FishProfiles.com Message Forums

That's what I figured. Too good to be true, right?

Well, I'm still left without much of an answer... can my tank handle 2 or 3 SAES? Or would that be too much?

---

Back in the saddle!

Very true Bernard. I didn't know gouramis did eat it but when I put a wafer in there for Petey, my L187b, one day Bruno, blue dwarf gourami, munched it all up b4 it hit the bed. And mollies love the stuff.

Does anyone know about Falawala (stick) cats? I was told they are great for algae control without eating plants.

Also, maybe use a phosphate removing rock in a bag in your filter. I do, and it keeps my phosphates at near nil.

I have had these "blue" mystery snails before (actually have two now since I started plants again) and they don't eat plants. I don't know for certain how good they are at algea control, though.

Pomacea bridgesi perchance???

Only I recall seeing a blue form called P. b. diffusa which can grow pretty big.



Last edited by Calilasseia at 10-Mar-2005 18:05

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

i think you had two diffrent snails. the more common apple snail will devour plants. you need to get the apple snail listed as mystery snails. the mystery snail grows the size of golf balls but apple snails can get very big.

mystery snails good for plants. the common apple snails bad for plants

Hi,

My snails do work hard on taking care of algae, in fact to well, the only problem is the kind of snails, as Bernard mention in a post above, i got a couple of "apple" snails as a recomendation from my "plant guy", well these two worked wonders and where actually nice looking, they had like orange stripes in their body and i didn't mind looking at them after a while. Time passed and i decided that since these two worked fine i got some others so there i go and got 2 more apple snails (from a different store), alomost the same size but noticed that the shell was a little different, same color though, so i just ignored the fact and atributed it to bad nutrition. WRONG!!! the two new ones devoured my plants in no time!!! The almost ate the whole plant population over night]:|

So out they go, and i noticed several different things about them. One, they don't have any orange stripes in their body, they are just plain yellow. Two, the shell is rougher. Three, the original snails have these tendency to commit suicide and actually leave the tank ( i usually found them in the floor by the tank, or my lovely cat uses them as a temporarly ball, and leaves them as a present for me in my pillow), you just thorw them back in and off they go again, the new ones don't do that at all.

Maybe there is someone out there that cant tell the species appart and tell us the real name. The good ones are a precious bet, as algae eaters and not that messy as the others.

Really the key to proper use of algae eaters is having them in from start up.

I totally understand. But then where does that leave those of us who made a mistake or two with fert. dosing and CO2, and are left with ugly black strings growing from the gravel?

---

Back in the saddle!

Well you be amazed at the amount of fish that do eat algae.

As well as the usual suspects the others that will dine out on alage are

Most all livebearer although Mollies are the best.
Pencilfish.
Gouramies.
Rosy Barbs.

There's a few others I can't remember.

Problem is the amount they consume is usually not enough to make a dent in an algae outbreak. But having them in from the start will help keep it in control before it gets a chance to take hold.

Yes Amano shrimp will have a preference for left over fish food. But then almost all "algae eaters" will have the same preference.

Here in Asia the algae eaters of choice are Ottos' combined with Amano shrimp. It seems to work well for most.Snails are also used. Most of the really good plant people use snails and shrimp.

Really the key to proper use of algae eaters is having them in from start up. Most algae eaters keep things under control by consuming the algae as it grows, before you even see it. Even the SAE will avoid old BBA like the plague.



Last edited by bensaf at 10-Mar-2005 00:16

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

algae its pretty much the whole diet of many lake malawi cichlid. and one of the reasons why you cant feed lake malawi high protein diets.

Last edited by aw0l at 10-Mar-2005 06:16

No, petricolas are actually decent algae eaters. It's funny how most people don't equate synos as algae eaters and yet, in nearly all species, algal matter makes up at least a portion of their diets.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 09-Mar-2005 20:27

SAEs aren't, IMO, too big for a 46 gallon. If you're worried about size, get the synodontis sp. "dwarf petricola". They consume nearly as much thread algae as your common amano, plus, they're pretty and stay relatively small (moreso than SAEs).

Really? I wasn't aware that any synodontis ate algae with any regularity... or was that just a knock on ammanos...?

---

Back in the saddle!

