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Re: SAE's and R. wallachii
krandall at WORLD_STD.COM at krandall at WORLD_STD.COM wrote:
>>
> Steve Dixon wrote:
>
>> I have grown wallichii well for a couple of years now and in my case my fat
>> SAE's who also love to eat the frozen live foods and who are not too
>> interested in the bit of algae here and there in my big tank just love to
>> mow down fresh wallichii. The tender new growth is their favorite part of
>> the plant. My wallichii is in favorable conditions and it fights back by
>> sprouting side branches as the new growth get mowed down...
>> I have tentatively decided that SAEs and wallichii are not a
>> compatible match for my conditions. But I'm quite sure my wallichii is
>> offering good strong growth and putting up a fight.
>
> Maybe this is a case for a little detective work. I believe your water is
> softer than mine. I wonder if R. wallachii grown under some conditions is
> more palatable than others. Can anyone else who has had experience one way
> or the other chime in with their water conditions? Barring that, we get
> back to the old question, are all "SAE's" actually the same fish?<g>
>
> Olga wrote:
>
>> Hear! Hear! Karen, this is exactly what I have observed. In my opinion, if
>> SAEs start eating a plant, that plant or leaf is probably at death's door.
>> Or the SAE is not an SAE at all.
>
> Except that I've seen Steve's tank, and I know his plants are in good
> condition. _AND_ I would have sworn on a stack of bibles that his SAE's
> are the same as mine. So SOMETHING else must explain the differences we
> ware seeing.
>
> Karen
It has been my observation that fish of the same species can dramatically
differ behaviorally, so that certain characterizations (such as what they
will eat) are general and not absolute. The differences are probably due to
numerous variances in external stimuli, as well as genetic and/or
environmental circumstances. This is why not all plecos eat plants, or why
not all neons are shoaling, etc. Perhaps it is why not all SAEs are
well-behaved, voracious algae-eating servants of repute.
Dan Dixon