Score! (Needle in a hay stack)

I have the algae problem in my freshwater aquarium. Not the green algae that you just put a couple drops of chemicals in to kill it, but this "black" algae, which is actually a tenacious form of red algae. It's hard to get rid of.

Enter the Siamese Algae Eater -- one of the only fish known to munch on "black [red] algae." So I go to the pet store, and I find the tank where the algae eaters are held... well, let me explain something here first.

It's apparently quite rare to find actual Siamese Algae Eaters [SAE's] in pet stores, as they more frequently stock "false SAE's" and pawn them off as SAE's. The differences may be hard to pick up on at first glance (Images snagged from http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/saes.htm):


<--False SAE






True SAE!-->


It's a good thing I usually read a little about things before I just dive in. Anyway, so here I am at the tank simply labeled "Algae Eaters." They all look the same... kinda dirty yellowish with a black stripe, all swimming around in an undifferentiated cloud of fishies -- except for one, sitting alone, on a rock.

"I'll take that one with the black stripe that goes from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail," I told the shop keep, as I remembered that as one of the distinguishing features of a genuine SAE, the kind that eats the algae blooming in my tank.

He's in his new home now, and sure 'nuff, he's eating that black junk like Pac-man. Wacka-wacka!

YES! I found the one genuine SAE in a field of imposters. I'm sure there's some life lesson here for us all, but I'll leave it up to you to ponder what it is.