# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  SAE?

## Goondoo

I had seen pictures of it and had read so much of how to identify it. Got 4 of this from Petmart I assume is SAE, please help me confirm as they doesn't seems interested in algaes at all.

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## hoppinghippo

goondo why don't you post your pics of them then we can see?

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## joe

yup no pics leh  :Razz:  [ :Grin: ]

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## vinz

Goondoo, what algae do you want it to eat? Algae eaters do not eat all algae, they specialise in different types.

This is a SAE...

Clear fins, black line through the tail fin, edges of black line is jagged and non-existant or very faint gold line above the black line.

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## joe

Frankly speaking, when they are very young, quite hard to distinguish between real one and &amp;quot;fake&amp;quot; one [:0]

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## Goondoo

HAHA.... simply goondoo... forgot even to link my pics after chasing them with a digital cam for about an hour... finally got them after ambushing at the favourite spot....

heres the link

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## joopsg

they looks like flying foxes to me..

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## vinz

The pic is blurry, but they look like SAEs to me.

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## budak

young saes definitely. flying foxes have coloured fins.

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## Simon

i agree, they r SAE...

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## benny

Clear dorsal fins...no extra band above the black stripe...

And the black stripe extends to the end of the tail..

Definitely SAE.

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## Goondoo

Felt assured now... cheers guys...

Vinz... 
I already have a whole series of algaes for them to consume but they hardly work... they prefer to play about where my rain bar outlet is....

Guessed they will never be as hard working as my Otos...

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## Simon

Billy, u can try an array of diff algae eaters, rather than relying on 1/2 species

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## Goondoo

I had 
about 100 Malayan shrimps,
15 Cherry Shimps,
5 Yamatoes,
left 2 Otos,
4 Sae (bought for hair algae removal after reading those articles)

So far, all except SAE is busy

PS: I didn't feed anything at all.

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## vinz

I've never seen mine whack long hair algae... I've only seen them busy among the plants nibbling at stuff I can't see with my naked eye. Give them a few days/weeks... if they don't starve, they must be eating something right? And if you're not feeding them, what else can they be eating...

If you want something that clears long thread algae, try platys... 20 of them cleared out an infestation in a 2.5 foot tank overnight. Dwarf gouramis cleared up short furry algae in my newt tank overnight. Not sure if any of these will eat long hair algae that forms a ball of threads...

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## Goondoo

hmmm...platys.... any particular breed in mind?
Whats the full name of it so I could go catch a glimspe of it.

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## joe

Get those swordtail platies. They're like bloated swordtails. I have 2 and they're extremely cute to watch!!! So fat till they rest on their bellies  :Smile:  [: :Smile: ] [: :Smile: ]

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## lorba

i've seen one of my bigger SAE lawn mowing over a patch of BBA. The area was cleaned after the SAE passed.

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## Goondoo

> ----------------
> On 2/24/2003 1:34:55 PM 
> 
> Get those swordtail platies. They're like bloated swordtails. I have 2 and they're extremely cute to watch!!! So fat till they rest on their bellies  [:] [:] 
> ----------------


hmmm... let me get this straight, swordtail=platies?

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## vinz

No... platys are not swordtails. Platys look like super deformed swordtails, minus the sword. Hint: go search the web for a picture.  :Evil:   :Wink:

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## joe

Eh Goondoo, u blur lah. I said look like swordtails lah. vinz described it correctly. A super bloated short swordtail is how I described it. C328 always have lots of platies near the plants section.

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## Goondoo

> ----------------
> On 2/24/2003 3:10:24 PM 
> 
> Eh Goondoo, u blur lah. I said look like swordtails lah. vinz described it correctly. A super bloated short swordtail is how I described it. C328 always have lots of platies near the plants section.
> ----------------


I not blur... I goondoo... keke...

Anyway, are they the ones sold as feeder fish in pack form? Black and red colours.... 
platy

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## sherchoo

Billy,
May I suggest you get your nutrients correct to tackle algae. Give the SAE some time, they should help to clear algae. You can try adding some more Yamatos which most will agree are very hardworking critters. 

May I ask how about your light, how much and how long (duration)?

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## chia2k

i agreed with sherchoo. yamato is good fren of planted tanks. provided u dun get too many ^^

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## pipsqueak

Hi goondoo, since we're on the topic of SAE..are your SAE doing their work yet? 
I bought 3 two days ago, and now, they've influenced my two previously hard working otos to play with. All they do is school, and chase each other playfully. :Mad:  
I'm gonna get some yamatoes once my tank has matured...I heard they do better in matured tanks...eh?
Sorry if it's going off topic.

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## Allen_1971

SAEs influencing Oto? Hmmm... My SAEs are playful, but my otos couldn't give a hoot about them. Typically SAEs are best when they haven't started competing with your other fishes for the commercial food... once their big or bold enough to start eating commercial food, thentheir algae eating days are numbered...

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## Goondoo

> ----------------
> On 2/28/2003 12:14:46 AM 
> 
> Hi goondoo, since we're on the topic of SAE..are your SAE doing their work yet? 
> I bought 3 two days ago, and now, they've influenced my two previously hard working otos to play with. All they do is school, and chase each other playfully. 
> I'm gonna get some yamatoes once my tank has matured...I heard they do better in matured tanks...eh?
> Sorry if it's going off topic.
> ----------------


I don't know.... I'm out of town. Anyway, last weekend, my SAE did try to coax my Otos into joining them school. My Oto simply ignored them, the SAEs enjoy schooling near the rain bar.

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## Goondoo

> ----------------
> On 2/25/2003 12:08:30 AM 
> 
> Billy,
> May I suggest you get your nutrients correct to tackle algae. Give the SAE some time, they should help to clear algae. You can try adding some more Yamatos which most will agree are very hardworking critters. 
> 
> May I ask how about your light, how much and how long (duration)?
> ----------------


I prefer malayan and cherry over yamatoes.... all are as hardworking in my tank. 
I got 4x37wFL Hitachi Hi light and 4X36w PL light(just change my tubes from NA).
currently split into 2 times of 5hrs with 4 hr interval inbetween.

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## pipsqueak

Hmm, thanks for the input allen and goondoo.Finally saw one of them nibbling on BBA.
Interesting how these sae's can be so playfull, like little puppies, they seem to chase each others tails, going round in circles.

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## NinjaFly

Goondoo,

I feel that the 2 fish on the left of your pic is SAE, but the one on the right is a flying fox/False SAE.

Well, I may be wrong. But when they get bigger, you will see a real difference.

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