Nikki Casali wrote:


Elaine T wrote:

Nikki Casali wrote:


Yes, it looks very much like a variant of Labeo variegatus, which is
the one I have:
http://www.thatfishshop.com/findex/f...variegatus.htm

http://www.petresources.net/fish/cyprinid/gyr_aym.html CAE get very
aggressive as they grow, especially towards similarly shaped fish.
They have been rumored to feed on slimecoats of other fish as they
age, thus the angelfish sucking behavior.

If you look at some more pictures of G. aymonieri and that's indeed
what your "harlequin shark" is, I would return it to LFS. It will
never be suitable for a community tank. If they complain, just
leave it anyway - they'll figure out something to do with it. After
all, they gave you the bad advice in the first place.


Believe it or not, they had an offer the day I bought it. Buy 2 for
£28! Fortunately, I just bought the one.


Wow. I've never even seen L. variegatus for sale over here. I'll
know not to buy one! Maybe your LFS will take it back if it's rare in
the UK.


I discovered, after speaking to an assistant at a LFS, that there is a
ban on them being sold now. He presumed it was to do with the rarity in
their natural habitat.


Do you know the mechanism SAE use to prise away BBA? I still can't
believe that anything could have the equipment to get rid of this stuff!


The fish seem to eat the soft, fuzzy strands. They don't actually
scrape the algae off of things so you'll still see some dark spotting.
I had to scrub my the remainder of the algae off of my heater and
filter intakes when I had an infested tank. However, new plant growth
comes in virtually algae free since they eat the tender new algae as
soon as it starts to get a foothold. Your plants will gradually shed
the infested leaves and start to look green again.

Oh - and if you try SAE, feed the tank as lightly as you can. SAE eat
all sorts of fish foods, and won't eat algae as diligently if they've
stuffed themselves on flakes.


I'm taking time off work to get 3 SAE tomorrow. 3 enough in a 330 litre
tank? The algae eaters I already have are 7 Ancistrus and 2 Otocinclus.

Nikki

Personally, I'd get three if they're decent sized or four if they're
tiny. You want to get your ruby shark good and confused about the
pecking order. js has a very good point about being very careful that
you buy C. siamensis and not any of the closely related species. I
always look for the black stripe to go all the way through the tailfin,
all other fins clear, and the absence of a golden stripe just above the
black. There should be only the tan/brown color of the back of the fish
all the way down the side until the start of the black stripe.

Good luck!

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__