# My Siamese Snail Eater



## Cneon (Sep 19, 2011)

I haven't witnessed much algae eating from my SAEs. Today I saw this, though, and I feel it's an equal trade.


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## BriDroid (Oct 2, 2012)

I don't think that's a SAE. It looks more like a flying fox to me. The black doesn't go into the tail, the black line on the body is to smooth, the back brown part the scales aren't boldly outlined in black, and the fins aren't clear.

Snail eating is a good though


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## Cneon (Sep 19, 2011)

It's actually neither. Both the flying fox and the SAE have the stripe all the way through. This does not. It is a "False" SAE.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

I think Cneon is right:








It's a Garra: http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/garra-cambodgiensis/

The funny thing is I always see a lot of people buying the wrong algae eater in the USA. In the Netherlands I've never seen any of the other fish but the real SAE. Which I think is overrated as an algae eater as well. When they are young they do indeed eat all sorts of algae including BBA, but when they grow a little older, they prefer moss and fine plants IME. Also they start nipping fins more often, but I've only witnessed this when people keep them alone or with very small numbers.


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## Iloveshrimp (Sep 7, 2013)

Once you have seen the true SAE's they are pretty easy to tell apart. The true SAE's do eat moss and fine leaved plants but otherwise I really like having them in my tanks. They are pretty good at eating BBA, even when they are larger. They are jumpers though...


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## BriDroid (Oct 2, 2012)

I've had 2 for about a year now (had 3, but one decided life was better on the outside). Mine are pretty good sized and still eat algae like it's going out of style. I think the key is that I don't feed any pellets, flakes, or frozen food. There is only the SAEs, Panda Garras, shrimp and snails in the tank, so once a week I put in a small cube of Repashy Soilent Green. The rest of the time everyone is eating biofilm and algae. I'm sure if they ever got some pellets or frozen food, they would like that better.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

BriDroid said:


> I've had 2 for about a year now (had 3, but one decided life was better on the outside). Mine are pretty good sized and still eat algae like it's going out of style. I think the key is that I don't feed any pellets, flakes, or frozen food. There is only the SAEs, Panda Garras, shrimp and snails in the tank, so once a week I put in a small cube of Repashy Soilent Green. The rest of the time everyone is eating biofilm and algae. I'm sure if they ever got some pellets or frozen food, they would like that better.


I fully agree! When not fed they will remain eating algae (but plants more and more) but they don't mind eating fish food.


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