How Well Do Siamese Algae Eaters Eat Black Beard Algae? ...A Little Experiment From The Den

[@coralocean1442]

It's easy to confuse the Siamese Algae eater with the Flying Fox. Flying Fox are very aggressive so watch out! Great video as always. I HATE black beard algae! Patriot is awfully quiet these days.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Coralocean - this is an EXCELLENT point! I should have consulted with you prior to the video as I should have mentioned this....I'll pin this comment and hopefully more folks will see it. Yes, very easy to confuse the two. I should have mentioned that real SAE's have the black line that run all the way through their tail fin.....Really glad you pointed out the confusion with the Flying Fox. Lol - Patriot will be making another appearance soon....he came on a few videos ago. I think he is upset that he is turning more blue due to his marbled Betta jumping gene....and he says he hates the color blue. It's a self confidence thing. I have a therapist lined up for him so he can get his frustrations out ;)

[@coralocean1442]

Hehe I'm NO expert. An employee at my pet shop told me about it when I was buying algae eaters a while back. Oh..poor Patriot, they are moody aren't they? My female (Tina) is so full of eggs and wants to spawn so I started a video and tried to mate her with Kronos. He is NOT in the mood and won't even make a bubble nest! Little stinker. I have all this live food and he doesn't like her. She wants him to marry her so bad. lol (I could make a hilarious video of those two if I had your skill). P.s I am a therapist, but they didn't cover Betta psychopathology at my university. :P

[@faiz6422]

Sir, if i put one flying fox with 10 tetra neon will there any fish war happen in my aquarium tank? 😃

[@iqtech1362]

So flying fox don't eat any algae?

[@jt9513]

@@iqtech1362 no

[@moburton7038]

We have a 200 lt tank that has an outbreak of Blackbeard black algae. We got 3 Siamese algae eaters last week but I can't say the tank looks any better, plants still covered in the algae. 23:55

[@brianashcroft7907]

Hi. I got four SAE, s only 3 wks. ago and my black was taking over. Now I can't find a trace. They are great little fish.

[@Superflow66]

I have had black beard and have had no luck controlling it. I’m on well water and have high iron Great video 👍

[@roadtrip5643]

It's really hard to find this days.but i love this algae eater!!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

They are great fish! Always cleaning up after us. :)

[@thebigfellacole3757]

Love the video! I find that once they hit 3-4” they start to ignore the algae, and once they’re full grown they only eat the algae if they’re starving. I have a dozen of various sizes rn in my 125 so I can make sure my bba is gone. Love these things!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Couldn’t agree more! They absolutely love the algae when they are young. Maybe we spoil them in their old age? Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind words!

[@papajim632]

Hi Mike, well you’ve convinced me, I’ll be on my way to my lfs for a couple SAE’s for my 75which has developed a BBA Issue in recent months. Very good video, thanks

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Jim - great to hear from you! I'm glad the video was helpful and that I could "gently nudge" you toward SAE's. Definitely consider them for your 75 gallon - they should do a great job getting that BBA, and they are awfully peaceful fish that work well in community settings! Thanks for the continued support and for checking out the video!

[@MsDragonfire1992]

My siamese algea eater suddenly died last week and yesterfay i noticed black beared algea in my tank and it doesnr get any dosing of any type of fertiliser and I use liquod carbon every day and the lights are only on 4-6 hours. So down to the aquarium store I went today and picked up 2 of them. One for my 240l thats just started with it on one plant and one for my 70l which has several plants with it. Their only babies so when the other one gets bigger he will be moved out of the 70l to a larger tank.

[@AussieAquatic]

SAE's are the No.1 Algae eater in the hobby. A must have in planted aquariums for sure. Tanks are looking lush Mike. Another Super video from the Den :)

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Colin - as always, thank you for the kind words and support! I know you have a lot of experience with SAE's, much more than I, but I couldn't agree more - a must have in planted tanks. The tanks are coming along - trying to get where you are ;) I think I finally have my dosing dialed in...been a few months in the works :)

[@AussieAquatic]

@@dmichaelsfishden I have a funny dosing story. I was pushing the boundaries of my daily ferts, and just going a bit higher daily over many months. AND THEN :)

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

I bought 20 juvies for 4 aquariums to reduce BBA. No improvement. Excel and hydrogen peroxide caused my anubias to die back. Focusing on the root cause now which is phosphates. Water changes, DIY plant fertilizers, and phosphate reducing resins. Note: my tanks are 55-340 gallons and the siamese algae eaters cannot keep up with BBA in larger aquariums.

