Siamese Algae Eaters decimating my plants :(

[oceanix2004]

Hey guys,

my seemingly harmless SAEs are wreaking havoc on my plants, my red lilies are shredded as are my cabombas, hyacinths, all my moss growth is GONE :(( so I am going to remove them from my discus planted setup. Do you guys know of any alternative fish that wont go through all my exotic mosses and plants, but will still clean the algae??? BN plecos were suggested but i know they get aggressive when full sized so please suggest a few

[caffers0]

First of all are they true SAEs or are they flying foxes. Their decimating plants is odd behaviour. In any event I'd rehouse them in favour of some ottocinlus or some bristlenoses, in my experience they don't really get that aggressive. I suspect the ottos will do the job for you.

[camuth8]

Otocinclus clean up a tank pretty well.
It doesn't seem like SAE would do that, though. Have you seen them in action? Or do you have poor water quality and not the right plant chemicals in the tank?

[caffers0]

Totally agree SAE just don't strip plants. I'm surprised you're mosses have done well as most don't like the high temperature of a discus setup. Have you changed anything lately like carbon dosing or altered Ph?

[oceanix2004]

Hey guys..tank temp is a constant 30 degree C. And yes theyre SAEs..i know its very odd..theyve had phenomenal growth rate as well thanks to the varied foods i feed my fish..got them when they were 1 inch on the 7th of May and theyre touching 3 inches now..this behaviour started week before last when i got my water hyacinths..The roots were shot in a week flat and I was initially thinking cories but no they never touch the plants..I moved my workstation to the room with my tank so id have more time watching them and there they were having a royal go at my red lilies, the mosses, cabombas etc. all my plants except my anubias..theyre SAEs and not CAEs or flying foxes because of the slightly jagged stripe sunning all the way to the tail and then fading, larger suckers than CAEs..done a fair bit of research..i let them stay for a while thinking the wierd behaviour would pass but na they just got worse so yesterday i took them out of the discus setup..@ Caffers, na no changes, i dont use meds in my tank..just a bi weekly tank clean and weekly cleaning of the microfibre in my filter1st stage..never touch the 3 bio media stages. I have a DIY 5 stage filtration system and it has worked wonders for me..no separate UVs in the sump either..water stays between 6.9 and 7.1 at all times nitrites, nitrates, ammonia 0 at all times. I had a bit of a hangup with BNPs before as as adults they tend to get very territorial and though they dont bother the discus much, they definitely spook them when theyre having a bout..never kept ottos so not really sure but if you guys suggest a bnp, I wouldnt mind. Heres my tank. http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx57/vittal/c53073c9-e737-4304-8e29-533f28d8a887.jpg

[Spyke]

Without watching the SAE myself, or by knowing your parameters I can tell you one thing for certain. Most plants that you described; lilies, and cabomba, will not do well with the substrate you have. First, it is too thin, they cant root that well. And sometimes, both plants even if they dowelling for a while will all of a sudden droop leaves of their needs aren't met. Again, very poor substrate.

[camuth8]

Without watching the SAE myself, or by knowing your parameters I can tell you one thing for certain. Most plants that you described; lilies, and cabomba, will not do well with the substrate you have. First, it is too thin, they cant root that well. And sometimes, both plants even if they dowelling for a while will all of a sudden droop leaves of their needs aren't met. Again, very poor substrate.

It doesn't look like any of the plants are in the sand. They're attached to the driftwood or potted.

[flutterbug]

I have 3 SAEs and they have never bothered the plants you mentioned.. They are probably not true SAEs, if you post a close up, we could tell you for sure. If they are true SAEs you probably are just having a problem with your plants. SAES graze at algae on plants so it is easy to mistake problems as coming from that when they actually would look the same without the SAEs. The grazing could just be speeding up the process of the leaves coming off the plant due to their poor condition. I have a tank with no fish and I see problems like what you describe happen with no life invthe tank at all.

[flutterbug]

I can't see the picture you posted.. Not sure if it is just a problem on my end. but I can see photos on other threads.