# Flying fox



## rickylbc (Jun 9, 2008)

Are flying fox any good for algae?


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## blang (Jan 4, 2006)

They are great for string algae. However, as they get older they get lazy and don't work as hard. As adults, I find them pretty entertaining when they sort of sit on the plants.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

A better fish for eating algae (especially hair algae) is the Siamese Algae Eater, _Crossocheilus siamensis_. Not only are they better at algae clean-up than Flying Fox, _Epalzeorhynchus kallopterus_ , but they will not get aggressive with age and can be kept in shoals.

However, as they get older they can get spoiled on commercial foods and will eat less algae. To keep this from happening, you can reduce feeding.

-Dave


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## rickylbc (Jun 9, 2008)

I have some Oto's, but I got some of the Flying Fox, but it's not doing it's job like the Oto's.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Yep, Oto's are true blue. They are, by far, my favorite algae eater...in fact they are my favorite fish.


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## rickylbc (Jun 9, 2008)

davemonkey said:


> Yep, Oto's are true blue. They are, by far, my favorite algae eater...in fact they are my favorite fish.


Oto's work hard on eating algae.


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## blang (Jan 4, 2006)

Oops sorry, I thought the flying fox was the same as an SAE. In any event, I have the SAE's not the flying foxes. I think the flying foxes must be the Chinese Algae Eaters which are not very nice fish when they get older.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

blang said:


> I think the flying foxes must be the Chinese Algae Eaters which are not very nice fish when they get older.


Nope, they aren't the same thing, but it can get to be a confusing subject.

Here's a thread explaining the differences.
SAE's, Flying fox, and other similar fish


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## Erirku (Oct 5, 2004)

Ha, those guys are lazy algae eaters. In fact, they don't do anything for the tank but eat whats left on the ground. SAE's are much better, but also get lazy as they get older.


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## rickylbc (Jun 9, 2008)

Erirku said:


> Ha, those guys are lazy algae eaters. In fact, they don't do anything for the tank but eat whats left on the ground. SAE's are much better, but also get lazy as they get older.


They sure are lazy! I asked the guy from the LFS if they're similiar to Oto's as far as eating algae, and he said yes, lying bas****..


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