[@kranson8514]

First time on your channel great presentation, narration felt smooth. That siamese was a super star 🐟🌟

[@Damitsall]

1 thing a lot of people forget to mention about SAE behavior and something to watch out for, is they are jumpers. All the SAE I used to have died because they jumped out. Even on the tanks where I had a glass top, they would find the smallest opening and get out.

[@kurtlawrence4879]

Mate, thanks for this video hey! APPRECIATED!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure, Kurt! Thanks for watching!

[@karinlanven3562]

Thanks for a helpful before and after video of the algae eaters usefulness.!! They are also very pretty I must say 😍

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure Karin! Thanks for watching!

[@chelmsford6774]

I always wanted to do a test, but didn't get to it. Thanks Bud ;-).

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure, Chelms Ford! I hadn't either before this - seems like the rumors are true!!

[@Mystic.CleopatraVII]

The little wink sold me lol

[@wandaoshiro2014]

🌺Mahalo or thank you Michael for this tip, will try the Siamese Algae Eater in my 10 gal tanks. Once again, great video.😉

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Thanks, Wanda, and my pleasure! Definitely give the SAE a try! If you get a little guy, you can keep him/her in a 10 gallon for awhile. :) Glad the video was helpful!

[@wandaoshiro2014]

@@dmichaelsfishden🌺 I hope so, guess SAE will out grow my 10, hope not right away & be able to control the black beard algae. Because my otto won't touch it, he just waits for me to feed him fish food. Would you happen to know if SAE will eat Blue Dream Shrimps, because my ottos doesn't eat them?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Hi Wanda - he won't out grow it right away :) I'm sure you'll be able to keep your SAE in there for a year or so if it is a little guy. And yep, unfortunately, black beard algae is not on the Oto's menu.....they won't touch it at all. I've never seen an SAE go after a shrimp at all - you should be just fine. :) All my SAE's ignore shrimp completely (Except if you are actually feeding them frozen brine shrimp)

[@wandaoshiro2014]

@@dmichaelsfishden 🌺Mahalo or thank you so much Michael for the info, great to know they most likely won't eat my shrimps. I'll definitely be purchasing a SAE soon! 🤗

[@z-collector7518]

My experience is the opposite of what you observed. My Siamese (6 of them) would eat anything else but algae. CO2 fluctuations were the culprit in my case so removing the solenoid valve from the CO2 bottle solved the problem. Cheers!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Lol - yeah, they can be fickle that way. This little guy loves algae, but I have another one who, apparently, is on an algae eating strike and won't touch it. Glad you solved the problem though! Good move with the valve! Nice work!

[@asifali007]

i can add 2 Siamese Alage Eaters to my 25 gallon tank.. along with tetras,shrimp and other small fish?

[@EuroGupper]

What about regular dark green algae that covers plants?

[@heatherleelovejoy9690]

I don’t dose anything in my tank but have a lot of black beard algae, what lowers iron ?

[@deeo2417]

Ohhhhh I thought i had just a gray colored hair algea I definitely have what you have here. Black beard/black brush algea. My 1 mystery snail can’t keep up. I need one of these guys. Thanks for the video !

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure! They will definitely help with the black beard algae!

[@istoppedlaughing5225]

Do they eat Staghorn Algae?

[@69vkumar]

I have bba and I have 2 baby ones but I have not seen any bba go away I think I’ll just wait for some more time don’t worry the

[@daviddornblaser4512]

Nice video! Thank you.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure David. Thanks for watching!

[@CountStarkey]

Your rasboras are beautiful well done!

[@AnselmCarasco]

They have eye lids

[@steakdog174]

I have one and his name is roomba

[@Codingers]

so, who is the best algae eaters? sae or otocinclus?? especially to clean the BBA

[@tomthebomb3189]

waht about poseidon unsea resort and Hotel Subaquático

[@anthonyragan2696]

Good work on the video -- those juvenile SAEs are impressive, though I've heard the older ones get a little lazy. And I think I saw a large patch of cladophora algae in one of the tanks. Hydrogen Peroxide is good for that.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Anthony - thank you for the kind words! And I think you are absolutely right - my older SAE does seem to just wait for the regular fish food the older he gets - but that little guy....really cleaned things up quick. I figured it might work, but I didn't think it would in 4 days. Yep - I do have cladophora algae in the 10 gallon tank - I'm guessing another by product of dosing too much iron - I really over did it....I can usually remove it in clumps, but I have been thinking about some peroxide to stop the spread - good eye seeing that, and great advice. I'm right on the same page with ya :)

[@nageshkumar-jy5gu]

Siamese Algae Eaters are the best algae eaters among all.

