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Old 20-04-2003, 07:13 AM
Allen Smith
 
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Default Do adult SAEs eat algae?

My opinion differs as I've had 2 adult SAES at the 4" or so range.
They are very happy and content, but I find their algae eating
abilities dubious. I've watched them continously and they will just
rest on the bottom all day long until I drop food in. If I stop
feeding for a week they will just rest on the bottom all day long too,
and maybe, just maybe, they might eat a little algae, but I'm very
doubtful.

Baby SAEs on the other hand are working every second and I love them.

Chuck Gadd wrote in message . ..
On 29 Nov 2002 09:49:14 -0800, (Bob Alston) wrote:

Do adult SAEs really eat algae? I have heard statements that the
adults do not.


Yes. They never stop. Mine are now several years old, and very
large.

At the AGA conference, one person suggested to just not feed the fish
in the tank for several days and they would resume eating algae.


You definitely don't need to starve them to get them to eat algae.

Mine are VERY over-fed, eagerly eating the food when I feed the
rainbows. The SAEs eat lots of regular food, but never stop searching
plants for any signs of algae.

Recently I moved several BBA covered plants from another tank into the
75g with the SAEs. Within a day, the 4 SAEs had completely cleaned
the plants of all traces of BBA.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua