Chinese Algae Eater vs Siamese Algae Eater

[sragor]

Hi all. Need some advice here. Which of the above is more advisable for my new 20+ litres tank? I probably just need one to feed on my algae since I have 2 oto already.



Cheers

[alechim]

SAE will be the better choice. CAE are aggresive

[chipset]

yamato might be a better choice...SAE grow big very fast.

[Reginald Ho]

I had a SAE that gave up his diet for Algae and fed on my moss... so i get strands of moss with no leaves... removed the fella and mosses are growing nicely...

[DanGoh59]

SAE generally grow very large and in general will also go after whatever food you feed to the fishes in the tank. As such, don't count too much
on them to control your algae as they would had already their fill of the
stomaches.

Also, should you in the future decided to get rid of it, they are rather elusive fish to catch especially in a planted tanks. They need "special"
techniques to catch................

I would recommend that you try Otos which would maintain their size,
are not aggressive and generally don't go for the other fish food.
Common downside to them is they're rather sensitive fish that requires
a stable tank with fairly good conditions. But then again, they are rather cheap and easily available. So replacing them should not be a major pain in the pockets, if need to.

Lastly, having Algae Eaters would not be the ultimate answer to solving
algae problems. You still need to go to the root of the problem which is
the condition and setup of your tank.

Hoped the above is useful.

[rwalker]

I would recommend none since you already have Oto unless you want to control BBA using SAE.

Why not get one or two nerite snails and yamato shrimps to complete your algae crews?

[Madnezz]

I second DanGoh59 said.
Have problem removing my SAE now when I decided to keep shrimps in my planted tank.

[torque6]

SAE need "qing gong" to catch, have a good nerite + yamoto/malayan/cherries to complete your clean up crew and you should be fine. I 've always wanted to keep otto, but the experience given by lots of aquarist that they are very hard to keep and needs the best water parameters to do well.