Food, and Girls...

I guess Kyle got a bit of a show 2 nights ago.

He awoke on the verge of tears to tell Jen one of his fish had killed another.

The Notorious CAE (Chinese Algae Eater) lived up to it's reputation...

Several years ago, we were starting the 80 gallon tank for the first time. And, it being in the front room, with plenty of sun, Algae was going to be an issue. But, I had this brilliant plan to deal with it: Only buying fish that EAT algae.

The Mbuna Cichlids would peck at things just fine, but to clean the glass, we needed a sucker fish. Enter the CAE. We bought several of the 'Golden' variety. The bad temperment they are known for as adults wasn't a concern with Cichlids. The Cichlids were MORE than capable of defending themselves.

Well, in the mean time, Kyles tank served as a maternity ward for 'pregnant' cichlids, and the fry. As such, he really had a bare minimum of fish. But, we threw one of the CAE's in his tank for good measure to keep it clean.

THAT...was a long time ago..

When we took down the 80 gallon tank to redo the floors, we dumped a second CAE in his tank just in case I went the Mbuna route again. And, they've lived happily for 2 years. Munching on the abundant Algae happily. Alone...

Last week, however, we uprooted their world.

Alec wanted HIS tank working. (NEVER buy a 10 gallon tank, it's been nothing but trouble) And, I got this bright idea we'ld empty Alecs tank completely, START OVER. Use some of the leftover gravel from the old 80 gallon tank, clean the crap out of Kyle's, and fill Alec's with the dirty, pre-cycled water we cleaned out of Kyle's.

This ensured Alec was starting with a nice, cycled system. HOPEFULLY enough to prevent the 10 gallon death trap syndrome.

Now...we haven't fed Kyle's cleaners in 2 years, remember. They've just been eating the naturally growing Algae. But, a week ago, we stirred all that gravel up, we scrubbed down the walls, and we ripped out the decorations.

I didn't think about it at the time...but we ripped out their food sources...

As I've mentioned before...

Food and girls are the typical sources of fish aggression.

Lack of food, and yep, they beat the holy crap out of anything.

I wouldn't hesitate to get another CAE. Yes, they get a little grumpy when they're hungry, but hey, who doesnt?

In the mean time, Kyle's learning the law of the Jungle. Yes, the smaller one died...yes, that's the one that's always been "his", and "it was just a kid".

Blame dad. I forgot about food and girls...