Flying Foxes

[sublevel007]

Has anyone kept the algae eaters fyling foxes in their tanks with their discus. I used to have a few in there before I moved tanks but it was only fo two days. I just picked a few up the other day and have them in a qt tank for now. I'm just wondering if it is safe to put them in todgether, let me know! Thanks!

[TrevorB]

I had 4 flying foxes with some discus at one point. They didn't seem to bother the discus too much, but they are very aggressive at feeding times. Also, 4 fish became 1 pretty quickly. I have read that you can really only have one adult in a tank because they kill each other off.

IMO these are not the best fish to put with discus.

Trevor

[sublevel007]

Ok I will have to keep an eye on them or doll them off to one of my friends, thanks

[Ed13]

I've had customers that have kept them for years with discus. But they do grow bigger than most think 7-8" is a good size one and as they grow older and more intelligent( hey that's what it looks like ) they abandon the hair algae diet(actually as soon as you start feeding processed foods) that we all wish they would continue

[Jeckel]

Years ago I kept a flying fox with some discus. After a few months the flying fox started attacking the discus at feeding time. Then it started trying to eat the discus slime coat. I had to remove it.

Actually there are two fish called "flying foxes" that look almost exactly the same but aren't even in the same genus. One is better for algae control than the other but I don't have the details in front of me. It's probably moot anyway unless either you or your dealer is knowledgeable enough to tell which one you're getting.

[TINNGGG]

[QUOTE=Jeckel;343102Actually there are two fish called "flying foxes" that look almost exactly the same but aren't even in the same genus. One is better for algae control than the other but I don't have the details in front of me. It's probably moot anyway unless either you or your dealer is knowledgeable enough to tell which one you're getting.[/QUOTE]

There are 3 at least. The true Flying Fox is a close cousin to the rainbow shark and similarly intolerant of company. The false flying fox, I'm not entirely sure about, personality wise, and the Siamese Algae Eater or SAE for short. They all three look similar but there are some differences. The SAE has clear fins and the prominent black stripe goes all the way to the end of the tail. These get along best in groups. I have 4 of them myself. One of the other two has some reddish tint to the fins I think, and the other maybe has some black on the dorsal. There's a page out there in cyberspace somewhere that shows the difference between the three.