Interesting Algea Eater

Nirv, indeed the barbels are a good indicator... Flying Fox has 2 above mouth... SAE has none.... Shape of the mouth however is almost identical between the two! Only the CAE has a sucker mouth, and not the Flying fox or SAE....

Ok, heres some pics....

E. Siamensis - SAE - Siamese Algae Eater...



E. Kallopteru - Flying Fox....



G. Aymoinera - CAE - Chinese Algae eater....



Hope that helps??

Cheers!!
G!!

 

Yeah better pictures, thanks. If anyone else asks, we should direct them here...

 

No Prob Nirv!! Always here to help where I can!!

G!

 

I wonder if Dontknow knows what algae eaters to get now?

 

Er, I dont know?? If not, I hope so by now!!

But to spell it out to good folk... SAE's are best of the above three by quite some margin...

Otocinclus are also great, but can be hard to acclimatise, and it is highly likely that a large percentage will die once placed in your tank!! Once acclimatised though, they are very hardy!!

For faster flowing, well oxygenated, water, Chinese Hillstream loaches (incorrectly named 'Butterfly Pleco') are also great, but again hard to acclimatise!!

Sturisoma/Farlowella/Whiptail type cats are also pretty good, and incredibly interesting/unusual but are usually over R100 per fish!! Sometimes even several hundred rand!!

There are also a large number of Plecos available that do not grow big, but again price becomes an issue very quickly!! Also, they can in some cases be hard to tell apart from the larger species of their group, so you may end up with a big problem anyhow!! And they are not the kind of fish easily found in LFS's!! So if small pleco's are your thing, get them from a reliable source!!

Regards
G!

 

Something to pay attention to with regards to hillstream loaches is the fact that the natural temperature range for the majority of the species extends only up to 24 degrees celsius which is a few degrees cooler than what most tanks are maintained at.

 

"Now I can be the know it all with my encyclopedia of fish I recently aquired"
What is the name of the book and whose the author?

 

Lol. You'll get the hang of it:

1) Copy relevant info
2) Paste into Google
3) Open relevant looking sites
4) Copy informative looking information
5) Translate into forum friendly text
6) Post!

 

Sorry but my internet has been rather slow tonight. What are you talking about with the steps?

 

I bought a single Chinese Algae eater for my Oscar tank and I am impressed with the little fish as it spends most of the day visibly cleaning algae off my gravel plants and glass. The Oscar seems to leave it alone because it figured it would never be able to catch it.

 

Hi fin plecos grow to about 15cm. Very nice for any tank.

 

They actually grow to about 30cm if you're lucky. Some can get to 50cm. Only suitable for big tanks of 5 feet or more.

Otocinclus, still, are the best 'algae eaters', simply because they're so compatible and good looking.

 

My mistake. Mis-read some info.

 

Some gobies in stipondus range are real good algae and interesting algae eaters too. There main diet is algae.
I think Dolphin may still have some.

 

I hear the older they the less Algae they eat.