Flying Foxes

[This Old Spouse]

I recently bought what I thought were Siamese algae eaters. That's what I ordered from the LFS (where I will not be darkening their door ever again ... this was the last straw) but when I got them home I realized they were Flying Foxes.

These are extremely cool fish. But I don't know anything about them. I've read conflicting reports all over. One of the things I read was that they get aggressive with each other, so I put one each in my 55g, 29g and 20g. They're doing all right, I guess, but I'm mainly worried that the ones in the two smaller tanks need more room. Do I dare put them all together in the 55g or will all hell break loose?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

There are at least 5 or 6 species that come into the hobby as Siamese Algae Eaters, the store label name tends to always match the wholesalers name, even when pointed out they rarely correct it.

You need to post some decent photos to get a definite ID.

 

[This Old Spouse]

These are the day I got them. They've now started developing a reddish tinge on their fins. The biggest one is nearly 4".

 

[TekFish]

Those look like Flying Foxes all right. They get quite big, and a 55g isn't big enough to house 3 without problems... I'd give them to a pet shop, actually better advertise them on here. Someone with a nice big Asian Biotope tank will probably take them off your hands.

Tekfish

 

[This Old Spouse]

What does "quite big" mean?

 

[TekFish]

15 - 16cm, maybe more.

TekFish

 

[wroberson]

I have 2 of them and they are aggressive with each other. The dominate one chases the subordinate one usually into a corner. They don't actually fight where they injure. The fish tend to graze and that's what they argue over. They do not bother the other fish in the tank. My red tail shark chases the flying foxes. It's all about the grazing field. We most likely have all males. 6 inches is not that big for a fish unless it's in a small tank.

 

[phoenixgsd]

there seems to be alot of confusion over the siamese algae eater and the flying fox, shops call them the same and alot of websites also refer to them as the same fish, some sites say there are subtle differences, i have one, we think, i posted a photo on here and it was divided as to which it was, ff or sae, i dont really care as it seems perfectly happy and i love it

 

[This Old Spouse]

The reason I got them in the first place was to get rid of the BBA I had in my tanks, and the flying foxes don't eat it. Other than that, I really enjoy them. They don't bother the other fish at all and seem to just cruise through the tanks like small sharks. Very beautiful, and I have just one per tank so they don't chase each other around.