flying fox

3203 Views 15 Replies 13 Participants Last post by mistergreen, Dec 23, 2007

cmchap

Discussion Starter · Dec 19, 2007

I have a bit of a bba problem in a planted (pressurized CO2) 55g tank. So I figured I should pick up a few Siamese algae eaters. I bought 3 fish. They were labeled Flying Fox. I asked the LFS if Flying Fox was the same as Siamese algae eaters and was told yes. Now as I surf the web, I see they are not. Anyone have any experience with these fish. They are very active right now and are doing some clean up, but I worry about what the eventual outcome might be.

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oblongshrimp

· #2 · Dec 19, 2007

as far as I know true SAE's are the only thing that will eat bba. Have you looked online to see which one you actually have? They are often mislabeled and you could have actually bought SAE's.

neilfishguy

· #3 · Dec 20, 2007

my flying fox eat BBA

dthb4438

· #4 · Dec 20, 2007

I have two of each from what I have investigated and they both eat algae. If you have a somewhat large algae problem, don't feed them much or not at all and the algae will disappear quickly. I had a similar issue with my LFS and the same comment that they were the same.........I understand that the Chinese algae eater can be a big mean sometimes, so don't go get one of those. All of the hair algae was gone in my 29 in about 10 days or so. Just give them a chance.:redface:

fishscale

· #5 · Dec 20, 2007

SAE's eat shrimp, right?

mistergreen

· #6 · Dec 20, 2007

my FF seems to graze on brown & fuzz algae.
And they are territorial btw.. they'll chase down certain fish and other FF. They seem to do better aggression wise in a large tank (100+G).

neilfishguy

· #7 · Dec 20, 2007

MY ff just keeps everyone out of his cave. he never hurts anything though

BiscuitSlayer

· #8 · Dec 20, 2007

Telling the differences between the two is actually pretty easy. One of the easiest ways is where the black meets the other color on the side of the fish. If the line is sharp and not broken at all then it is a flying fox. If it sort of blends to make a line that isn't that sharp then it is a SAE.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/saes.htm

If I am not mistaken, only the SAE has the set of barbels by the mouth. (I might be mistaken though).

pgtanks

· #9 · Dec 20, 2007

My 10 gallon was infested with BBa and one true SAE cleared it up pretty darn quick. Petcetera, where i got them had them labeled as flying fox but I did a little research before hand and could tell the difference quite easily.
The Krib has a lot of good resources like:

http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

rasetsu

· #10 · Dec 20, 2007

Both FF and SAEs have the small barbels. They are both in the carp family. Neither eat shrimp, but FFs are territorial...actually not so much territorial, just a little aggressive. I have one FF and it will shoo away the SAEs where ever it may be sometimes.

oblongshrimp

· #11 · Dec 20, 2007

Here are some pics of one of mine. He wasn't all that photogenic and decided to turn into the camera at the last second. I think an SAE would eat at least smaller shrimp and wouldn't be surprised if a big one will go after larger shrimp

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Urkevitz

· #12 · Dec 21, 2007

I never had an SAE go after shrimp, but they loved to destroy my moss.

GIO590

· #13 · Dec 21, 2007

Do real SAE and FF have a sucker mouth? My LFS has flying foxes and chinese algae eaters, but I suspect the chinese algae eaters my be mislabeled.

JennysPlanties

· #14 · Dec 21, 2007

My two SAEs were labeled as Siamese Flying Foxes. I too did some research before I bought them and knew how to tell if they were true SAEs.

Mine do a great job cleaning up algae, and have gotten HUGE. They don't mess with my other fish or my shrimp.

crazy loaches

· #15 · Dec 23, 2007

The SAE's I bought were labeled Epalzeorhynchus kalopterus at the lfs tank which is a Flying Fox but they were actually true SAE's (and they are now correctly labeled). Well not positive actually, I know they are not flying fox but they might be another variant since many say one distinguishing feature is the SAE have clear fins. I thought mine were clear at least at first, but now they seem to have a very yellow cast to the fins, especially when hit by the light just so. All other features are indicitave of an SAE. Although not apparent in the pic, they have 1 set of barbels. This pic actually caught my oddball one also, who has a mostly silver head, not sure if that means anything.

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mistergreen

· #16 · Dec 23, 2007

What you have there is a SAE

this is a true FF.

notice the fins & an iridescent light line above the black line too. You can also tell from the behavior.

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