"True" SAEs at my lfs

[FoundMoney]

I went to my lfs this afternoon and they seemed to have an abundance of SAEs, after never having them over the last three months. I'm wondering if these are the true SAEs since everyone says they are so hard to find and that there are other false species that are sold as true SAEs.

The ones in this store seem to have the black stripe that goes to the fork of the tail, but once it gets to the tailfin, the color is very faint, almost as if it's not there, but there is definititely some color variation. They also seem to have one set of barbels, which I think is the other sign, as false SAEs have two sets.

I think the store is pretty reputable but after reading that even some professionals get confused, how will I tell if this is the real thing or not?

 

[Lateral Line]

Have a close look at the black stripe. The true SAE has a serrated edge to it's stripe, not a "clean" edge.

 

[anna_panna]

Mine where the same, I asked for months about them, before they got any in the shop.

there are several articles on the web about it, like for example: http/www.petresources.net/fish/article/sae.html and http/www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/saes.htm

hope its the real one, they are amazing!

 

[FoundMoney]

Is it alright to have one SAE in a tank or do they really need to be in groups. I have a 30 gallon that's pretty stocked (see sig), but I'd also like to get one of these fish and I think two (and definitely more) would be bordering on overcrowding once they grow to full size.

 

[Kittycat]

Mine schools so I'd say at least 3 at the barest minimum.

 

[anna_panna]

I was told that they can be aggresive towards their own kind, which is what happened to us, out of three one would bully the other two non stop. So its alone in a smaller tank (together with a yoyo loach that also had to be isolated due to aggresion, made a huge hole in the head of one of the clown loaches 3 times its size! and the dwarf cichlids who's tank it is) - we have tried a couple of times to put the three SAE's together, but the aggresive one goes mad. The other two are not aggresive at all but they dont exactly stick to each other in the tank either.

I dont know if its because we orginally put the aggresive one on its own in the small tank to clean it up, before trying to reuinte it with the others...

 

[FoundMoney]

I did some research and found conflicting opinions on these fish on whether or not they need to be in groups. Basically, what I've gathered is that they will school but will also be alright by themselves and as anna_panna points out they may get aggressive towards each other.

I went back to lfs today and decided to buy one after determining that it was indeed a true SAE. Its fins are clear, its stripe is somewhat serrated and there is no white stripe above it. I am fairly certain that this is the bona fide SAE.

So far, it seems like a great fish. It's very active and looks like it's eaten a lot of algae already. It's constantly working. We'll see what happens after he gets a taste of flake or some other food, but for now it's working out.

This kind of blows my South American theme, but I really wanted to get a fish that would eat some of the hair algae that grows in my tank. I could have bought a ghost shrimp or something but that didn't really thrill me.

 

[NikkiY]

I only have 1 SAE in my tank and it is happy as hell eating up all the algae available. I have never seen it bother others and very peaceful. From your description, it surely is a true SAE. For hair algae, my SAE won't touch them at all (may be if it is still very short and soft). However, I found that rosy barb will eat hair algae like noodles

Nikki