How Many siamese algae eaters

[mbjrc]

Hey,

I am planning on setting up a 55 gallon tank. I heard that the siamese algae eater is one of the best algae eaters, so I decided to go with that. I was wondering how many I should put in the tank to keep the algae under control. The tank will have 2 wpg if that matters.

Thanks

 

[SpaceButler]

I'm sorry I don't know anything about this...

But I was sure I was going to see "does it take to screw in a lightbulb" when I clicked this topic.

 

[Pufferpunk]

1/10g should do.

 

[malkore]

honestly, having kept SAE's for a year now...they are not that amazing of algae eaters.
I think you'd be better off with ottos, and a small pleco species.

They also get rather large (4") so you've gotta have a good size tank...in your case your 55gal is fine.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I had a huge problem with hair algae covering every inch of my 90g tank, live plants included. A friend gave me 2 of hers (3-4") & I've never had a problem since! Are you thinking of CAE? They stop eating algae & starting eating your fish's slimecoat as they get larger.

 

[malkore]

Nope, I have true SAE's, and can tell the diff between them and CAE's and Flying Foxes.

SAE's will eat algae, don't get me wrong...but they'll also damage plants, both by eating algae too roughly, and by uprooting plants as they swim the bottom of the tank.


In planted aquaria, an algae bloom is an indication that your nutrients are not balanced. Fish shouldn't be used to control algae blooms...merely to lessen the nuisance algae that sometimes builds up.

 

[Jaxom_Ruatha]

False Siamese

malkore you may have a "False Siamese" check out this extremely informative site: http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

 

[Pufferpunk]

My tank is heavily planted & not one leaf has been damaged or plant uprooted by my SAEs.

 

[malkore]

Re: False Siamese

malkore you may have a "False Siamese" check out this extremely informative site: http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

Nope, trust me, mine are true SAE's. I helped my LFS realize they had received SAE's mixed in with flying foxes.

But you're right, that is a great link for helping hobbyists determine if their SAE is true or not.

 

[Guest]

SAE's will eat algae, don't get me wrong...but they'll also damage plants, both by eating algae too roughly, and by uprooting plants as they swim the bottom of the tank.

Not my experience at all. I started with 10 SAE in my 90 gallon almost 3 years ago, I am now down to 7 (2 carpet surfed, 1 dissapeared). I have never had a damaged or uprooted plant from them. When I first got them, the tank was new and I was going through the Algae Wars, they helped a lot then. The tank has had a good nutrient balance for a long time now, so they don't have much algae to eat. I still like them, so I feed them some alge wafers a couple times a week, otherwise they eat the same thing the rest of the fish get. They are huge too, probably closer to 5" than 4"!

 

[malkore]

Yeah mine are pushing 4.5"

Plants they damage include stuff like rotala wallichi, mayaca, foxtail...anything with very fine, needle like leaves. They just can't pull the algae off something so small,s o they eat 3/4 of the needle/leaf. Broader, thicker leaved plants were unharmed.