Flying Fox

[Fish Buddy]

I have 2 of them in my 10 g and am wondering if they will soon out grow it. Also, are they schooling fish because they are always together?

 

[Opcn]

6" in ideal conditions more liely 4.5"-5" but remember they get older as they grow up.

Opcn

Edit* they get meaner as they grow up

 

[Pointy_kitty]

6" in ideal conditions more liely 4.5"-5" but remember they get older as they grow up.

Opcn

Edit* they get meaner as they grow up

they do!
the little buggers!
i just had to take mine out of my community tank and put him into my gourami tank cause he was being the devil
he was grabbing my platy by the top fin and as she tried to swim away he would tear it!
now he's with the gourami and he hides (he doesn't wanna pee these big puppies off!

and about the schooling thing
i'd say they are not
they are sort of like sharks,
babies are small and playful and tumble around each other in the stores but let them grow to be adult sized and they get territorial with the same species and simular algae eaters (i if you MUST mix i would not recommend otto or other small algae eaters/ bottom feeders)!
cory could mix as they are armoured and usually aren't bothered by other tank cleaners

 

[noelberg]

My friend wants some flying foxes to take care of his thread algae. I heard they eat very little algae when they're older - is this true?

 

[Fish Buddy]

6" in ideal conditions more liely 4.5"-5" but remember they get older as they grow up.

Opcn

Edit* they get meaner as they grow up

Thanks for the info guys

 

[Pointy_kitty]

My friend wants some flying foxes to take care of his thread algae. I heard they eat very little algae when they're older - is this true?

i don't know about that, but make sure they are TRUE flying fox,
they take care of algae better than any of the algae eating imposter!!!!!

 

[ryan]

The Flying Fox with a sharp black line and gold band above it on a dark brown background is the one known to become aggressive, they will eat a little algae but not alot. The Siamese Flying Fox has an indented black line on a light grey background, the black line goes all the way to the bottom of the tail, and I believe they only have one set of barbels compared to the other which has two, these are very good algae eaters and need to be kept in a group, they both reach similar sizes but the Siamese Flying Fox is less aggressive and eats more algae, I keep both fish and IME this is true. But wait for Lateral to verify differences in the species and how to identify them.

 

[pebbles]

Fishbuddy , flying foxes grow to a considerable size and from my experience get very mean to the point that i found i had to return mine to the lfs ,he was making my other fishes lives not worth living.Noelberg. as regards hair algea,I believe ryan is pretty accurate in his description. the fish you are after , what i think is the 'true' S A E .. is Crossoheilus siamensis. i have three and although i have had to give them some help with the thread algea by pulling out the worse of it , they are always busy munching on what is left,also i think they are best kept in groups .... pebbles

 

[modernhamlet]

This thread really needs this link:

http/www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

 

[Lateral Line]

Ryan has given you probably the best and easiest differentiating charactersitic, the true SAE has a serrated edge to it's black stripe.

That link has pretty much all you need to differentiate between the true SAE, which is the algae eater par excellence, and the similar cyprinids, (although how anyon ecould mistake a CAE for any of the others astounds me). There are several other Cyprinids which could be confused, but they are rarely imported and again, tend to have a straight edge to their black stripe.