Is This A Real Sae? (PICS)

[Natty]

Originally Posted by BiscuitSlayer

Gotcha... I think you have two SAE's then.

So 2 ppl say SAE, 2 say flying foxes......

So...any more votes on this?

[Good Wolf]

To answer your question regarding them eating algae, yes they do. My brother has a 225g that is heavliy planted. He had quite he algae bloom and within a week of getting three SAE it had cleared up. They are little work horses.

[Natty]

Originally Posted by Good Wolf

To answer your question regarding them eating algae, yes they do. My brother has a 225g that is heavliy planted. He had quite he algae bloom and within a week of getting three SAE it had cleared up. They are little work horses.

Well, my biggest question was if they were true saes or flying foxes based on the pictures.

[sick lid]

My guess is also true sae, also due to the fact that the black line has zig-zag edges, ie the scales themselves are all black, not a line through the middle, and the clear fins, FF have yellower fins, the black going to the end of the tail. Do the scales on the back of the fish have a sort of darker outline on them? Notice the 'cross-hatch' look on the scales above the black line...
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com..._siamensis.htm

[jphan]

looks kinda like a flying fox lol i threw 5 of them into the display tank at my work and they cleaned off all the hair algae in the tank

[Natty]

Originally Posted by sick lid

My guess is also true sae, also due to the fact that the black line has zig-zag edges, ie the scales themselves are all black, not a line through the middle, and the clear fins, FF have yellower fins, the black going to the end of the tail. Do the scales on the back of the fish have a sort of darker outline on them? Notice the 'cross-hatch' look on the scales above the black line...
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com..._siamensis.htm

Looks white to me. I don't really see an outline. I'll look more tomorrow. I might even capture one and put it in a bag and take a picture.

I know for a fact its not a false SAE, so it's either a flying fox or a sae.

[DiscusIt'sWhats4DinneR]

they ARE both SAE.

i have both. flying fox has a very obvious black stripe across it's back.

[Natty]

Originally Posted by DiscusIt'sWhats4DinneR

they ARE both SAE.

i have both. flying fox has a very obvious black stripe across it's back.

Weird how these two were actually sold as flying foxes. Does this mean they're wrong?

EDIT

Now that I look at it, flying foxes have a big black band going down from the top middle of its body and has a white band seperating the the top middle band and the band from its eye to tail.

Picture Of Flying Fox

A true SAE has a black middle band, the bottom part of its body is white/silverish and the top part above the middle band is all gold or grayish.
http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/sae-photo.jpg
or
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leyliagray/2415255049/

False Saes are easy to tell because their band ends exactly near their tail area.

[Good Wolf]

Originally Posted by Natty

Well, my biggest question was if they were true saes or flying foxes based on the pictures.

Well I guess I answered you smallest question then.

jphan says that the fox clean up the tanks as well so either way your algae should be consumed.

[DiscusIt'sWhats4DinneR]

Originally Posted by Natty

Weird how these two were actually sold as flying foxes. Does this mean they're wrong?

they look very similar.
your lfs mislabeled them. you need to know what to look for to see the difference, and dont forget that to most people really dont know much at all about fish. they go to the store and buy anything that looks cool and toss it in a 10 gallon tank with a spoonful of aquarium salt and plastic plants with blue substrate. the name siamese algae eater probably sounds a lot less appealing to them than "flying fox."

either they just didn't know or they consciously labeled it something else to make it sound more appealing.

[dapellegrini]

I have had both - those are SAE. Extremely overrated if you ask me. the first batch I got were mislabeled as flying fox at PetCo

[Natty]

Wow I learn so much from being here

Are there any objections that these are true SAEs from anyone? So far I'm 90% sure.

It's images like these CLICK
that get me confused. That looks like a real SAE but they keep listing it as flying foxes....wtf?


Oh yeah, I have these weird algae and I think they're BBA, will the SAE's eat those? Which algae do SAE's and plecos not eat?

[dapellegrini]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fi...deal-saes.html

[dapellegrini]

there are many folks out there that don't know what they are talking about. that photo is a little weird, but they also look like SAE. There are MANY similar species, not just two, but true SAE are pretty easy to ID once you have an eye for them...

here is another link - scroll down:

http://www.azgardens.com/algae_eating_others.php

[BiscuitSlayer]

Originally Posted by Natty

EDIT

Now that I look at it, flying foxes have a big black band going down from the top middle of its body and has a white band seperating the the top middle band and the band from its eye to tail.

Picture Of Flying Fox

I don't think thats a picture of a flying fox natty. I think that might be a false sae or some other fish. The black stripe doesn't continue all the way through the tailfin. LOL

Just goes to show you that you have to be careful where you draw your information from on the Internet.


I think dapellegrini's picture is a great one and it describes some of the differences perfectly.

I would still like to know about the barbel difference if anyone knows. SAEs have one pair? and flying foxes (or some other look alike) has two?