[@kombatcrab]

I have 3 SAE and still lots of algae

[@medwardbell]

I had no idea dosing with iron would lead to Blackbeard algae

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Hey Mark - Neither did I until I did a lot of research on it. Of course there are other causes, but black beard, for whatever reason, really responds with excess iron...Thanks for checking out the video!

[@Mittzie]

@@dmichaelsfishdenyea it’s a big issue for those of us with naturally high iron levels in our water. I mean our red plants look great without a lot of dosing but it’s a total pain in the arse for BBA in tanks we can’t add SAEs in.

[@scottmcclintock3942]

Thank you!!

[@rrated_jay143]

Where can I buy them their not at my local fish store and not on liveaquaria. Do you know anywhere you could buy them?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

I luck out from time to time and buy them from my local store but I have order from the wet spot before. Wetspottropicalfish.com and had luck with them. They may have some in stock they can ship. Hope that helps a little!

[@FactsCountdown]

Does nirite snails eat black beard algae

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Vigo - I don't believe they do. I've kept Nerites now for 4 years, and I've never seen them go after black beard algae - they are great with other types of algae, but unfortunately, I think the black beard is too tough for them to handle

[@hf4124]

I have a 15 gal tank with bba in it, will a sae be too big for it?

[@Hankxiong]

Is there any fish that will consume staghorn algea? My SAE dont even bother...

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Hank -not that I've seen. It's an excellent question. If there are, I don't know about them and haven't come across any in researching. Sorry I can't help more. I think staghorn is just too tough for most fish to even try....You could try to kill off your staghorn with some hydrogen peroxide (3%) - that or the old reduce lighting and nutrients deal. I wish I did know of a fish that would go for staghorn...

[@evanchong2247]

Is SAE better than 4-6 otos if you could only pick one? Or Bristlenose pleco? I am trying to pick one more cleanup crew option to add to my 3 nerite snails and 5 amano shrimp but will be overstocked if i add too much. Thanks!

[@rusjmana6279]

thanks

[@pertainedsix5917]

Awesome video. Sorry to be a pain but what fish do you keep in that tank? The orange ones and the littler fish darting around to be exact. Cheers.

[@sugarbabie1681]

aquahuna.com/products/serpae-tetra These guys?

[@hendriyahya7995]

What is the juvenile size in centimeter?

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

Hmm I need to hire one. Since moving from a 110L to a 240L most of my amazon frogbit died and then black algae started to grow (weirdly only in lower lighting areas) :/

[@Aquatasy]

Great video! I love Siamese Algae Eaters. They are by far my favorite algae-eating fish species. Love their look, love their efficiency, and love their personality. Glad to see you showing just how effective they are at consuming BBA. So, is Winky going to stay in the 10 gallon tank for a while? Can Patriot stand to have another featured performer in his tank?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Thanks, Andrew! I do know you have a lot of experience with SAE's, so I'm glad you caught this video. Thought you might appreciate it. Awesome fish at getting that BBA - I was quite surprised how quickly Winky cleaned it up. Lol - yes, Patriot has already filed a complaint with SAG-AFTRA stating that his work environment is hostile and unsuitable due to another featured performer stepping on his contractual deal which he forgot to sign anyway so I don't think it will hold up ;) I think Winky might stay in there awhile, at least until I send some of the "Krib teenagers" in my 15 gallon to my LFS for adoption. It looked like the Kribs beat him up a bit - once those Kribs grow a bit, they get pretty adamant about their territories and that 15 gallon is getting too small to keep all of them anymore. I'm going to keep a pair, then donate the other 7 to my LFS to be re-homed :)

[@Aquatasy]

@@dmichaelsfishden Patriot may have to learn to share the limelight. I think Winky has star potential. If I lived closer to you I'd offer to come take some of those juvie cribs off your hands. I'm sure your LFS will find good homes for them (and hopefully give you nice store credit in the process).

