Loaches Online Forum

I have a tank of Clown Loaches and now a QT tank of Siamese Algae Eaters... the Clowns are about 4-5" and the SAE's 1-2". Will the Clowns try to eat the SAE's?

Debra

I would say that the Clowns would have to be extremely hungry and particularly evil if they even thought about it.

I have larger clowns but they ignore the SAE.

I think that you can comfortably add them to your tank.

Good luck!

Thank you!

The Clowns are mischievous but the SAE's are probably faster. I will give them a place to hide and keep an eye on things.

I have both, they only interact when fed zucchini & leaf lettuces. Nobody likes to wait their turn, just pushy not mean.

Thank you Nancy~ I was happy to hear positive experiences. I can add my own now because when I introduced the SAE's to the Clown tank, they all played nicely with each other, and the tenacious red algae is actually beginning to disappear!

Hi Nancy though S A E's as they are called are in some ways thought of as purely functional fishes , this really shouldnt be the case as they are wonderful tank subjects !
There are a good few that are very similar , and they are all quite attractive i'm talking C. Siamensis , C. Atrilimes , C . Nigriloba , and the one that i'm still looking forward to keeping C . Oblongus .
WONDERFUL !

I have 11 clowns and 3-4 SAE in the same tank and the SAE's were about that size when I introduced them into the tank with clowns about the same size as yours and had no issues.

Yikes!

It's been about 10 days since I intoduced 8 SAE's (yes C. Siamensis, piggy4) to my red-algae covered 50g tank, and already the decorations are cleaner than I can get them with hours of scrubbing. They are exceeding my wildest expectations. And as you mentioned piggy4, they are a fun fish, friendly and swimming and resting and working at every level.

They are pretty cute, and as in your experience, Beowulf, no issues! In my search I did come across several different algae eaters similar to C. Siamensis. What is known as the Flying Fox is a very pretty and fun fish.

I'm not sure how much algae they are actually ingesting as their tummies don't seem to be bulging even slightly. They may only be disrupting a lot of it, because I've been replacing my filter floss every other day or so, packed with algae.

I'm pretty happy!
Debra

you will find one thing with them, as they grow they are less inclined to go for the algae plus they don't seem to shoal as much as when they were younger.

mick

Thats a fair point that Mick has made , I think Sae's were touted by Dernerle ,the planted tank specialists as the answer to algae problems ! and i'd tend to agree BUT in fairness most young fish eat a lot more than adults , i.e . to avoid staying small for to long , and risking becoming planctonic fodder !
I suspect some of the algae eating Cats do a far better job ! BUT as for a good looking none aggresive fish the various foxes are wonderful , plus if you like your tanks to be geographical , i.e. Loaches then these fit the bill being from Asia !

I have kept sae with modesta, eos, skunks and robusta.
no problem
sae like to be in the open, bright areas eating algae.

you will have no problems having sae with the gentle giants (clowns).

Cool... thanks you guys