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Earlier today I bought a pair of Florida Flag Fish, Jordanella floridae, for the algae ridden second aquarium. And, the purchase has had quite a dramatic effect.

First of all, my SAEs were somewhat shy, even after I made them a group. If I approached the aquarium except with special care, they would all scatter behind the bogwood out of sight, and determining if all three were still alive amidst my underwater jungle was a work of art. Now, with the Flag Fish in place, the SAEs are MUCH bolder and more outgoing than ever before.

The reason I cite for this is as follows: the SAEs rely upon fishes in upper water layers to warn them of danger from above (in the wild, this would take the form of fish eating birds), and while there are fishes happily swimming above them, they consider the coast to be clear. While they were on their own in the aquarium, they were wary because they had no signal to tell them that it was safe to come out more often, and so they erred on the side of caution. Now, with the Flag Fishes confidently swimming in the upper layers and showing no sign of fear whatsoever, the SAEs are out and about, exploring their world with an inquisitiveness that they were less inclined to display beforehand.

The Flag Fish have also been tucking into the dreaded filamentous algae with a vengeance, if the string of poop that the male has just ejected is any indication!

Right from the moment the Flag Fishes were introduced, they were swimming about, exploring here and there, nosing into the Java Ferns and pretty soon, once they realised that there was real algae for them to munch upon, they started tucking in fine style. Right now they're just hovering about a bit because I think they're full to burping!

So, a tip for people looking to use SAEs to get to work in their aquaria is this - provide them with something that's active in the upper layers to act as a 'mine canary' warning them of danger from above, and as long as those top swimmers are active and showing no signs of heading for cover, the SAEs wil also be out and about busying themselves munching algae hither and thither.

Meanwhile, the Flag Fish have just decided that it's time to resume grazing. Ah, happy fish, that's what I like to see.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

enjoy the FFF from my experience with them you should have another female 2to 1 ratio. If you have java moss the will bread in it, mine use duckweed.

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

Oh, I have a FOREST of Java Moss for them to use if they feel like breeding ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002