should have 200 litres.

Feeding

In the wild algae is their main source of nutrition. They rasp onto rocks and scrape off algae using their sucker mouths.  You will see a similar behavior in your aquarium. They will mostly be attached to walls or decorations to feed. However, algae are not the only things they eat in their natural habitat. They sometimes feed on small creatures like maggots. These provide a different set of nutrients (including plenty of protein). You can replicate this by adding some live or frozen foods into the tank once a week – bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp work well.

If you don’t feel that there is enough algae in your tank, Algae Eaters will happily eat algae wafers. You can also use spare green vegetables from your kitchen. Feed them small pieces of lettuce, spinach or zucchini. They don’t need a set diet, as they will feed themselves on algae and scavenge any food their tank mates have not eaten. Just regularly check that they have a supply of algae and occasionally supplement this with live or frozen foods and they will be fine.

Care

This species is very sensitive to nitrates so make sure to perform regular water changes to keep levels as close to 0ppm as possible.  The easiest way to keep your Algae Eaters healthy is to maintain a clean tank. They are generally hardy fish but an unclean tank will likely lead to disease.

When cleaning a tank, it’s common to remove all the algae you see because it’s usually seen as a problem. Doing this would remove their main food source, so don’t completely wipe away all the algae.

There are not any diseases specific to  Algae Eaters, but they can contract many common freshwater fish diseases such as ich etc.