# SAEs or no SAEs?



## Ponderous (Feb 2, 2006)

I had been considering including SAEs in the tank I'm planning. After reading the various threads about them it would seem they seem to have a rather poor rep' around here, eating plants and ignoring algae. I certainly want to avoid any thing will eat the plants.

My second choice would be False SAEs/Thai Flying Foxes, would anybody here recommend them as being better for a planted tank than the Siamese? Or has anybody had some _good_ experiences with SAEs and recommend that I give them a try?


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## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

I don't think I'm ever going to add SAEs to another tank that I do. They are great when they are under 2" but over that, they seem to eat nothing but fish food, fine leaved plants (Rotala walachii/Vietnam) and the leaves off of mosses. 

I had 2 3" SAE in my 125 gal tank and they were destroying my moss. I pulled the walachii out a long time ago because they reduced it to twigs. No more pulling plants out that the SAE eat, I just pulled them out


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## acbaldwin (Nov 3, 2005)

I got 2 large and 6 med SAEs to combat the BBA in my 55 gallon. They within a week, BBA was gone. Now I am seeing holes "punched" into my amazon swords, and also my pennywort (can't remember the latin name). They have actually beaten the pennywort down pretty well on the lower 1/2. It's either my 8 SAEs, my 4 young Bristlenose plecos, or my big common pleco. I do enjoy watching the SAEs though, they are aesthetically pleasing.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I have 3 smallish SAE's in a 46 bow. They are incredibly fun to watch and they school pretty closely. Mine appear to eat algae and spend most of the day crusing around various plants picking stuff off from the leaves. I can't verify that they actualy eat BBA, but the plants don't seem to be suffering from snacking. They do eat flake food and frozen worms which is kind of funny to watch - I'm not sure how they find it since they can't really see what is going on under their snoot.

I don't think you'll find a lot of fans of flying foxes here, but that's just a guess. They do have a bit more color, but they're pretty worthless as algae eaters.


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## Mnemia (Nov 23, 2004)

I like the SAEs and I haven't had any problems with them. They're a great fish. Only complaint is that they do seem to stop eating as much algae when they get bigger. I definitely haven't had any problems with them eating plants, being too aggressive, etc.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I agree, SAE's and moss aren't the best of friends, but they do a pretty good job at keeping algae in check.

I also have the False Siamensis, which are different from Flying Foxes, and they _may_ do a better job at algae eating than the true SAE's. They do get plumper and slightly larger than the SAE's, though.

The Flying Fox is a little moodier, and may fight with it's own kind, so it's probably better to get either the true SAE or the False Siamensis.

I don't discourage the SAE's in any way, but sometimes it's a matter of personal choice.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I agree they are better algae eaters when small, but they do a good job as they grow larger also. I can tell the difference when I remove them from a tank, the BBA starts to re-appear again. I would recommend that you at least try them and form your own opinion on them.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

I had the same experience with SAE. I bought them so they would eat the algae, but when the algae was almost gone, they started to eat flakes, and they didn't really bother the algae anymore.


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## Faruk Gençöz (Nov 4, 2005)

janS said:


> SAE's and moss aren't the best of friends, but they do a pretty good job at keeping algae in check.





trenac said:


> when I remove them from a tank, the BBA starts to re-appear again.





Gumby said:


> I don't think I'm ever going to add SAEs to another tank that I do.





acbaldwin said:


> I do enjoy watching the SAEs though, they are aesthetically pleasing.





trenac said:


> I would recommend that you at least try them and form your own opinion on them.


Agree with these comments and wonder your decision.


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

Hello, 

I have both true and false SAE's for a long time, and they are always great, works continuously and haven't noticed a damage caused by them. They may get lazy when they get old but this is common for all alg eaters. So this is not a minus spesificaly for them. I'll always keep them.

YILDIRIM


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

i'd take my chances with bba...SAE's arrrrr OUT!


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## Ponderous (Feb 2, 2006)

Wow, great to get this many responses. 

I think I might still give the SAEs a try, they do look good schooling together. I can always just keep a close eye on them and transfer them to another tank if they start damaging the plants.


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

If you can catch them again Ponderous ;-)

YILDIRIM


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Yes, they can be a bugger to catch, but not as bad as Botia's. Yesterday I had the entire plant population of my 55 gallon in a heap on the floor trying to catch the little #@&^....