SAEs aren't, IMO, too big for a 46 gallon. If you're worried about size, get the synodontis sp. "dwarf petricola". They consume nearly as much thread algae as your common amano, plus, they're pretty and stay relatively small (moreso than SAEs).

i have pretty much everything.

true SAE's are great algae eaters and are shoalers, they really need to be in a school. if alone they tend to be very shy but they do seem to clean and focus more on alagae when alone, then when you have school. they take a year to reach 5-6 inches they are not the fastest growers but they will grow to almost full size with in a year with a high protein diet. i have pretty big school of them about 9 maybe more. and they will eat algae even when they get old, the only thing that will make them stop eating algae is if you feed them anuff, since they will take any other kind of food readily. they will eat any kind of algae with exception, brown flat alage on wood or the small fuzzy alagae thet stays close to the leaves and near the tips/edges of plants. dont keep them with plants like riccia or fragile needle leaf plants they will ripp they to shreads. they are very good at getting in the tight spots of plants, mine range from 4-5 inches, remeber to add a group all at once because if you add a smaller one latter on it seems the group will reject the smaller one until it gets to a resonable size

American flag or floridae killie. a great fish and will eat all types of algae, bad thing is it,s less careful with small plants then the SAE's and will nibble on plant edging. ive seen them eat all kinds of algae they pair off every now and then. they can get territorial but they dont stay in there territoys very long and wander the tank after a few days. they are very nippy, so i dont think the betta will do very well against this fish, keep it with small fin fish. they are opertunistic feeders and will eat small fry if given the chance, when courting happens the male gets really nice red stripes on the body but look like the female on regular occasions. a little less territorial as kribs, but territorial all the same.

mystery snails, great at cleaning glass and eats all the other algae the SAE,s have trouble eating. and leftover food bits. but dont nick you plants like anubias. if they find a small nick before the anubias has had time to harden they will dig a hold through it and make the hold a little larger then its supposed to be. and will eat any dying plant that may or may not recover.

amano shrimp. ive seen them eat all the more common soft algae but they dont seems to get at BBA very much or as happily as SAE's do. AFF will bite at anything that is fluffy. they do get at all the smaller harder get to algae and a constiantly working, unlike the SAE's or AFF.

i cant really say which does a better job, since i have a combination of these fish or inverts in all my tanks. if i get BBA algae i toss it in with the SAE's right before i feed them, when they are hungry, and they will remove all the BBA. and dont know about the AFF since they are slower to react then the SAE's

Last edited by aw0l at 09-Mar-2005 16:40

Thanks Cali

Well that's another thing I have to consider, then - I have a betta and rasboras, both of which are pretty easy going. How big of a tank did you put yours in? And how big are they now?

---

Back in the saddle!

SAEs, known to science as Crossocheilus siamensis, are superlative algae eaters.They are also about the only regularly available aquarium fish that will eat thread algae. The reason I got some in 1999.

However, as for growth rate, mine grew FAST. From tiny juveniles of 1" length to 4" plus in around 6 weeks. They piled on the body mass at a phenomenal rate of knots. You have space in your aquarium for them, so this shouldn't be a problem, but just watch them grow once they get stuck into some serious algae clearance. Mine had a forest of thread algae to feed on back in '99, and utterly nuked it in about a week. Then they started on the green fur growing on the sunlit side of the aquarium. Then they were ... BIG.

They can also get boisterous with each other. Nothing too violent, but if you have quiet fish species in the aquarium, they may be stressed somewhat when the SAEs start playing tag with each other. In my experience, they aren't actually aggressive, but do like a bit of rough and tumble with each other now and again. And when six inch specimens decide to get frisky, that's a fair amount of friskiness to contain in an aquarium



Last edited by Calilasseia at 09-Mar-2005 13:01

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Here's my dilemma: I've been having problems with hair/ thread algae, BBA and staghorn algae. I made some adjustments with CO2 and ferts and that seems to have stopped the stuff from spreading. However, when I remove it from surfaces, it still grows back in the same spot.

I'm thinking that it would be helpful to get some sort of algae eater to keep what's there in check. I know bleaching will stop it from growing back, but it grows mostly from the gravel bed, and I have neither the time nor the energy to bleach all of my gravel. I already have a BN, but she(he?) concentrates on green algaes and won't touch this stuff. From doing research, it seems like true SAEs and Flagfish are the best at removing the stuff. The biggest problem for me is stocking - right now I already have 15 H. rasboras, 4 yo-yos, the BN and a betta in my 46 gallon tank. SAEs almost seem too big to be adding to my tank. I'd go with flagfish, but I've read that they can be aggressive and territorial. Would either of these work for me, or is there any other suggestions? Thanks

---

Back in the saddle!

Neither: both prefer pellets and leftover scraps given half the chance.

AH! Shrimp! I forgot about them

Are they really that good at eating stringy types of algae, though? And what's better, ammanos or those chery shrimp...?

---

Back in the saddle!

Apple / Mystery snails. I 've heard a few reports of these cleaning up BBA very nicely. Falstaff was having similar problems in one of his tanks and an apple snail cleaned it up right quick. You need a male and female for reproduction unlike most snails so they won't take over the tank. They are big and colorful so an interesting addition.

Or the hair algae get some shrimp. Amano shrimp if you can find them. They do a great job. You can chuck a pile of them in with very little impact on your bio load.


Last edited by bensaf at 08-Mar-2005 20:38

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Thanks curvice. That's my problem. I'm not sure I have enough space for 2 SAEs in my tank, and I hear flagfish can be aggressive, especially towards slower fish, like bettas (which I have). Argh.

---

Back in the saddle!