SAE and black neons

[adi_mitrea]

I just signed up to this forum and before I go ahead and ask my first question I want to say that this is a great resource of information for Discus.

You guys are doing a great job !

I am preparing the tank (50 gal) - have the plants, have 2 albino kory's, 1 oto, and 14 cardinal tetra's. The kory's are very active - i'm not sure if that's good.

I was looking at the lfs and the black neons are quite attractive. Is this ok with discus ? I know they will school with my cardinals.
What about lemon tetra's?

Also, I was reading a lot about the SAE ! it is a great fish - but the closest I've seen at a lfs is what's called a flying fox. Is that it?

[RyanH]

I've kept flying fox's with Discus before and had no problems. They may become more aggressive as they mature though so you'll want to do a little more research on them.

Black Neons like cooler water I believe and probably wouldn't be appropriate for a Discus tank.

Welcome to Simply. :)

-Ryan

[Alight]

SAE's and Flying Foxes are not the same. Flying Foxes are larger fish. SAE's don't get larger than 6 inches. Both will eat all kinds of algae, although my SAE's don't eat as much as they used to. They have gotten fat and lazy!

Do a search on Siamese Algae Eaters on Google. You will find some tips on how to recognize them.

I second Ryan--no black neons. They don't handle the warm water well.

[KingDiscus]

I have about 10 black neons in my 20 gal. with my discus, temp about 82-85 deg. they seem to be doing fine.

[Ryan]

I've done black neons and lemon tetras with discus, rams, baby Uaru, and angels. I never noticed a problem with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. Maybe it just shortens their life expectancy? Whatever you do, avoid neons. I've always had problems with neons regardless of what I keep them with.

Ryan

[mikechen]

I once put 20 neons in my planted discus tank with 2 juvenile discus(long ago) and they got along well. When my fish all naturally died off I quitted . Three years ago I start keeping discus again and put the 50 neons with my 5 adult discus. The next day when I went to see them; they were either gone or laid down on the bare bottom with their last breath. I felt so sorry for them because I kind of killed them. My discus even did the same to SAE. I conclude that they are killer type discus. Afterwards, I only keep discus alone. Maybe keep them both when discus are very young is the key point?

[KingDiscus]

as long as you keep a clean tank and do water changes 3 times a week at least, they should be fine.

[hexed]

Just a quick note. SAE will attack your discus. All the SAEs I had with my discus always found that the side of a discus was much more tastier then algae. I had one in each of my 5 tanks and they all did this, so I pulled them out and back to the crappy waters of the fish store they went. :(
HTH
Frank

[Jeckel]

A few years back I kept a flying fox with three discus. Everything went ok for a few months, but then the flying fox started attacking the discus at feeding time. I also caught him trying to feed on the sides of the discus.

[Bainbridge Mike]

I have kept black neons and flying foxes and would not keep either with discus again. The black neons work great in an angel tank around 78-80 degrees, but they die off in water that is warmer. The flying foxes are big food hogs and they grow HUGE from feeding on a meaty discus diet!

[cobaltblue]

Rather than flying foxes, i prefer otos. Ive seen a picture from shalu of a oto ataching to the side of a discus, but i have 10 otos in my planted tanks and have never seen it happen yet. I had a few black neons at one time, but they died off quickly in my 84-85 degree water. Cardinals seem to work the best.;)

[Chrisb]

Arizona Aquatic Gardens has both SAE and Flying Fox. I did get some for my non Discus tank and I do like them.http://www.azgardens.com/algae_eating_fish.php

Chris

[Y0uH0]

SAE and flying foxes are indeed different fishes as mentioned by the others,they grow to different sizes and are slightly different in appearance.Also,i heard that SAEs are better algae eaters than Flying foxes..
I have an SAE in my tank,so far it has not caused any trouble for my discus just that at times,it's lightning fast speed of swimming around the tank may spook the discus a little. As for algae eating,personally i feel that it is better to get OTOs as they really do stick to the diet of algaes(my SAE will feed on bloodworms and flakes if given the chance to do so).Regarding black neons,they have been known to be more agressive as compared to other tetras like cardinals and neons but i think that they are still compatible tankmates with discus.

[pcsb23]

Black Neons don't do well at higher temps, if you have to raise the temp over 90f they will suffer. Shame 'cos they are a lovely fish.
Paul.

[georgiadawgger]

FYI:

Flying foxes have I belive 4 barbs and a yellow tint to the fins. Their lateral black line stops at the tail. They can get aggressive.

SAEs (not Sigma Alpha Epsilons) have 2 barbs and clear fins. Their black lateral line extends all the way through their tail fin. IME they get fat and lazy with old age...once they acquire the taste of fish food its all over.

[Wahter]

Some links:

http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html
http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

And a photo of the SAE.

[ShinShin]

Actually, black neons have always done quite well for me when I had a planted tank going. This can't be said for the common neon, however. Cardinals do greeat, too.

Mat