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chago09
02-15-2006, 11:07 AM
I just got three SAE yesterday morning and they are real ones I made sure. and i have yet to see them eat any algae. Will they eat algae off glass aswell???? will that eat algae at all??? someone who has these fish tell me exactly what these fish actually do??? because right now my three are fighting 24/7. They don't stop fighting to even eat.

scans
02-15-2006, 12:24 PM
I have heard from many that they will stop eating algae and start living off of the fish food. Yours may have already reached that stage.

ShinShin
02-15-2006, 01:03 PM
SAE's are great at eating algae provided that there is no other food available for them.

RyanH
02-15-2006, 02:11 PM
IMO, these are not good tankmates for Discus. They are aggressive and become more and more carnivorous as they get older.

If you are having a problem with algae, either change your cleaning regiment and try a couple of bristlenose plecos.

dean
02-15-2006, 04:42 PM
SAE asthey get older will succumb to the temptation to eat whatever you feed your discus and then supplement with algae.
I have 3 3inchers that that will suck the life out of a peice of BH!
IMO, your best algae CONTAIMENT CREW are bristlenose and GROWN (2 1/2 in) amano shrimp.

Bainbridge Mike
02-15-2006, 05:38 PM
In my experience, SAE's and flying foxes are smart--they figure out that it is much easier to eat the food that is dropped in the tank everyday than to try and eat algae.

Mike

Dissident
02-15-2006, 05:53 PM
Every SAE/FF I have had has gone off of eating algae in the matter of a month or two.

The best algae control is prevention. If you are having algae problems I would find out what is causeing it before dumping fish into your tank. None of my planted tanks even need an algae eating crew but they are in there regardless.

Wahter
02-16-2006, 10:28 PM
SAE info:
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html
(make sure you have the real fish)

They are scavengers and will eat the red / black brush/ beard algea pretty much when nothing else is available (they will nibble on the stuff in between feedings too). Bristlenoses won't touch this type of algae (well, they might touch it, but they sure won't remove it).

Here's a pic of the type of this type of algae circled in red.

Wahter
02-16-2006, 10:34 PM
SAEs won't do much against green hair algae. (Flagfish and Amano shrimp can though). Here's a photo of this type of algae (again circled in red). Again, bristlenoses won't do a thing to remove this type of algae either.

Wahter
02-16-2006, 10:42 PM
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=11199

Here's a pic of an SAE, note the criss cross pattern on the body above the black stripe and the black stripe extends into the caudal (tail) fin. The black stripe has rough edges. Plus all the fins are clear/ transparent. The mouth is not a sucker (unlike the bristlenose catfish nor the Chinese algae eater).

Hope this helps.


Walter

standoyo
02-17-2006, 07:56 AM
hi all,

SAE's eating algae? on it's own in non discus, nothing else to eat situation yes. then it's only those that walter has so kindly posted.
However, i think it's quite an impossibility since we feed our discus well.

IME, they'd rather eat my moss and fish food SAE's.

Chago 09,
Assuming you have a planted tank...
i'd take other member's suggestion to sort out the plant needs to tackle algae issue. Algae doesn't do well if the plants needs are taken cared of. it's opportunistic in low nutrient/limiting plant uptake setups.

GSA[green spot algae] can be removed with pruning or a credit card for the glass. a few oto's will eat brown algae.


stan

chago09
02-17-2006, 11:28 AM
ok thanx all for the tips. The SAE's are real ones I looked that up like crazy before I got these ones. They did begin to eat some algae but I don't want to just keep buying fish to eat algae when it keeps growing. The only algae I have is the basic green glass and green substrate. I know thats normal for a tank but I have never had a tank where it grew so quickly. I also have some brown algae on amazon sword leaves. I keep cleaning it with my fingers and then do a large water change but it still won't totally go away. I have did a complete cleaning of the tank about three times now and the last time I did it was yesterday. It looks like nothing has started growing again yet but i'll wait a few more days. Yes I was told that if your tank is well planted that algae can't compete???? is this true??? Well my tank is only about semi planted right now cause its still in the works. All I have is some amazon swords and some java fern. Tuesday I will be getting some microswords. Plus the amazon swords are sending out a lot of runners so new plants will be expected soon. Someone said in a reply that the plants must get all there needs to beat out the algae. Well I stoped giving seachem flourish because I thought it was causing algae. I have a seachem flourite substrate so should I get back to adding flourish and maybe that will kill some algae by strengthining plants????

