Algae eater and red tail shark....?

Question

i have had a very small algae eater, about 1 1/2 inches, for 5 weeks. about 3 days ago i added a red tail shark measuring about 2 1/2 inches. now the algae eater has taken to holding on to the shark, and he just allows him to... is this normal? the shark just stops what hes doing and lets him 'clean' away. surely this could be damaging the shark? the a/e has never done this with any of my other fish (clown loaches)

Answer 1

If your algae eater is a pleco according to my compatibility chart they are compatible.

I would watch though if your shark is getting red where the algae eater has been I would separate or give algae wafers.

Answer 2

Algae eaters tend to do this to angel fish and gouramis too, in fact anything that they can latch onto. They can cause skin inflammation/damage to some fish.

Answer 3

mmmm algae eater is getting a slime coat meal... tasty...

clown loaches are usually too fast to get attacked by AE's

Have you been feeding Algae Wafers? usually that is why they eat slime coats, they aren't getting enough nutrients...

Answer 4

chinese algae eaters are a bad fish to have, if i was you, i would remove him from the the tank and try to send it back to the pet shop. I would also buy some stress coat as this helps the slime coating to heal. If it is becoming red you must remove the algae eater and if it isn't, then i would remove anyway.

If you are looking for a nice algae eater, a siamese algae eater will most probably get chased by the shark and the shark will be aggressive to it as they are part of the same family. I would advise Otto's (otoclincus) and maybe a bristle nosed plec?

hope that helps :)