i was looking in to getting a chinese algea eater , with my pleco (hes gonna stay w/ my fancy guppies for now) w/ my gf are the compatable how big do they get do u know????

Chinese Algae Eater's have been known to wreak havoc with fish,and cause trouble.My CAE,Mr.MaGoo was a pretty Grumpy Fish,and was chasing my Oranda's around the tank constantly& trying to suck on them. Your best bet,if you really want to go with a bottom dwelling fish,is to go for either the Rubberlip,or Bristlenose Pleco's.They are calm/normally peaceful sort of fish that mind their own business.They also stay at a smaller size too.I know we constantly say this,but really,they are your best bet with Goldfish.

uh huh, what Devs said.. Chinese algae eaters are for species tanks only..

I agree. Chinese algae eaters can become very aggressive. Even when small, they can be problematic. If you watch a group of them in a tank with larger fish, you often see them hassling the other fish.

found this out the hard way.

so I guess no cea's huh Im looking into an alge eater that won suck they life outta my gf's helpp

Your best bet would be a bristlenose pleco (ancistrus) or a rubberlip (rubbernose) pleco. Go to this page http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/comfish.html

This is a page of descriptions of compatible fish.

I wouldn't mix a chinese algae eater in with my goldfish. I did that some years ago with some fish I had owned for close to four years and within a few days all of my goldfish had been killed by that thing. I would do what touchofsky said.

This thread is kinda old, but I thought I'd add my two cents. Definately don't add Chinese Algae eaters b/c they are very aggressive. If you really have your heart set on a fish with similar coloration choose the Siamese Algae Eater instead. Here is a picture of one of mine:

One thing to be wary off though, is that CAEs are often confused as SAEs. Here's a good link that will give you info for picking a true SAE at your LFS.