Anyway, SAE's aren't bad fish, and I always encourage them over CAE's. I do everything in my power to deter someone from buying one of a CAE....


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

made a trap to trap them... cut PET 1.5 l bottle at neck. cut neck tip to fit the fish. stick this portion cut neck first into the other portion. stuff some food pellet flake inside and leave in tank and go have a break.

caught the fella after a few other busybodies went inside.


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## Ponderous (Feb 2, 2006)

Clever idea, Standoyo. Just like a humane mouse trap right?

The store I buy from sells SAEs pretty young ( less than 3/4" ) and says that they'll take up to three years to reach their full length. Does that sound accurate?

Sounds incredibly slow to me, but my previous experience has been with fast growers, goldfish and such.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

You're right, they aren't the fastest of growers, so it could be a couple of years before they reach their full size.

I tried the bottle method on my Botias last week, and only caught one poor little Cory in there.  I think it does work well with certain fish, though.


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## titan97 (Feb 14, 2005)

After trying to diagnose why I have holes and such in my old growth, I've come to the realization that my SAEs may be the culprits. In my other tank, I had some clown loaches that recently died off thanks to a little help from my kids, and suddenly my swords stopped being eaten and are coming back strong. I've never seen SAEs munch on my plants before, but now that I have many more, they may be more problematic.

-Dustin


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

This thread has been really helpful for a SAE purchase I too was considering, so I've given it 5 stars! Thanks for all the thoughtful input and keep it coming!


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## oliver_p (Mar 8, 2006)

I had 4 Parodon Affinis some years ago. They have the reputation to be more effective in terms of algae eating than the different SAE kinds. They look very similar to a SAE but one can distinguish them easily by the small additional fin behind the dorsal fin typical for characins.
Being young they have been a real dream. They ate all kinds of algea all day long, schooled nicely, left other fish and all kinds of plants including moss alone. Getting older and bigger they still ate algea but discovered regular fish food to be a nice alternative. Unfortunately their behavior got quite rude. One of them decided to be boss of the tank and chased his fellows and other fishes all day long. One day I found one of them on the carpet in front of the tank. I covered all openings of my already closed tank but one after one all parodons jumped out and died.
They seem to eat algae even when they grow bigger, actually they didn't leave much in my tank. If one has a huge well covered tank they might be a good choice.


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## Urkevitz (Oct 26, 2004)

They destroyed every piece of tawain moss in my tank, I give them a thumbs down.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

Ponderous said:


> Clever idea, Standoyo. Just like a humane mouse trap right?
> 
> The store I buy from sells SAEs pretty young ( less than 3/4" ) and says that they'll take up to three years to reach their full length. Does that sound accurate?
> 
> Sounds incredibly slow to me, but my previous experience has been with fast growers, goldfish and such.


actually make it <2 yr window for eating algae... if you don't keep moss or soft leaved plants...

it is humane way to catch it...and really the best after trying others...
i caught the fella after lights off...after waiting whole day. ottos, cardinals and a whiptail on separate occasions! so not first try lucky...


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## karen99 (Feb 20, 2006)

I just got two young SAE's less than a week ago - little 2" guys - and so far they aren't a problem. I had some purplish stuff growing in my tank that I'm not sure is BBA or just mold - they won't touch that stuff unfortunately. But they are always nibbling on bits of algae on the glass or rocks. They like to tug on my java moss but seem to just be eating debris on it rather than the moss itself.


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## Mjproost (Nov 17, 2005)

I'll give a vote for SAE's. Mine seem to eat some algae all thru their lives. But, they seem to work less hard at it as they get older. But, I have never kept on more than 3 years. Just tyr to get the smallest healthy ones you can and get at least two. I lost one once and the other started chasing other fish. But, never really seemed to do any damage. But, in a pair or more they seem to only chase each other in my tanks . They are in a tank with Wallachii and Mayaca and I have never seen them bother the plants at all. I have seen my Angels pull at the Mayaca tho. 

Very interesting and fun fish. I cannot say the same for the "false SAE". They didn't seem to eat any algae for me and they were harassing the other fish from the start. Just my experience.


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