Do small Siamese algae eater eat black beard algae?

[Andres391]

Do small Siamese algae eater eat black beard algae or just the bigger ones,

 

[mattgirl]

Mine was about 3/4 inch long when I first got him. He went right to work on it.

 

[kallililly1973]

Just when their small. Get them around 1/2-3/4” they will get to a good size n become lazier and just go for the foods you feed your other fish. Their not picky

 

[Mapleleaf]

I bought 3 last week. They seem to be very happy swimming with a school of tetras and staying away from any kind of algae. Lol

 

[MacZ]

They are definitely not a solution to an algae problem.

 

[Mapleleaf]

I am with you on that one. I don’t have a lot of algae. I bought them just in case. I found out in my case that strong light was the main cause of algae blooms. So I cut down the intensity and reduced blue light considerably.

 

[mattgirl]

They are definitely not a solution to an algae problem.

They were the only lasting solution to the black beard algae in my tank.

I bought 3 last week. They seem to be very happy swimming with a school of tetras and staying away from any kind of algae. Lol

Are you 100% sure what you got are true SAE's? There are some lookalikes and are sold as Siamese Algae Eaters when in fact they are not. Sam immediately went to work on the BBA in my tank and although he is grown now I still see him going after any little bit he finds.

 

[Mapleleaf]

They were the only lasting solution to the black beard algae in my tank.


Are you 100% sure what you got are true SAE's? There are some lookalikes and are sold as Siamese Algae Eaters when in fact they are not. Sam immediately went to work on the BBA in my tank and although he is grown now I still see him going after any little bit he finds.

This is what the fish store sold me. But I am having my doubts. I understand that there is another fiish, flying fox, which looks like the SAEs.

 

[mattgirl]

This is what the fish store sold me. But I am having my doubts. I understand that there is another fiish, flying fox, which looks like the SAEs.

A true SAE will have a black line running from tip of nose straight along its body and through the center of its tail fin. All of its fins will be clear. If you see any color on any of its fins it is not a SAE. They won't have a sucker type mouth either. I have seen some lookalikes that have a touch of black in the dorsal fin. If you see that it isn't a true SAE.

Quite often Chinese algae eaters are sold as Siamese algae eaters. The former get big and can turn into the bullies of the tank.

 

[Mapleleaf]

A true SAE will have a black line running from tip of nose straight along its body and through the center of its tail fin. All of its fins will be clear. If you see any color on any of its fins it is not a SAE. They won't have a sucker type mouth either. I have seen some lookalikes that have a touch of black in the dorsal fin. If you see that it isn't a true SAE.

Quite often Chinese algae eaters are sold as Siamese algae eaters. The former get big and can turn into the bullies of the tank.

Based on your description, they are SAEs. May be they are just not hungry enough since they nibble on the flakes I give the tetras. Time will tell. In the mean time they are nice to watch.

 

[mattgirl]

Your tank doesn't look like it has an algae problem. I am not seeing any BBA at all. I agree though. They are fun to watch. They should love this tank. Sam is curious about me. When he first sees me he darts away but if I stand there he soon comes to me. It seems he is trying to figure out what I am. He stays in one place and just watches me. As soon as I walk away he goes back to grazing.

 

[Mapleleaf]

They finally started grazing on the hair algae. I also started feeding my other fish once a day only instead of twice. My guess is that that you have to keep the SAEs hungry. I seem to have a lot more hair algae now on the anubias and java ferns so I might buy a few more SAEs.

 

[Andres391]

I have a 20 gallon tank and I only have one it does pick sum off but prefers not to and once I feed the fish which are nano fish he torpedoes all of them trying to take over the feeding ring so I returned him unfortunately amano shrimps will pick some off as well. I found out that you can just trim the leaves before it gets out of control or if all over plant just pull plant out and brush hydroperoxide wait 20 seconds place it back in tank after 24 hour the bba turns red and the amanos can eat this so much easier.