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Thread: Is SAE good for planted tanks?

  1. #1

    Is SAE good for planted tanks?

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    Heard from my friend that SAE will start to bit the leaves of the plants thus creating holes on the leaves(more delicate plants). Is that true?



  2. #2
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    From what I've experienced so far (I've had up to 5 SAEs in my tank), no problems with them eating plants.

    The only problem seems to be that as they get bigger, they tend to prefer regular fish food and become less effective as algae eaters.


    eggz

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    As the name suggest 'Siamese Algae Eater' are known to eat algae. From my eperience, they will eat algae when they are young (small) and 'wise up' later when they get a taste of commercial foods thus stops eating algae. That's when they big and fat.

    Try getting the smallest you can find and also make sure you get the correct one. Similar looking fishes like flying fox does nothing for algae.
    Cheers!!

    Sherwin Choo
    [email protected]

  4. #4
    What kind of plants you having??hardy types?with big leaves?

  5. #5
    Hi Sherchoo,
    so it means they are harmless to plants rite?
    mine are quite big now... around 2 inches... have to live it now..too bad...


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    I have quite a lot of stem plants and some larger leaf plants like e.bleheri.

    Some of my stem plants like mayaca fluviatilis and rotala wallichi have quite soft delicate leaves, but I don't see the SAEs eating them. In fact it's the yamato shrimps that munch on these....

    Heh...fat SAEs can be a real pain some times, I had a fat one (RIP) who was really greedy. Not sure how he died, probably either from eating too much rich fish food and not enough of his usual algae diet, or it could be that I was playing with the CO2 too much. Read somewhere that SAE's prefer more oxygenated water.

    You could always put your fat SAEs up for adoption by folks with Arowanas in planted tanks.....provided you can catch the bugger []



    eggz

  7. #7
    Yap catching that bugger can be quite a challenge..the guy at GEN X taught me how to catch it..by placing some sinking food in a mineral bottle and leave it at the bottom of the tank..the bugger will be con in and will not be able to escape..havent tried yet though,,,,

    Ive decided to keep them in my tank for now.. athough they are swim around the tank...hopefully wouldnt spoil the plants...


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    hello gang,

    Ever go wacko or berserk while trying to catch an SAE??!!, try the below method. works like a charm. but you must be quick.

    get ready an air pump. JACK UP your CO2. when the fish start to gasp for air at the water surface, catch that bloody SAE. when you are done, turn on the air pump to aerate the water. if your fish are healthy and if you do this once in a blue moon, the fish will not get stressed.

    hope this helps.

    Wahboy

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    ----------------
    On 1/26/2003 2:36:39 PM

    hello gang,

    Ever go wacko or berserk while trying to catch an SAE??!!, try the below method. works like a charm. but you must be quick.

    get ready an air pump. JACK UP your CO2. when the fish start to gasp for air at the water surface, catch that bloody SAE. when you are done, turn on the air pump to aerate the water. if your fish are healthy and if you do this once in a blue moon, the fish will not get stressed.

    hope this helps.

    Wahboy
    ----------------
    Wahboy,
    Sorry.. but I wouldn't dare trying this method. Quite risky even with the air pump.
    Cheers!!

    Sherwin Choo
    [email protected]

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    ----------------
    On 1/26/2003 2:36:39 PM

    hello gang,

    Ever go wacko or berserk while trying to catch an SAE??!!, try the below method. works like a charm. but you must be quick.

    get ready an air pump. JACK UP your CO2. when the fish start to gasp for air at the water surface, catch that bloody SAE. when you are done, turn on the air pump to aerate the water. if your fish are healthy and if you do this once in a blue moon, the fish will not get stressed.

    hope this helps.

    Wahboy
    ----------------
    Wahboy, it may work, but it's cruel, IMO. And the fish DO get stressed, just for a short time. But it is still stress. Just an opinion, but if we are going to keep live animals captive, we should try as much as possible not to stress them out unnecessarily.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  11. #11
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    Spud, your friend may have confused the SAE with some of the loaches who are notorious for leaving bite marks on large leafed plants. If I'm not wrong, a few forumers have reported SAEs eating fine leafs, but this is not a common occurence. SAEs, if well fed, should leave your plants alone.

    Its a common complaint that SAEs will grow fat and lazy on fish food and ignore algae. However, I still find that they are lively and entertaining fishes that can add life to a tank, even if they are not working.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

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    ----------------
    On 1/27/2003 10:34:52 AM

    ----------------
    On 1/26/2003 2:36:39 PM

    hello gang,

    Ever go wacko or berserk while trying to catch an SAE??!!, try the below method. works like a charm. but you must be quick.

    get ready an air pump. JACK UP your CO2. when the fish start to gasp for air at the water surface, catch that bloody SAE. when you are done, turn on the air pump to aerate the water. if your fish are healthy and if you do this once in a blue moon, the fish will not get stressed.

    hope this helps.

    Wahboy
    ----------------
    Wahboy, it may work, but it's cruel, IMO. And the fish DO get stressed, just for a short time. But it is still stress. Just an opinion, but if we are going to keep live animals captive, we should try as much as possible not to stress them out unnecessarily.
    ----------------
    Yea... I agree with Vinz... However, having a net all over the tank chasing that lightning speeding fish, create not only stress on fishes too.... but also yourself after looking at those plants you had unrooted accidentally....
    Cheers and Regards,
    Billy Cheong

    I'm not always dumb,
    Just most of the time...

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    So far, I've found that chasing fishes with a net is one the least productive way to catch fishes. Chasing causes panic, panicy fishes are hard to catch. I find herding them slowly with 2 nets much more effective. If they hide, locate them and gently prod the plants behind them, they will move out to the front. They are not as fearful of you, as they are of the net.

    Chasing causes stress through fear. Using the CO2 trick may cause stress through damage to their health.

    Some fishes can be caught using cheap DIY traps. These traps, and one of my methods are described in this thread.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

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    Any smart way to catch apistos? the male is easy enuff to catch but the female is smart.. simply wont go anywhere near the net.. ideas?

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    ----------------
    On 1/25/2003 10:51:15 PM

    Heard from my friend that SAE will start to bit the leaves of the plants thus creating holes on the leaves(more delicate plants). Is that true?



    ----------------
    From my experience, SAE are safe for almost all plants. But in one case, they nibbled on my Rotala wallichii (very delicate leaves) till it became botak. I couldn't believe it until I saw them doing it!
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    If I don't remember wrongly, amano even mention that his yamatoes do feast on the Rotala wallichii as well....guess it is really tasty to them.
    Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger

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