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Lol - Winky sure might - at least he does have the charming, winking thing down - Patriot doesn't know that move yet....If you lived closer I would love to give you some of the Kribs - I would especially like to do that because I would know they would be in good hands....I've thought about trying to ship them, but I've never personally done that - so I thought about asking my LFS for some help there. If you don't mind them being shipped up (with help from my LFS), shoot me an email and let me know....I have a male/female pair I could send to you....no charge for anything - I just want to see the juvies in a good home :)

[@aquahobbiest43]

How many sae in 100L tank?

[@debbywilliams4425]

Very helpful info 😂

[@mkle3977]

Hey, I know it’s been a year ago but do they eat green hair algae? I currently have an outbreak of green hair algae going on and I’ve tried removing it manually but it just keeps coming back-

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Excellent comment, MDBD! Exactly right!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Mk Le - Exactly what MDBD said in the comments - completely agree, and I couldn't have said it better...

[@varianoid]

THANK YOU!

[@nageshkumar-jy5gu]

I agree it is one of the best algae eater👍

[@dmichaelsfishden]

One of the best!!!

[@andarien]

My adult doesn’t eat algae anymore. It just sits around waiting for fish food. I may have to skip some meals

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Hi Alex - Yep, that happens when they get older. They get lazy in their old age..lol. Definitely have him skip a few meals - He'll remember algae is also food

[@Lonewolfblue66]

How many would you recommend for a moderately planted 75G?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Jeff - I would say in a 75G you'd have no problem with 3 at full size, depending on the other fish you have. To start, maybe give 2 a try and see how that goes - in my experience, they aren't territorial at all and they will constantly graze for algae. They will also eat all types of commercially available food.

[@motorhead16]

From my experience, they don't touch any kind of black/red algae

[@nateboy1994]

I had so much black bearded algae and I added 3 sae's and within 3 days about 80% of the algae was gone. Their great, not sure what their gonna eat when the algae is gone

[@varianoid]

SAE are also opportunistic scavengers and will graze on any food you give your other fish, other algae in your tank, and will sometimes nibble on your live plants. As long as you keep feeding your tank, the SAE will be happy.

[@sarzn6601]

This video is really helping~ Thanks

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure, Sarzn! Glad the video was helpful!

[@skyantelope]

did you ever have issues with aggression from these little dudes?? I wanna get some for my tanks that are INFESTED with BBA but I've heard they're territorial and will attack other fish with black stripes like otos (I have many). I noticed you have them together in the video, did you ever experience that?? :0

[@chewkenghong]

I had 4 of these added to the tank at my moms. Not to eat algae but they just look cute. Thing is the tank was absolutely free of BBA..And shrimps. They ate up almost all the 40 neo caradina shrimps...by the time I realised...only left 3 shrimps...in 2 weeks...so those w shrimps...don't do it.

[@waltroskoh8650]

How did you lose 37 shrimp and not notice.

[@chewkenghong]

@@waltroskoh8650 I go my mum's place once a weekly...so that ate 40 shrimps in a week... 😆

[@Mr.Plant1994]

SAE’s or Amano’s? Which do you prefer for algae?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Cody - for an overall algae eater - SAE's. Not to throw shade on Amanos, though - they are fabulous shrimp. But for pure algae eating, it takes many Amano shrimp to do the work one SAE can do - that being said, Amano shrimp are my favorite, so I would certainly recommend going with them. Great cleaners and super, super hardy. I had one climb out of the tank a few weeks ago during a water change, walked almost into the other room and was hanging there for awhile until I finally saw him. Picked him up, put him back in the tank....wasn't phased at all. Alive, kicking, and going strong 👍💪

[@filiplaskovski9993]

I have a lot of bba I gotta get myself a sae

[@renjithravindren7101]

Is they eat shrimps ?thanks in advance bro

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Nope, they won't touch shrimps. They only eat the algae, and of course, just about any fish food you feed. Your shrimps will be safe and sound 👍

[@renjithravindren7101]

@@dmichaelsfishden thanks bro

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure!

[@quantumxnah1n]

Cutest fishes

[@aboogeymanman5714]

Hate these things now. I lost my second one last night after they bullied one to death the remainder started on another one. Tried to save him but was too far gone 🤬

[@echtwaarhe6417]

I need help. I have 2 in a big tank, 2 in a smaller. But for a month now all they seem to do is lay on the ground or sit in a leave... And yes I have some algae,

[@armandbarthelemy9428]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@sergioortiz1839]

SAE VS OTTOS

[@muhammadludfiyani552]

.

[@Robrismo-rc]

Love these little guys they did a great job destroying bba

[@Raynewyn]

First