Tankmates that will clean up Driftwood

[torch]

What discus tankmates that I can add to help clean up driftwood. Just added a huge driftwood into my bare bottom tank. I feed my Discus Tera bits and when Discus eat them, they break into very small pieces and falls into cracks of the driftwood. Looking for fish or shrimps that will clean up the driftwood.

I have acrylic tank so not sure if I can use pleco, may scratch my tank?

[Dr. Tankenstein]

A bristlenose is what I use in my planted 90G tank. Their relatively cheap, they stay small (i.e. not a lot of waste product) and they tend to not like the taste of discus slime, like commmon plecos do.

Good luck!
Cheers!

[torch]

Don't pleco scratch acrylic tanks? Will they clean up the driftwood?

[Sam Chicklets]

Don't pleco scratch acrylic tanks? Will they clean up the driftwood?

Plecos don't, but the panaques do. you could also use a clown pleco to keep your wood clean, or some of the cories like the higher temperatures.

[bs6749]

What size tank is it? BN plecos are good for smaller tanks but for tanks 75 gallons or larger you will probably want 2 of them OR you could go with something like a gold nugget pleco (L018 or L081). I can't remember which, but supposedly one of these does better in higher temps and stays around 6-7 inches. They look cool too!

[Harriett]

Nah, I think bristlenose work on any sized tank--just get a few of them. They are totally voracious and will keep the driftwood really clean--all they want to do is work on it. They digest food better if they have a bit of cellulose in their gut as well, so they just work on the driftwood constantly. I have them in the BB tanks to keep the glass clean and also in the planted to keep the driftwood looking good. I have other plecos in there as well but all they do is lounge around on the wood, they don't seem to clean house much [but they look good, so what the heck!]
Best regards
Harriett

[New to discus]

I have a pleco and an acylic tank. No scratches (no scratches from the pleco that is... scratches on acrylic are unavoidable). I currently also have zebra snails http://www.petfish.net/articles/Inve...bra_Nerite.php and flower or fan shrimp. They are doing fine in 6.8 ph and 28.5 degrees. I also have a couple of fresh water clams. All of them are great against algea.

[Apistomaster]

None of the plecos that make good tank mates with discus will harm plexiglass.
I rate common BushyNose in any color variety as the #1 Alage eater and they also eat discus foods. I do recommend the dwarf carnivorous plecos both as interesting and attractive additions but as supplemental bottom and drift wood cleaners. One Panaque species I would trust in Plexi tanks that is far more beautiful than the almost useless, imo, Panaque macus, common clown pleco, is Panaque L204. These guys:

I guarantee this species will clean your wood and they are not shy like their clown pleco cousins. They do grow to nearly five inches, total length, but much of that is in their fancy lyre shaped tails. Normally, I recommend buying in groups but it only takes one L204 and one adult Bushy Nose to clean a 100 gal tank. Be careful about the common Bushy Nose; if you get a pair going, they can produce a lot of fry. Otocinclus are valuable aids in cleaning finer leaved plants.

Just some cautionary notes about some others: The Gold Nugget group of plecos. They are among the most delicate of the plecos, especially at first but they are among the most beautiful of all the plecos. They are evenly omnivorous and will eat algae but not as well as Bushy Nose. They also require a lot of blood worms and they love live black worms. Wouldn't buy one unless you can feed it black worms everyday at first.

Twig Catfish, Farlowella spp. These are also extremely delicate fish, especially at first. They really should be kept in heavily planted tanks.

Royal Farlowella, Sturisoma spp. These beautiful and bizarre catfish are primarily carnivorous but will eat algae, too. They are extremely active and entertaining day light active sucker mouth catfish. Unfortunately, they are quite bold and persistent in attacking discus to scrape the slime and ultimately, damage the skin to the point it can kill discus. I know all about these guys because I raise them and I raise discus. These two species just should not be kept together.

[torch]

Thanks much, that is what I'll be looking for. I been waiting for right type so it can do some cleanup of algae, driftwood and cool to keep.

[Surferdave]

I've had a lot of success with Amano Shrimp. If your discus are not too big, or you can get a hold of larger Amanos, they make great driftwood scavengers. The amanos were in my planted tank before I added discus, when the discus were introduced the amanos hid until dark, but since then, they have found the discus to be no threat and are out in the open. Just something to think of.

Dave