55 Gallon Tank Keep CAE or give him/her away?

I have one CAE, probably about 3 1/2" tip to tail. I've had him for most of a year in a cramped 10 gallon with a bunch of other tropicals (snails, danios, 2 mollies and just recently a pearl gourami)

I've moved all the other tropicals over to a . The CAE, I left in the 10 gallon until I decide his fate. He's going bonkers in there right now; I think being the lone fish is stressing him out.

My two choices are to give him to the LFS or to put him in the community tank. Once he goes into the community tank, I'd have to destroy the aquascaping to get him back out, so this is a permanent decision.

From reading here, it sounds like he's going to cause problems for my other fish at some point or another, so I'm leaning towards bringing him to the LFS. I only hesitate because he's my fish, and has always seemed friendly.

I do see it says "up to 11 inches" on the fishlore profile. Is that for real? If so, then I'll definitely need to move him along, as I can't support a foot long fish in that tank.

Anyone want to weigh in one way or the other before I decide?

Pete

 

11 inches is most definitely possible. If he isn't bothering your other fish right now, he shouldn't start as long as he is amply fed and has at least two good hidey holes. As he gets older he will prefer meatier fods. I use the bottom feeder tablets that are designed for cory cats. I have one cae in my pond and my other two cae's went to my sister's pond. She saw one of them the other day and says it is a good 10 inches right now. I saw the one in my pond this afternoon when I was adding water (evaporation, you know) and mine looks to be a good 8-9 inches right now. Still does not bother my goldfish or the two plecos I have in there.

 

I've had my CAE for 6or 7 months now and he's about the same size as yours, Pete, maybe a little bigger. Despite the warnings read here, I haven't had any trouble with mine. I also have a RTS and she chases the CAE, maybe keeping him in line? I keep a pretty good eye on him, if there's ever any trouble I'll take him to the LFS. I like him and he does a wonderful job keeping my tank clean, but my silver dollars are my babies and I wouldnt tolerate any aggressiveness towards them!

 

Maybe I'll put in another small cave or two (tubes in the back) to make sure I have enough hiding spaces for the CAE, and then put him in there.

As an aside, now that he's the only fish in that 10g, the pond snails have absolutely taken over. I wonder who was keeping them in check before? None of the other fish were bottom feeders, so I doubt it was a food competition thing.

Pete

 

Hello Pete
I have one CAE right now. He is a good 4 inches. I have had him for quite a while and had no problems. If you do plan on keeping him I would suggest you get him lots of hiding spots because they tend to be territorial on more than 3 caves. My AL ( that's his name) isn't agressive... then again he's with a convict so I think they both settle eachother out lol. If you do plan on keeping him make sure you vary his diet a lot so he doesn't get tempted to snack on his tankmates. I have heard they grow large, so I will eventually have to take him from my tank.

ps. I know how you feel about the whole aquascape thing, whenever I need to get him out I have to destryo the whole tank, and then its another 5 mins trying to catch him..

 

They are buggers to catch. Two people and four nets...and in a bare tank...and it still took a while to catch them when I was putting them back outside. Even then, One of them jumped out of the tank and flipped halfway across the room (tile floor) before my sister caught it. And that was with the water only 4 inches deep...

 

I wanted one I thought they were small fish so I could keep it in my tank for a long time to clean algea. Now I know, I think you shouldn't if it requires so much trouble.

 

I keep waffling on this one. *groan*

 

its a tough desicion... I know... I'm the same as you are at this point...

 

I hopefully won't make decisions such as that one with fish I have had for a long time.

 

@Time Keeper

Hopefully not, but sometimes it's better for the fish.

For example, hopefully I'll keep upgrading my other 55 gallon here so the plecos don't outgrow their tank. If I can't, though, I'll need to bring them to the LFS to be fair to the fish.

Pete

 

Hahahah I wish I could do that with my pleco but all the saltwater stuff left me with 11 cents.

 

Brought the CAE to the LFS today and turned him over. Different store than I got him from - a reputable one instead of the chain. Even with a completely empty 10 gallon tank and two nets, he was a bugger to catch gently. I put him in a gallon ziplock bag with water, and then into a small box closed to the light.

Hopefully whoever gets him next will be told of their behavior and size. Although, if they were, I'm not sure any store would ever sell any. They don't seem to be a good choice for any particular type of tank except maybe an all invert tank or a pond.

Pete

 

Good job
I'm taking my CAE to the LFS tomorrow. It wasn't so hard to catch him though. He usually makes me remove everything but not this time. I managed to put the net infront of him and he swam into it lol
I guess I had good luck lol

you should consider raphaels, they are AWESOME! that's what I'm trading my CAE for

 

I think I'll keep my cae. It's quite the character, cruising around in the shadow of the goldfish to stay out of the sun...sucking algae off the stems of the lilies...scouring the rocks and the sides of the pond...being a good little fishie.

 

@gremlin

I would imagine that a CAE (like a common pleco) would do quite well in a pond. Neither strike me as proper aquarium fish, though, and I wish the pet stores would stop selling them as maintenance fish for smaller tanks.

 

I agree. They need to pay more attention to the adult size and requirements of fish. There are a lot of fish that are sold for smaller tanks that really do need larger tanks. Goldfish, common plecos, cae's, oscars, are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head...

 

I've also seen sharks and red tailed catfish for sale in stores. The latter gets to be something like 4'-5' long and live 20-30 years. They're awfully cute at 3" though



Pete

 

I agree. They need to pay more attention to the adult size and requirements of fish. There are a lot of fish that are sold for smaller tanks that really do need larger tanks. Goldfish, common plecos, cae's, oscars, are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head...

Great examples-I have to add bala sharks to your list, though, simply because every time I see them I want one, but THANK GOODNESS for Fishlore, otherwise I wouldn't know that they're not a good idea.