# Siamese algae eaters and BBA



## robitreef (Jan 4, 2005)

Many reports out there state that these are effective in eating BBA, but does it matter what size of fish you have? In other words, are smaller juveniles more apt at eating BBA vs larger adults?


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

Most adults in my experienc eget lazy. I will recommend that you get some juveniles.

Cheers,
Pedro


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

yes, definitely the juveniles.

Also plan for a really fun time trying to get them out of your heavily planted tank when they get big, don't eat any algae anymore, generally don't fit the aquascape any longer because of their size and their torpedoing around the tank like maniacs...


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## robitreef (Jan 4, 2005)

Well that nixes them then. I can't have juvi's as they are fish food for my Archerfish. I would need ones that are 3-4" at the very least.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

At 3-4", I wouldn't expect them to be eating much in the way of algae.


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## kelliope (Apr 13, 2006)

Can anyone suggest anything else for BBA and Hair Algae? I, too, am having a terrible time with it. I have no CO2 system, but have started dosing Excel. The plants in my tank with Eco-Complete as a substrate are completely covered in BBA with some Hair Algae starting. The tank with Laterite and gravel has a moderate to high case of hair algae. I have small fish - cardinals, guppies, platys, otos, small corys. I was considering a SAE, but am worried about catching it later. I also have cherry shrimp in the tank.

Any ideas?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I've heard that Flagfish will also eat it, but I don't have any experience with them, so I can't say that with any certainty.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

*plendens*

The Florida Flag Fish will eat just about any type of algae. However, they tend to be territorial but not as bad as a Butterfly Goodie (sp?) aka Ameca Splendens another great algae eater.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

kelliope said:


> Can anyone suggest anything else for BBA and Hair Algae? I, too, am having a terrible time with it. I have no CO2 system, but have started dosing Excel. The plants in my tank with Eco-Complete as a substrate are completely covered in BBA with some Hair Algae starting. The tank with Laterite and gravel has a moderate to high case of hair algae. I have small fish - cardinals, guppies, platys, otos, small corys. I was considering a SAE, but am worried about catching it later. I also have cherry shrimp in the tank.
> 
> Any ideas?


What size tank do you have and with what lighting? If you keep the lighting down to 2 watts per gallon or so you can probably get by with just Excel, but if your tank is a big one the cost of the Excel will soon make you wish you had just bought a pressurized CO2 system.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

Archer fish? Aren't those brackish water fish?


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## dodgefreak8 (Jul 26, 2006)

yeah they are brackish and they get 12" long


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## Copious (May 30, 2006)

Could flag fish be kept with barbs? I just looked them up and it says that they are pretty aggressive, but they seem to have fins that might be a problem for them in a tank full of barbs.


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