pcsb23
02-17-2006, 12:18 PM
Chago,

The most common reason for algae in tanks is an imbalance between macro nutrients, micro nutrients and light. The most common mistake peole make when they have an algae problem is to stop adding fertilisers. You have the basics of a good planted tank there with your substrate. Before adding anymore fish I would do as Dissident suggested and try and work out the root cause (no pun intended). Brown algae is normally associated with new tanks, how long has this tank been going? You will need to work out how many watts of lighting, what type of lighting, duration of lighting and then test for nitrate and phosphate, ph, gh/kh and if possible Fe. Somewhere in there will be the answer, not adding algae eating fish that inevitavbly won't!

I would still add seachem flourish and if not using CO2 add seachem flourish excel too. Add some faster growing plants too, most swords are at best medium rate growers whilst virtually all java ferns are slow growers. Echinodorus bleheri - which is a sword - grows fast and in low light.

hth,
Paul.

chago09
02-17-2006, 02:15 PM
thanx a lot and heres my specs that you asked for pcsb. I have 2 x 65 watt CF. There on about 11 hours a day. There both 6700K bulbs. Yes the tank is new it's about 8 weeks old now. Nitrate is always at 10 and Ph is 7.0. I need to buy a phosphate tester so i don't know what it is at right now. Thanx for the tip with the flourish I'll get back to adding it in my tank right away. One question though about excel I heard it will kinda make your fish have a hard time breathing. My discus are more important to me then my plants so do I really need excel??? Also most bottles of plant ferts don't tell you how much to dose they always just say "regularly" what does that mean, please tell me your dosing methods. And thanx for the plant idea list some more please as many as you know that will grow quickly.
Thanx

Dissident
02-17-2006, 05:38 PM
Shorten to 9hrs....
What size is the tank?
Is there ANY CO2?


I 3x Dose FlourishExcel (there is a big difference between Flourish and FlourishExcel) in my discus tank.
pcsb is right about the fast growers. Most stem plants will work fine. A good population of duckweed will work too but is a pain in the butt.
Wysteria is cheap and easy to find. Hygro is another cheap fast grower.

chago09
02-17-2006, 06:44 PM
when you say theres a difference between flourish and flourish excell what do you mean??? one makes plants grow better then the other???

Dissident
02-17-2006, 07:02 PM
Flourish = trace elements
FlourishExcel = organic carbon

Both are used for planted tanks. It is a common mistake that people mix up the two.

If you want to dose flourishExcel for algae control follow these steps:

Waterchange (DO NOT DO THE BOTTLE'S INSTRUNCTIONS WITH THE BIG INITIAL DOSE)
Dose daily 2x-3X reccomended (in my planted discus tank), I prefer in the 2X range. I will do 4-5caps in my 110gal. 1 cap is good for 50gal.
There is a really good article on plantedtank.net regarding Excel and it's algae killing properties.

pcsb23
02-17-2006, 07:33 PM
My planted display tank is fairly high tech, I dose flourish at one capful per w/c, about 3 times a week. I use CO2 so don't use the excel product as much, but do occaisionally if I feel it needs a boost. My display tank is around 79 US gallons. Little and often is the key, I also dose Fe (chelated) 2 or 3 time a week on alternate days to w/c.

Agree with Dissident duckweed grows like wildfire, great short term plant but a real pain later!

Paul.

chago09
02-18-2006, 12:29 PM
thanx for the help guys i'll give it all a try.

Wahter
02-23-2006, 12:39 AM
Some pics of a genuine Siamese Algae Eater - Crossocheilus siamensis.

Wahter
02-23-2006, 12:40 AM
another one.

Wahter
02-23-2006, 12:42 AM
and another

Wahter
02-23-2006, 12:44 AM
last one. :D

chago09
02-23-2006, 10:44 AM
yes sir those are the ones I have. I looked really hard before I bought them and I knew what to look for. The SAE are eating algae now. Thanx for the pics