[scada57]

I bought these at the weekend - they were marked 'Thai Flying Foxes' in the LFS, but the store told me they were SAE, and looking at every photo I can find online they look like it to me...

But...they don't seem to be eating much algae! They do occasionally browse on the lower level grasses, but don't seem interested in the algae adorning my foxtails and other more delicate foilage.

-Steve

 

[kid creole]

I say yes.

 

[markstanfill88]

I second that. Seems that the black stripe on the real ones extends thru the tail fin. And it seems SAEs are opportunisic feeders, if you want them to eat on algae then starve them a bit. Otherwise they will chow on flakes, bloodworms, whatever you feed the other fish.

 

[scada57]

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll keep an eye on them and see if they start doing what I bought them for !

-Steve

 

[kid creole]

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll keep an eye on them and see if they start doing what I bought them for !

-Steve

I had what I thought were real ones, and they didn't do squat once they were about 3". I will say that there are some differentiations among SAE leading me to think that are different types. I had 3 SAEs, 2 of which were bought separate from the other, but there were slight color differences. It was nothing like the difference between SAE and CAE or Flying Foxes, but enough that you knew they were different. These differences make me think there is more than one kind of SAE, and some may prefer algae more than others. I never witnessed the behavior that make people gush over the SAE.

 

[plaakapong]

Looks like this one.
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Crossocheilus&species=atrilimes&id=1323

 

[ZooTycoonMaster]

This is an image description of true SAE's.

 

[kid creole]

Here's a good link I found as a result of the link posted above by plaakapong.

http://math.muni.cz/~niederle/tabulka.html

Here you can see 3 (I think) different species with the coloration and barbells. My limited reading indicates that the species siamensis is either non-existent or very difficult to obtain. Based on the satisfaction from many posters on SAEs, I tend to think that some of the similar species are effective algae eaters and some are not.

SAEs are really hit or miss. I've found that while they won't eat the brush algae, nerites are my new favorite algae eating critter.

 

[mistergreen]

YEah, a lot of people in the end claim they don't really eat all that much algae especially when they're older. And there are so many variety of algae too. No fish eat all of them. Just certain types.

I hear the next new hot fish that eat algae are the Garra sp. and sumatran neon gobies.

 

[pinkertd]

Ii is correct, the true siamensis isn't found in the US. And some of the closely related species do not eat any algae, while some of them will eat your moss down to nothing. The species you want is the langei; they are the ones who do eat algae and will not eat moss. They can be easily recognized by the dark spot on their vent. When they're belly up to the glass, take a look. It's quite readily seen even in very young langei. In addition to algae, they are omnivores and will eat regular food too. Mine eat bloodworms, crushed snails, zuchinni and all of the pellets I drop in for the bottom feeders. I seem to have gotten a male and a female and they are inseparable most of the time and quite often observed to be endearing toward each other. Mine are only around 4" so they still have some growing to do. And like all growing young fish, they are always hungry. I'm curious to see if they are less hugry once they reach maturity.

 

[blackandyellow]

Do they have sucker mouths? They are not SAEs in my opinion, SAEs have sucker mouths and swim like plecos, stuck on glass and rocks and climbing with their mouths.

Those fish look like the swim like regular fish, like flying foxes

 

[pinkertd]

None of the SAE's have sucker mouths nor do they swim like a pleco. I think the chinese algae eater has a sucker mouth. Blackandyellow...do you have a picture of your fish?

 

[blackandyellow]

You are right, I was confusing the siamese with the chinese... I don´t have algae eaters (I´ve had them before and they are nasty fish, aggressive). the chinese is the one that grows to a foot in lenght and attacks everyone

 

[pinkertd]

Yes, the chinese algae eaters never eat algae and are very nasty fish. I cannot figure out why every pet store sell them!

 

[ezcry4t3d]

This is an image description of true SAE's.

I have to say that if this image is accurate, there's no way that scada57's fish are SAEs. The ones in the original picture have no dark banding on the edges of their scales and have no barbels as far as I can tell.

 

[pinkertd]

Here's is some information I put together a while ago for another forum I belong to in an effort to help people get the correct type of SAE. It is by far the most descriptive information on SAE's that I've ever run across:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192330

 

[wendyjo]

Ihave SAE's and I'd say that yours are too.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Those are SAEs. There's no coloration to the fins, the band goes through the tail, all the other little hallmarks are there.

Tommy

 

[solchitlins]

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fw&1384798255

sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead but what about these:

are these the great planted community , peaceful black beard algae eating friends I seek or nasty Chinese slime coat sucking enemies?

 

[stealthypotatoes]

look at the bottom of the sae and look for a black spot or a black dash