FishProfiles.com Message Forums

At one LFS, they were selling a fish for a little less than $4 US. They listed them as algae eating sharks. To me though, they looked like Flying Foxes, so are they exactly the same thing?

Edit: Ah shoot I posted in wrong forum. Can a moderator move please?

algae eatting sharks can be a few things, but if they are flying foxes, i would buy a few.

i bought a SAE for 3.99, but they are great fishes.

As long as they are listed as siamese flying foxes ( SAE )rather than flying foxes proper. Normal flying foxes as oppose to sae's are a bad tempered, not particularly good algae eater and often a pain in the backside in community.
SAE's rock in community though, as long as you remember they are pretty chunky, grow quickly and like company. They are peaceful but they do bomb about a bit, its better not to mix them with tiny fish as they can make them nervous.

Check the scientific name of the fish in question.

If it's Crossocheilus siamensis (which is the fish colloqualliy referred to here as the Siamese Algae Eater or SAE), then this is a top-grade algae eater (and what's more will attack certain varieties of hair algae that other algae eaters won't touch). The only algae I haven't seen them eat is blanket weed style Spirogyra like growths at the top of aquaria, and for those, Florida Flag Fishes are your algae eaters of choice.

SAEs can look aggressive to the casual observer, but upon closer study, they're merely boisterous. Ideally, they like to be in company (a trio is a minimum for happiness, the more, the merrier), and they're sociable with each other in a rough and tumble sort of way. Their intermittent bouts of fast darting activity are likely to be intimidating to some other fish species, but when placed with other fairly robust, sturdy fishes, they settle in happily. However, do NOT mix them with Red Tailed Black Sharks or similar fishes because the SAEs will come off the worst by far in the ensuing territorial battles - the Red Tailed Black Sharks will beat them to a pulp.

If the fish is Epalzeorhynchus kallopterus, then it's nowhere near as good at the job as the SAE, and considerably more aggressive to boot. Hardly surprising when you consider that it's now in the same Genus as the Red Tailed Black Shark and other related fishes after a taxonmic revision (the same taxonomic revision moved the SAE out of the Genus Epalzeorhynchus and moved it to its own Genus, Crossocheilus, in recognition of features that have recently been recognised as distinguishing it from the other true members of Epalzeorhynchus).

Now all of these Cyprinids have underslung mouths with hardened lips adapted for at least a degree of algal grazing, and possess the diagnostic pair of forward pointing barbels that add to the 'shark like' appearance of some of them, but their utility value as algae eaters varies considerably. The SAE is by far the best of the bunch, and in a large aquarium is even better than Otocinclus Catfishes for this (it'll tackle algae species that the Otocinclus won't) but its adult size makes it a proposition either for a larger aquarium, or as in my case, it gets an aquarium more or less to itself with hardly anything else in there (my 3 SAEs and 2 Florida Flag Fish are on their own at the moment).

If you're planning on using SAEs in a community setup, I'd advise (if you're using US measurements) a 55 gallon setup as a baseline, with a 75 being much preferable as it gives you greater stocking options. The only reason mine are in smaller quarters is that the aquarium only houses 5 fish.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I have SAEs in the 5ft tank and they always seem busy and never still. They are extremly peaceful and excellent algae eaters. I also have a small SAE in the 32lt Betta tank he is due to come out as soon as I can find a small SAE to replace him.
The only problem with them as they get older, bigger and fatter they seem to get very lazy and prefer fish food rather than hunt for algae which is their natural food.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW