Suitable algae eating catfish for a discus tank?

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 29 Dec 2003, 00:52

Anyone want to give me some advice on a good choice of catfish to go into a 100 gallon discus tank?
the tank has a gravel substrate with buried bogwood creating several caves & overhangs, the tank is planted with around a dozen Amerzon sword plants.
I used to have a Royal pleco in the tank who used to keep the algae down, but who also acted as an aquatic lumberjack totally destroying all the plants.
Is there a happy medium where i can have catfish & plants, but no Algae...?

cheers for any help on this subject.

Dazza

Samurai · Post by **Samurai** » 30 Dec 2003, 15:57

I thought pleco will feed on the slime of the discus?

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 30 Dec 2003, 20:34

I haven't found that to be the case, and due to the high amounts of food given to discus Catfish or Plec's are vital in keeping the tank clean.

I keep 3 clown loaches - a golden nugget - and an angel Syno in the tank. and are all very happy.

Dazza

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 31 Dec 2003, 00:08

Samurai, I regard the slime thing as a highly exagerated event, or possibly even an urban legend. No one's ever been able to prove it to me. That being said it's unlikely that a healthy discus would sit still for such things, and most plecos aren't that brave. I've got plecos in with stingrays, which are a much easier target and have never seen any sign of injury or even an attempt to get a free feed. I think a well fed pleco, other than possible aggression issues, would be fine with discus. I've got perhaps a dozen in with my discus for about 3 years, and never had any problems. If you want to avoid the most likely candidates for that behaviour I'd stay away from common, sailfin, and panaque plecos...

For dazza, the gold nugget should be doing some work, others would be things like tiger plecos, L002, I've had good luck with mine, many people push bristlenose, which are efficent workers, but... leave something to be desired in looks. any peckoltia or panaqolus will do some algae removal, but not a whole lot. gotta be careful about the clowns, they're a bit quicker to feed than your average pleco.

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 01 Jan 2004, 01:06

Thanks for the info... i will look up L002.

i have also been told Oto's are worth putting in due to thier size, any comments?

Have a happy new year one and all

Fiskars the Whiskers · Post by **Fiskars the Whiskers** » 01 Jan 2004, 01:33

My oto is SO good at cleaning the tank! I just have her in a 10 gallon, but the tank sparkles and is algae-free! Since you have a 100 gallon tank, maybe a bunch of them would keep it clean? They are awesome little fish.

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 01 Jan 2004, 10:18

I'v had bad luck with oto's but that may be due to their natuarl oxygen needs or just bad stock... my discus tank is filtered at about a 12 times per hour turnover rate and they never made it at 85 degrees. Whatis your turnover rate? maybe others would be able to advise.

kgroenhoej · Post by **kgroenhoej** » 02 Jan 2004, 12:59

Here's some more with related subject.

http://www.forum.planetcatfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=2197
http://www.forum.planetcatfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=203

Regards
Klaus

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 02 Jan 2004, 21:01

Scott - cheers for the info, i have to say it looks like Oto's prefer cooler water than that of a discus tank, but i think i will give 8 a go on Monday.
I'm not well up on the technical stuff, but i have 2 filters a Rena Filstar at 1350 l/h & an Eheim 2235 at 500 l/h.
The Rena produces a strong current across the back of the tank & cirulates the water & the Eheim is used across the substrate to move the waste into a single corner.

i use 2 small air pumps at each end of the tank for extra oxygen

If the Oto's fail to last, i will go for the Tiger L002

PS.. Nice web site

Klaus, it all makes for interesting reading !

just to stay from the subject slightly.... the local shop has just got in a stripped Raphael, what a lovely Cat he is !! - but i bet the tetras would not be pleased !!

Darran

MackIntheBox · Post by **MackIntheBox** » 02 Jan 2004, 21:07

dazza wrote:just to stay from the subject slightly.... the local shop has just got in a stripped Raphael, what a lovely Cat he is !! - but i bet the tetras would not be pleased !!

