Siamese Algae Eater
|Common name||Siamese Algae Eater
|Scientific name||Crossocheilus siamensis|
|Synonyms||Siamese flying fox|
|Size||Up to 6" (15cm)|
|Tank setup||Planted community tank|
|Compatibility||Suitable for the community tank, less aggressive than some of its look-alikes (see below).|
|Water chemistry||Fairly soft, neutral/slightly acidic (pH 6.0-7.5)|
|Feeding||Omnivorous, some vegetable component to the diet is recommended.|
|Breeding||No reports of aquarium breeding.|
This fish is a useful algae eater, eating thread algae and the 'brush' algae types ignored by other fish.
They also eat planarians (flatworms) which can become a nuisance in aquaria.
They can be slightly territorial with their own species, so they are probably best kept either singly, or
as a group of 5-6 or more in larger tanks.
This species is sometimes confused with a number of similar species. The Flying Fox (Epalzeorhynchos kalopterus) is superficially similar,
although not difficult to distinguish. Two other Crossocheilus species are much closer in appearance: C. oblongus and C. atrilimes.
The black stripe does not extend into the caudal fin in C. oblongus, but does so in C. atrilimes and C. siamensis. C. atrilimes
has a row of faint black dots below the main stripe, and does not grow as large as C. siamensis.