Algae eating fish that are safe for discus?

[grindman620]

Hello SD community!

So I finally received my discus plant package last week. The tank looks awesome now as I am slowly getting the hang of maintaining so many beautiful plants. My next move is to start to add some tank mates that would be discus safe/approved. I really want to get some algae eating fish or shrimp but want to know what would work keeping discus in mind for the future. Knowing that some plecos can latch onto discus for their slime coated, what are my options? I obviously don't want a fin nipper, slime coat eating, food competitor for discus, but I'd like something that could help chew on some algae.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!
-Ryan

[ericatdallas]

I keep BNPs and I have never seen them attack the discus. I also have some L129s and they leave the discus alone as well.

[judy]

I worried about plecos, but have thee albino bushy-nosed, one of them a longfinned, and so far, so good. They are all still fairly small, though...

[ericatdallas]

plecos grow fast ... I bought 25 this past summer and divided it between two tanks, one with discus and one without. The plecos in the discus tank are about twice the size of the ones in the other tank. The difference? It could be a number of things... Discus tank gets more frequent feedings, daily versus weekly WCs, higher protein feedings, and the temperature is 84F versus 75F.

Anyway, I just bought 30 more plecos and they're in quarantine. I'm hoping to get a few pairs out of them.

[illumnae]

Bristlenoses are discus safe. I've recently found L52 (Dekeysera sp.) to be awesome algae eaters as well that leave discus alone. However, it's hit and miss with plecos and planted tanks due to their propensity to sometimes thrash around the substrate, which may uproot/dislodge plants. The usual "plant safe" algae eaters (otos and whiptails) are not discus safe

[3dees]

I had a single bn in my tank and within one year he went from 2 1/2" - 5". while he never bothered my wilds, that fish produced more waste than all the other fish combined. plus the fact that when they grow they become lazy and learn that it's easier to eat the fish food than algae. my bn would clean very little algae compared to when he was small. best thing I did was give him away.

[typicalalex1]

You cant go wrong with BNP's, Otto cats and Flying fox's.

Get 2 BNP's, one male and one female and watch them multiply, i started with 2 and currently have over 20 though some are really small and will probobly be eaten, theres also another batch of eggs hatching now. I even managed to spawn an albino from a brown pair! Only found it yesterday.

Otto cats are always active and love cleaning plants.

Flying foxes are fish not commonly kept with discus, or i just never hear about people with them.
I have one with my discus are i love it.
Never stops swimming, constantly eating algae from my plants, and the discus and it completly ignore each other.
I have a school of tetras and it loves swimming right through the middle of them just for fun! and doesnt harm them at all.
Keep as a lone fish or a group of 5+.
But be careful not to confuse with SAE (Siamese algae eaters) They get big and will latch on to discus.

[grindman620]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I really want to be successful with my planted tank before I plunge into Discus. I want something that will help control algae and not uproot plants at all. BNP sound good, but they get big and from what I hear......they will really add to the bio load (messy). I want something that will go well with Discus, cories, and some schooling tetras

[typicalalex1]

Then otto cats are ideal. They stay small and are calm and won't bother anything

[Wahter]

You cant go wrong with BNP's, Otto cats and Flying fox's.

But be careful not to confuse with SAE (Siamese algae eaters) They get big and will latch on to discus.

Bristlenose/ busynose CAN latch onto the sides of discus - there's an entire thread about them here:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?49356-Bushynose-Pleco-Facts

Not only that, some of them will munch on plants too.

I had a female latch onto a discus and took this photo:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=40631&stc=1&d=1232681522

It's all up to the individual fish. Some will, some don't. I've also seen otocinclus and farlowellas latch onto discus before too.

I've never seen an SAE latch onto the sides of a discus. Make sure you get the real SAEs - I've kept plenty of them (well over ten individuals over 10 years) with discus.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/Chunker/aquarium/IMG_0230.jpg


Walter

[grindman620]

@Wahter - Thanks for your input and your pictures as well. So what is everyone elses' experience with Siamese Algae Eaters and discus?? Perhaps this is the fish I should be looking into if I want to control algae in my planted tank while keeping Discus.

Thanks!
-Ryan

[judy]

I have kept a number of Siamese algae eaters with discus, and have never had a problem-- just be sure you get the real thing. you can tell by the black bar- it extends into teh tail, and the edges are serrated-looking instead of straight. Walther's pics show that clearly. They get real big.

[jimg]

The real sae are ok when they are small, they will soon want only fish food and not touch any algae, they get big and rarely sit still and can bother the discus, though I have never had on attach. I have had otto's attach to discus.
I have never had an ancistrus (bushy nose pleco) bother a discus If they do it is ime very rare.

[grindman620]

Yeah this is still a tough decision for me. I picked up some amano shrimp for the time being, but I am debating between an otto or a bushynose pleco. They both seem to have their ups and downs. BNP's can be extrememly messy and trash around dislodging plants, but do a great job with algae (so I hear). Ottos are smaller and do a great job with algae, but I hear they might want to just eat fish food as they smarten up later on.

[judy]

Much of the literature suggests Otos are VERY fond of sucking on discus flesh, more so than plecos. I would avoid them. My ABNs don't trash anything-- my clown loach, on the other hand, kanoodles around my potted plants and kicks out the fine gravel on top of the pots. I have resorted to pebbles.

[CrazyAngels]

My experience is the BN plecos are no problem at all, but will do a great job while they are young. once they reach mature age at over 3+ inches, they don't do as great on cleaning up and will care more to be fed than to look for food. They never uproot or damage plants, unless plants are amazon type which they will think it's lettuce and eat it up. HTH

[judy]

So far my ABNs have ignored my amazon and ozelot swords, as well as the cryptocoryne, vallisneria, tiger lotus, aponogeton, anubias, java fern and java moss.