Darran

from what I understand they are rather peaceful, so i dont think it would be that much of an issue

I really like the look of the striped Raphael, they look armored in a way with the little spines down their tail/body

I dont knwo if anyone mentioned it or not, but a common pleco may work well for you. I see common plecos in discus tanks all the time, they dont seem any worse for wear and most seem to enjoy it, at least at my LFS and the local chinese food restaraunt, hehe. they get very large, about 18 inches if I remember right, so I would want someone else's opinion on if it will work well with your current tank and stock.

longlivethestrange · Post by **longlivethestrange** » 03 Jan 2004, 03:32

Otos ideal temp. is about 78 F but will be okay in 80 or so but not much higher. I have many Otos and love their sweet nature they get along with everything but like to stay in groups they clean algae well, so well infact that I have to leave veggies for them because there is no more algae. They do well on peas and zuchinni if it sinks. The hardest part about keeping an Oto is acclimating them in the first place but once aclimated to an older, planted tank they do great. Just make sure you leave them plenty of food when there is no algae and try not to make drastic changes because they can be fragile. They may be small but they are one of my favorite catfishes.

Kostas · Post by **Kostas** » 03 Jan 2004, 15:25

Hi,

I dont knwo if anyone mentioned it or not, but a common pl*co may work well for you.

As S.Allen wrote common,sailfin and panaque plecos may suck on diskus.

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 03 Jan 2004, 19:46

heh, I just meant those are the most likely genus, if it were to happen I'd suspect them first. I've got a royal in with mine and he leaves anything non-catfish alone. The reason you see commons with discus is most discus hobbyists don't really care and why pay more for something that rivals or surpasses the beauty of your fish? In stores it's simple economics. 99 cents for a common or $15 for a few peckoltia? The most commonly suggested/kept pleco for discus tanks has to be the bristlenose, which work very well, but I like a bit of color on all my fish.

flyinmike · Post by **flyinmike** » 03 Jan 2004, 21:02

I have several oto's (to many hiding places, not sure how many) in with an adult discus (6"), and if it wasn't for plants and caves he probably would have them all eaten by now (if thats possible). He goes after one every chance he gets.

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 04 Jan 2004, 00:33

well, lone discus can be kinda nasty, you ever think of getting him some tankmates? I kept cardinal tetras with mine and never had a problem.

flyinmike · Post by **flyinmike** » 04 Jan 2004, 02:55

Dazza- I have 4 plecs in the tank with my discus. L#'s 191(6"),177(4.5"),14(5"), and a P. maccus(3"). Over a year and never any problem.

S. Allen-Working on more discus now.

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 05 Jan 2004, 10:17

Ok Guys & Gals...

8 Oto's in the tank, i do hope they do ok, & the discus have initially gone after them ! but have now settled down to let them get on with the job in hand.

Dazza

xander · Post by **xander** » 10 Jan 2004, 17:50

I have an adult Uaru which produces slime similar to the discus. My L001 would at times suck on him but very wearily. This only happend when the Uaru offered himself to him. They Uaru seemed to enjoy it. I never saw the pleco go after the Uaru for this treat and only took it when offered. Many times the Uaru would hover over the pleco positioning himself in a way that seemed unthreatening and often the pleco would ignore him. When he would suck on slime it would last no more than a few seconds. I don't think having a pleco with a discus would be a problem because if the fish didn't want to be sucked on I don't think they would let them.

troi · Post by **troi** » 10 Jan 2004, 18:11

S. Allen wrote:Samurai, I regard the slime thing as a highly exagerated event, or possibly even an urban legend. No one's ever been able to prove it to me.

Don't know about discus, but I have seen over and over plecs go after goldfish. I borrowed one inujured goldfish from a fishstore to study the damage and found a nice colony of epistylus established in each red sore the plec left.

for what it's worth...

troi

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 11 Jan 2004, 09:16

Just an update - i lost 1 further Oto ( all losses inside 48hrs ) but the remaining 5 are healthy & doing a great job on the plants & back wall of the tank.

i'm off to get 20 more ( but using my favoured LFS this time ) so it should be bye bye algae !

Many thanks for comments/suggestions

Dazza

Suitable algae eating catfish for a discus tank?

Suitable algae eating catfish for a discus tank?

Pleco and slime