Siamese algae eater

Care at a glance

The Siamese algae eater is one of the few fish that genuinely tackles black brush algae — those dark green tufts on leaf edges and hardscape that almost nothing else touches. In a planted tank that makes it more of a tool than an ornament.

Be careful what you buy: it is regularly confused with the flying fox and the Chinese algae eater, and the latter turns aggressive and stops eating algae as it grows. You recognise a true SAE by the black stripe running right into the tail fin. Expect it to reach fifteen centimetres, swim hard, and over the years eat less algae and more prepared food.

Best not combined with

• Rainbow sharkEpalzeorhynchos frenatum
• Red-tailed black sharkEpalzeorhynchos bicolor

Related species

• Clown plecoPanaqolus maccus
• Gardneri killifishFundulopanchax gardneri
• Black skirt tetraGymnocorymbus ternetzi
• Common plecoHypostomus plecostomus
• Lemon tetraHyphessobrycon pulchripinnis
• Pictus catfishPimelodus pictus