Old Post - SAEs

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Richer

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Aug 7, 2002
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Edmonton, AB
Tempest


Posts: 469
From: Wichita, Ks, USA
Registered: Jun 2002
posted October 14, 2002 11:23 AM IP: Logged


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Siamese Algae Eaters are evidently *inseason* right now. From what I understand from some posts on Aquabotanic, they are collected this time of the year. I got some quite cheap at PetSmart over the weekend. You have to pick through what they call Siamese Flying Foxes to find the SAE's. I guess they get more than one species in the collection.


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GulfCoastAquarian


Posts: 250
From: Gulfport, MS
Registered: Feb 2002
posted October 14, 2002 02:35 PM IP: Logged


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I wish my local PetSmart even KNEW what Siamese Algae Eaters were! They insist I am mistaken and actually want Chinese Algae Eaters. Argh!!
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-Sam
55gal planted tank ~ 190W PC/NO lighting, Fluval 403 can, DIY CO2, Flourite Substrate, Yamato Green
20g Marine Tank~ 64w ODNO lights, 4" DSB, 20lbs Fiji LR, 20gal DSB/scrubber
My Website



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29gallonsteve


Posts: 562
From: Wilmington, DE, USA
Registered: May 2002
posted October 14, 2002 02:58 PM IP: Logged


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When all else fails...use the latin Genus/Species to confirm with those "big pet stores"...
Here is an interesting article on telling the difference between the different "-AE's"
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html



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spankey


Posts: 288
From: boyertown,pa
Registered: Dec 2001
posted October 14, 2002 03:28 PM IP: Logged


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Same thing here. I go into stores and ask for SAE's and they direct me to CAE's. The CAE's only suck on objects like glass and the flat's of leaves. They do NOT eat strands of algae as most of us wish they would. The CAE's are everywhere... The SAE's are not for me...
When I find a tank that looks like SAE's they all turn out to be flying foxes... Arggg here too...

I have a petco about 25 miles from my house and they have NO idea what SAE is. I go to another store that is about 50 miles away and they claim when they do get them in, they go just as fast as they come.. So I always miss out...

Someone needs to start breeding these things for us and us ALONE!! LOL

Spankey



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Richer
Moderator


Posts: 824
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: Aug 2002
posted October 14, 2002 03:48 PM IP: Logged


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time to start searching for a smaller (yet not too small) fish store... i found one here a few months ago... and this guy knows his stuff. a few weeks ago, he brought in a shipment of at least 50 SAEs, needless to say, i bought a few of em
-Richer



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Tempest


Posts: 469
From: Wichita, Ks, USA
Registered: Jun 2002
posted October 14, 2002 06:39 PM IP: Logged


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The article Steve pointed out was what I used to decide which fish to get. I had read there were sometimes problems even then id'ing the species because if the false SAEs were stressed they would sometimes not show the color in the fins. I took the chance though anyway and am glad I did.. These are really small specimens but they are happily attacking hair algae in my aquarium. They actually had both chinese algae eaters and another small prettier related species in the tank with red fins. I actually wish I had bought a couple more of them but I'm still not really sure how big they will get eventually. Some places say 2 and a half inches and others say from 4 to 6 inches.


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jafo


Posts: 142
From: Johnson City, TN. USA
Registered: Oct 2002
posted October 14, 2002 08:54 PM IP: Logged


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You might want to do a little investigating on those Petsmart SAEs. Their local store here does carry Siamese Flying Foxes but they are not True SAEs! Check this page to help identify what you bought http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html . I'm not saying you didn't get what you think but it never hurt to find out for sure. I do hope I'm wrong this time.


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Tempest


Posts: 469
From: Wichita, Ks, USA
Registered: Jun 2002
posted October 14, 2002 09:06 PM IP: Logged


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They had the other sort too. The ones I picked out meet all the criteria in that article and some other ones too. I presumed the ones with the red fins were the actual ones they figgered were Flying Foxes and the chinese ones in there look altogether different.
The ones I got have a slender body and are about a cm longer than my Otos right now.. The center black line extends all the way to the end of the tail fin. The line is slightly narrower in the fin area. All fins are transparent. NO sucker mouth. One set of barbels. They plump up on their fins at rest. The top part of their body looks sorta grayish/tannish, scales have black edges, bellies are light. They have been attacking the hair algae pretty steadily but so far have ignored the flakes for the other fish. My Otos do too for that matter.



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DIYMatt


Posts: 71
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Oct 2001
posted October 15, 2002 10:28 AM IP: Logged


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I found some SAE's at my local Petsmart for cheap $1.99. In fact they still had some yesterday. They were marked Siamese Flying Foxes. But, all of the fish in the tank looked all the other SAE's I've had before, so I'm positive there SAE's. I've had them for about two weeks now and they have a disturbing habit of engulfing the food for the other fish(bbs, adult brine, flake etc.) to the point their bellies bulge. They've grown about 50% larger already. I got them because my old SAE's got to big for my liking(4"+). The old ones made me forget I ever had algae. These new ones don't seem to be touching the small but increasing Black Beard Algae, or the few strands of hair algae I have. I don't know why, but thats what I get for buying fish at Petsmart.
They also had 6 threadfin Rainbow Feamles that I gladly snapped to go with the four males I have. They have put on quite display for the females. Great fish! I hope they are no worse for their stay at Petsmart.



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Bremer


Posts: 193
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Oct 2000
posted October 15, 2002 11:28 AM IP: Logged


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SAE's are lazy. They won't eat algae if "better" food is available. Try not feeding your fish for a few days. If the SAE's want to eat, they will have to eat the algae.


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Tempest


Posts: 469
From: Wichita, Ks, USA
Registered: Jun 2002
posted October 15, 2002 02:23 PM IP: Logged


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That sounds like the trouble I had with mollies. Forget algae. Of course, my mollies are domestic bred from my own tank so they *expect* to be fed gourmet.


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jafo


Posts: 142
From: Johnson City, TN. USA
Registered: Oct 2002
posted October 15, 2002 06:39 PM IP: Logged


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I can't call my SAEs lazy as they are constantly cleaning alage from the plants and anywhere else they find it. They do eat flakes but algae is definitely on their menu.


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80gJoe


Posts: 582
From: Orlando, FL USA
Registered: Jul 2002
posted October 15, 2002 07:09 PM IP: Logged


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Here's a couple 'real pictures' I found on the
SAE's....
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/saephotos.html


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Tempest


Posts: 469
From: Wichita, Ks, USA
Registered: Jun 2002
posted October 16, 2002 06:08 AM IP: Logged


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Good pics. Yeap, I got the right ones. It's too bad that some of the larger stores don't even know what they are but I would imagine a good part of the problem lies in the supplier of the fish who send them the mixed species *bag* of fish instead of properly sorting them out.
By the way, those pics weren't the only thing that told me I had the right ones. I had done a lot of reading before I even went in to look for them after reading on the Aquabotanic forum that several others had found them that way.
 

Richer

AC Members
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A post on how to tell the difference between SAEs seems pretty useful, especially for plant newbies. I'll leave this up as a sticky for a bit, then archive it.. unless they're objections =)

-Richer
 
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