# Do SAE's eat diatoms?



## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Otocinclus love diatom's as well as Amano shrimp.
Siamese algae eater's would prefer to be in a group and may require fairly large tank for them to achieve adult size.
They are a cool fish that I NEVER see in my neck of the wood's and I don't really trust just anyone to ship me true Siamese algae eater's .(black stripe goes from tail through the eye's).
Also not to be confused with Chinese algae eater.(wouldn't let ya give me one).


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## The Coffee (Oct 12, 2013)

roadmaster said:


> Otocinclus love diatom's as well as Amano shrimp.
> Siamese algae eater's would prefer to be in a group and may require fairly large tank for them to achieve adult size.
> They are a cool fish that I NEVER see in my neck of the wood's and I don't really trust just anyone to ship me true Siamese algae eater's .(black stripe goes from tail through the eye's).
> Also not to be confused with Chinese algae eater.(wouldn't let ya give me one).


I know they're pretty rare. I've been lucky enough to find some legit ones around here. Pretty expensive at 7 bucks.


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## Vancat2 (Jun 23, 2010)

otos are the go-to fish for diatoms


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## flight50 (Apr 17, 2012)

Vancat2 said:


> otos are the go-to fish for diatoms


I agree to get Otts instead, they are very docile. In my experience SAE get very lazy as they get older. They are one of the few that is said to eat BBA but I don't recall if they did or not in my tank. They eat less and algae as they age and prefer food bottom feeders food. I once had 3 in a 55 and one turned into a true greedy bully as it got bigger. They started chasing off my panda cories and they had to go at that point, lol. It wasn't fun catching them but I had to get them out. For me, I wouldn't purchase them again to be in a community tank. I got mine from aquariumfish.net back in the day and they were the real thing at a great price.


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## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

Most of my diatoms cleared before I got my SAE. The Otos I bought from Petco or Petsmart (I don't recall) almost all died (6 of 7) within a few days, which I hear is not that unusual. The remaining one is, frankly, boring. The SAE's on the other hand are fascinating - they are FAST, they are always kind of hovering around separately or in a group, skimming along the edge of plants, etc. They cleaned up all the staghorn and (I think) hair algae I had, and most of the BBA. Industrious, fascinating fish, very entertaining. Should have a fairly large tank though, they are very fast and swim all the time.

My guess is they are good with diatoms also not but sure. Most of mine were cleaned up by Ramshorns.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

Linwood, you beat me to it. I was going to suggest ramshorns for BBA. I have found out by accident that they will take care of the stuff and tried it in 2 more tanks and they are amazing with BBA. For brown diatoms I would take otos over SAEs. I just bought 5 otos on Sunday and they are all alive and well. Added Prazipro for parasites and keeping my fingers crossed. You have to check them out before you buy them (see if they are active and eating) and then make sure you have enough algae in the tank for them to eat until they find out that zucchini is edible. Once one oto finds out, the rest will follow his lead. They seem to talk to one another about what is edible. I have 2 resident otos (over 6 years old) in another tank and if these 5 can't figure it out, I will add one of my older otos with them once quarantine is over to teach the younger ones.


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## The Coffee (Oct 12, 2013)

garfieldnfish said:


> For brown diatoms I would take otos over SAEs. I just bought 5 otos on Sunday and they are all alive and well.


I like the look of both fish tbh although the SAE is maybe a bit more striking to look at.

The thing is I tried ottos a few months after I set up the tank (over 2 years ago) and they ended up dying off within a week. I put it down to stress from being chased by the young angels in the tank. I'm worried this will happen again...the angels are now mature so I'm not sure if they are even fish that are compatible. Could just have been less than ideal conditions in the new tank though.

I would be willing to try ottos again if they are that good with diatoms as everyone has been saying, as long as they are compatible with angels. Anyone know if they can safely be kept together??


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## HuginMunin (Jan 31, 2014)

I've had otos and angels together for a few years with no problems.


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## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Linwood said:


> Most of my diatoms cleared before I got my SAE. *The Otos I bought from Petco or Petsmart (I don't recall) almost all died (6 of 7) within a few days, which I hear is not that unusual. The remaining one is, frankly, boring.* The SAE's on the other hand are fascinating - they are FAST, they are always kind of hovering around separately or in a group, skimming along the edge of plants, etc. They cleaned up all the staghorn and (I think) hair algae I had, and most of the BBA. Industrious, fascinating fish, very entertaining. Should have a fairly large tank though, they are very fast and swim all the time.
> 
> My guess is they are good with diatoms also not but sure. Most of mine were cleaned up by Ramshorns.


1) Don't buy your Otos from chain stores, if you can avoid it. 

2) If you do, and they die, the chain store will replace it.

3) Solo Otos are boring because they're lonely and depressed. You want at least 3, and more is better. Get a few more and your Oto will be MUCH happier and more active.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

Agreed. You so totally need more than one oto. They are social fish and love each others company. If you decide to get otos, make sure they look healthy, are active and are eating at the store. Make sure their bellies are fat. Also ask how long they had the otos and what they are feeding them. If it is possible ask when they are feeding them and go there at that time. Then buy the otos that are eating. Add them to a quarantine tank that has some algae or if they already known zucchini is edible any tank will do but add Prazipro as all otos are wild caught and parasites are likely and possibly what kills many of them.
BTW how big is your tank? I have SAEs that are 6+ inches. They are about 12 years old and any time someone comes over to check out my critters I get the "I can't believe they get that large". SAEs need a large tank since they also require company of their own kind and they will likely grow to 6" each and have a large bio load. A 55 gal is a must for 3 of them and I would not get any less. Otos are much easier or some ramshorn snails. If you go with ramshorns I can mail you a few, lol.


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## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

kman said:


> 1) Don't buy your Otos from chain stores, if you can avoid it.
> 
> 2) If you do, and they die, the chain store will replace it.
> 
> 3) Solo Otos are boring because they're lonely and depressed. You want at least 3, and more is better. Get a few more and your Oto will be MUCH happier and more active.


Yeah, all true. The ones I bought looked healthy and fat and were eating, but dropped dead one by one soon after. It wasn't worth the hassle of taking each body back each time -- if they had all died in one day, maybe. And from what I hear you then often get a run around about your water being bad, buy our conditioners... wasn't worth it. 

The SAE I got (from a guy who had just gotten them from a local farm) were pretty good size, I'd say 3 inches, so I'm really curious to see them get bigger. They were such a pleasant surprise at how interesting and active they are (as well as useful). 

Do make sure if shopping for SAE that you really, actually get them. I found even serious hobbyists who had bogus information, e.g. that flying fox and SAE were the same. I have 6 in a 220G and 2 in a 45G; I'm not too worried about the former, but maybe the latter as they grow.

Oh... SAE really jump at times. I lost three (three!) while acclimating them in a bucket, where they jumped over about a 5" high side onto the floor. They have not jumped out of the other tanks (which have several open areas), but they can REALLY jump if they try.


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