SAEs never live past two days...

[antitrust]

i've tried getting SAEs for my 2 ft tank recently but they never seem to live past the first two days!

they would look fine at night and i'd find them dead in the morning...

its strange because the moment i throw them in, they were damn actively 'polishing' my rock surfaces and plants too..

i've had 4 SAEs and they're all dead. 100% fatalities...

anybody has any idea what's going on?

[Shadow]

That very strange, SAR is strong fish in my opinion. How old is your tank?

[celticfish]

I do experience high mortality in very young SAE, say about 1.5 in size?
I'll stretch here by saying that most get them as part of an algae crew.
Hence minimal feeding is a likely cause of the deaths.
Remember these guys are fed minimally at the LFS before going to your home tanks.

What I did was feed them well for a week or so.
Then you can do the starving so they will eat algae.
Even so, there is always that inevitable death here or there.
So from an initial crew of 6 pieces I will end up with 3 or 4 good sized ones.

[antitrust]

That very strange, SAR is strong fish in my opinion. How old is your tank?

yea that's what i thought too... my tank is about 4 months old..

I do experience high mortality in very young SAE, say about 1.5 in size?
I'll stretch here by saying that most get them as part of an algae crew.
Hence minimal feeding is a likely cause of the deaths.
Remember these guys are fed minimally at the LFS before going to your home tanks.

What I did was feed them well for a week or so.
Then you can do the starving so they will eat algae.
Even so, there is always that inevitable death here or there.
So from an initial crew of 6 pieces I will end up with 3 or 4 good sized ones.

yea all 4 of mine are about 1.5 inch in size. they're really cute and i wouldn't mind even if they don't eat algae!

guess i'll keep trying and the next time i make sure i'll QT them for a couple of days right after i get them and feed them with commercially prepared spirulina wafers!

I agree! Maybe those that you bought were already weak to begin with. You should try again. Four is not enough. Buy a 5th, a 6th or more if you can afford it... and provided you have a big tank.

okies dokies they only cost 50c a piece...

[exotic_idiot]

Hmm i thought SAE are very strong fish? Maybe it's your fertilizer problem? Do you dose liquid ones into the tank often?

[Interestor]

i've tried getting SAEs for my 2 ft tank recently but they never seem to live past the first two days!

they would look fine at night and i'd find them dead in the morning...

its strange because the moment i throw them in, they were damn actively 'polishing' my rock surfaces and plants too..

i've had 4 SAEs and they're all dead. 100% fatalities...

anybody has any idea what's going on?

water parameter issue. fish "rub" against object meant they are itchy.


CHeers..

[antitrust]

water parameter issue. fish "rub" against object meant they are itchy.


CHeers..

bro, when i meant polishing i meant sucking on the algae, not rubbing against

[gemo82]

Hi,

I faced the same problem too. New tank, others fishes were doing fine, even gave birth to baby fishes, but SAE kept dying while I kept replacing. Read this thread and tried feeding them instead of relying on their own ability to feed off algae and right now, they seemed to be much healthier and alive.

I think bro Celticfish is right.

[Interestor]

bro, when i meant polishing i meant sucking on the algae, not rubbing against

ok.

[antitrust]

Hmm i thought SAE are very strong fish? Maybe it's your fertilizer problem? Do you dose liquid ones into the tank often?

i only dose Flourish and Excel.. both of which i 'underdose'.

ok.

haha no worries bro. appreciate your intent to help anyways

[antitrust]

okay update! my 2 SAEs i bought 3 weeks ago are still alive.

i QT-ed them on the first day i brought them home and only introduced them 6-7 days later after. during QT they were also fed with algae wafers, i think it helped them to stabilise before being thrown into the big tank...

just to share.

[gemo82]

Congratulations!!

Hope you are not faced with the same problem as mine though...and that is: The SAE grew so big and fat!! The once cute little things that are useful in clearing up algae, now not so cute le...=(

[meerkat]

Congratulations!!

Hope you are not faced with the same problem as mine though...and that is: The SAE grew so big and fat!! The once cute little things that are useful in clearing up algae, now not so cute le...=(

Not only are they big, they turn aggressive as well and compete actively with other guys over food!

My once little timid guys of 4 have now became the Terrible Mafia Gang of 4!

Plus they also squabble amongst themselves...

[Joseph*]

haha. just get Otos then. They don't get big and form their own secret society.

[meerkat]

haha. just get Otos then. They don't get big and form their own secret society.

Luckily my 4 otos are still law-abiding "citizens" and still quietly go about performing their cleaning duties diligently