Description
Black Line Flying Fox (Crossocheilus reticulatus)
Overview
The Black Line Flying Fox (also known as Reticulated Siamese Algae Eater or Black Line SAE) is a peaceful, active freshwater fish popular for its excellent algae-eating abilities and striking appearance. It features a silver-gold body with a bold, jet-black horizontal stripe running from the nose through the tail. Unlike the very similar-looking Siamese Flying Fox (Crossocheilus oblongus) or False SAE (Garra cambodgiensis), the Black Line Flying Fox has a completely straight, unbroken black mid-lateral line and lacks any zigzag pattern. This peaceful, hardy species thrives in well-maintained aquariums and is effective at controlling nuisance algae, especially black beard algae.
Care Requirements
Tank Size:
Minimum 75 liters for a small group; larger tanks (100L+) are ideal for active swimmers.
Water Parameters:
- Temperature: 24–28°C
- pH: 6.5–7.5
- Hardness: 5–15 dGH
- Clean, well-oxygenated water with moderate to strong flow mimicking their natural riverine habitats.
Aquarium Setup:
- Substrate: Smooth gravel or sand to mimic riverbeds.
- Decor: Driftwood, rocks, and hardy plants like Java fern or Anubias. Provide open swimming spaces and hiding spots.
- Filtration: Strong filtration to maintain water quality; prefer high oxygen levels.
- Lighting: Moderate lighting to encourage algae growth for their diet, but avoid excessive light to prevent algae overgrowth.
Maintenance
- Water Changes: Perform 20–30% water changes weekly to maintain water quality.
- Tank Cleaning: Regularly clean substrate and decorations to prevent detritus buildup, but leave some algae for grazing.
- Equipment Checks: Ensure filters and heaters are functioning properly, as SAEs are sensitive to poor water conditions.
- Monitoring: Watch for signs of stress (e.g., faded colours, lethargy) and test water parameters regularly.
Diet
- Primary Food: Black Line Flying Fox are omnivorous but primarily herbivorous, excelling at consuming algae, especially black beard algae.
- Supplementary Foods:
- Algae wafers or spirulina-based foods.
- Blanched vegetables (zucchini, cucumber, spinach).
- High-quality flake or pellet foods for omnivores.
- Occasional protein-rich foods like brine shrimp or bloodworms.
- Feeding Frequency: Feed once or twice daily, ensuring they have access to algae or supplementary foods. Avoid overfeeding to prevent water quality issues.
Behaviour and Compatibility
Behaviour:
Black Line Flying Fox are active, peaceful, and social fish that prefer living in small groups (3–6 individuals). They are fast swimmers and may chase each other playfully, but this is rarely aggressive.
Compatibility:
- Compatible Tankmates: Peaceful community fish like tetras, rasboras, corydoras, and small barbs. Other algae eaters like nerite snails or small plecos can coexist.
- Incompatible Tankmates: Avoid aggressive or territorial fish (e.g., cichlids) and slow-moving, long-finned fish (e.g., guppies, bettas), as Black Line Flying Fox may nip at them.
- Note: Black Line Flying Fox may become territorial with other algae-eating fish of similar appearance (e.g., Chinese Algae Eaters). Ensure proper identification, as Black Line Flying Fox are often confused with similar species.
Breeding Behaviour
Breeding in Captivity: Extremely rare in home aquariums due to specific environmental needs and lack of sexual dimorphism (males and females look similar).
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Either come in store to view available stock or request pictures to be sent to you.
Please Note: Due to variations within species resulting from age, region, sex, etc., the actual livestock may not look identical to the image. Approximate size range may also vary between individual specimens.
