Siamese Algae Eater

[Spottedpleco]

I wanted to buy a Siamese Algae Eater to trim some algae in my 180 gallon. Is the pictured fish of that black beard algae eating, peaceful species or is she a lookalike? She has gone after a male Platinum Guppy nipping and tearing up his fins, and generally chased female guppies for short spurts.

[Crazygar]

That looks like a Flying Fox or Epalzeorhynchos kalopterus. Siamese Algae Eaters have one dark band running on the lateral line and that's it. The fins are also transparent on the SAE (Crossocheilus siamensis).

On your picture, you took with flash, the golden band above the black lateral line ID's this fish as an Flying Fox. Here is a great link to help distinguish between the two;

http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm

Move down 3/4 of the page and you'll see the article with pictures. If you could take another picture without flash, I'd love to 100% sure ID this fish as a Flying Fox.

So far, I am at 80%

Gary

[AMcCaleb]

I had the exact same issue too. I think what I have is a false siamensis. The lateral black stripe on mine stops at the base of the tail.

[Crazygar]

That link I posted above is a great guide. Once you understand the differences, it's easy afterwards.

Gary

[Spottedpleco]

Just what I was afraid to hear. I sure tried to get the right species. I looked at articles and compared photos. I don't want a large fish that bullies my guppies, they were there first -whimper. Here is a photo of her without flash.

[Spottedpleco]

That is a neat guide. That website did not come up when I was googling the species.

[Crazygar]

Here is the best guide: http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html

Gary

[lou zello]

crazygar was correct that is a FLYING FOX!!!!!!! the TRUE S.A.E. black strip THRU the tail, CLEAR fins,ONLY one set of barbels.

[C. Andrew Nelson]

I wouldn't despair too much, though. I've had Flying Foxes over the years and never had any troubles with them. Completely peaceful in my experience. And although not as efficient as a true Siamese Algae Eater, the Flying Foxes did a pretty good job of keeping the algae in check. The one nice trade off is that the Flying Fox is (IMO) a more attractive looking fish.

[Crazygar]

Yeah, I'll have to agree with that statement as well. My Buddy Kelly has a Flying Fox (aka, "The Incredible Mr.Fox") and he's a sure pretty fish and does a good job at cleaning. In fact, it's an interesting fish. He has staked out a little territory in some driftwood and protects it from the Barbs in the tank with him.

Gary

[lou zello]

the only thing with the FLYING FOX is some of them will become nasty and they will NOT eat black beard algae,but yes i agree they are better looking. i took some photos of individual fish the other night and will post some as soon as i can,some are of my TRUE S.A.E.'s and some are of my 2 NEW(about 2 weeks ago) Albino Longfin Pleco's.the pleco's are super cool looking especially when they are sucking the front glass,they look like those angel figurines you can by at stores.

[Diana]

I find the most consistent ID is the meeting of the black stripe with the reticulated pattern on the back. When each scale is outlined with any shade of brown, black or grey, or some intermediate color, that is what makes the reticulated or netted pattern. Fish can darken or pale out, so stating that it will always be a certain color is not always true. But the basic pattern will be there.
If the reticulated pattern is not very obvious it is probably the FF, they tend to have a more solid colored dorsal surface, but not always, certainly not in this case. (On my monitor it looks like this fish has a pretty distinct netting)
If the reticulated pattern stops before the black stripe then it is the FF. No matter what shade the netting is, no matter how distinct or not it will either go all the way to the black stripe (true SAE) or not (FF).
If the netting does not reach the black stripe, then the area above the stripe is usually yellow, but not always. Could be somewhat brassy, or silver. But if the netting stops, and there is another band above the black, the fish is not the true SAE.

Taking several pictures is a good idea. In this thread, for example, the fish could almost be 2 separate fish, based on the pictures. The flash might reflect off the fish in just the wrong area, and the distinctive features may be washed out in the glare.

It sure looks like the black stripe goes into the fin part of the tail, (especially in the 2nd picture) not restricted to the muscular part. So, for me, that is not enough to call it one species or the other.
Barbels are hard to count, especially if the fish is keeping them clamped to his chin. But if you can watch long enough, then 'too many' can be seen. Having just 2 (one pair) is harder to tell. What if the fish has injured the barbels and they are temporarily missing? And very young fish have such fine barbels that it is easy to miscount.

[Crazygar]

..so the Jury is still in recess. I am guessing NOT an SAE.

Gary

[lou zello]

the thing that makes me sure is that in both photos there is a lot of yellow in the fins,and my 3 s.a.e.'s have VERY clear fins,so again my vote is for flying fox

[Spottedpleco]

Hmm, well here is a video of her. I moved her today to another tank so that I may start Cherry Shrimp in the 180 gallon. I'm guessing that she'd probably eat Cherry Shrimp.