Otocinclus with Discus?

[bansart]

Hello,

I have a few otocinclus in my planted tank. would otos be ok with discus? I know they have a tendency to attach to things to clean them of algae. they even go on my hand when I trim plants. i read it somewhere that plecos and otos shouldnt be put in same tank as discus
thanks
Ivan

[1077]

There have been reports of otocinclus attaching themselves to broad, slow movig fish such as Angelfish, severums, and Discus but IMHO these instances are rare provided the oto's have a sufficent amount of algae and veggie supplements. Algae is the oto's primary food and in the absence of this It is possible that they would seek the slime coat of fishes. Planted tanks also provide the oto's with food as they will eat dead or dying leaves of plant's but do no damage to the plants otherwise. I would not be afraid of oto's with discus as long as the oto's have plenty of their favorite food. I WOULD stay clear of larger plecos and chinese algae eaters. These fish quickly lose interest in algae and find fish food more to their liking and the chinese algae eater would be more apt to harrass the discus. Oto's probably would not appreciate temps. of most discus tanks but many keep them in such temps.

[CraigG]

Otocs,Plecos, Siamese algae eaters are just fine to go into Planted Discus tanks.

I currently have the following "algae" eaters in my tank.

1-King Tiger Pleco
1-Bristlenose Pleco
1-Tiger Pleco
3-Otocs
1-Siamese algae eater (not to be confused with the Chinese alage eater)
1-Bamboo Shrimp (fan eater)

None of these bother any of my other fish or do the Discus bother any of them. They do a great job with algae as well as making sure the substrate is clean.

[Surferdave]

I had about 12 Otos in a fully planted 60 gallon tank. Some of the otos eventually found a liking towards discus slime and would chase the discus around the tank. Keep a watchful eye on them, if you see this type of behavior remove the otos as they'll stress your fish. I've had to remove 4 of the 12 and move them to another tank. All in all, they make a great addition, but if they start bugging the discus, it's time for them to go.

D.

[1077]

The King Tiger plecos are largely carnivores and as such would be poor choices for algae eaters although they would be more comfortable in higher temps.

[CraigG]

I had about 12 Otos in a fully planted 60 gallon tank. Some of the otos eventually found a liking towards discus slime and would chase the discus around the tank. Keep a watchful eye on them, if you see this type of behavior remove the otos as they'll stress your fish. I've had to remove 4 of the 12 and move them to another tank. All in all, they make a great addition, but if they start bugging the discus, it's time for them to go.

D.

So far so good in mine. I had that problem with yo-yo loaches which are good snail eaters that won't out grow my tank like clown loaches. They came right out of my tank when I saw them chasing my discus (the yo-yos).

The King Tiger plecos are largely carnivores and as such would be poor choices for algae eaters although they would be more comfortable in higher temps.

Ya that is why I got the bristlenose. The tigers are there to scavange for any uneaten bloodworms,beefheart and other food like that.

My 3 corys do alright with it but not as well as the plecos

[ShinShin]

True statement, Surferdave. Once an oto developes an affinity for discus slime, it never goes away. They can and will harass the discus to death, literally. I know. It is my experience with them in my fully planted tank I had years ago. A $2 oto isn't worth the possibillity of losing a discus. I had one discus scarred from the sucker and left a blemish that never went away.

Mat

[bansart]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. I will keep an eye on them once I get my discus and once I see any signs of harrassing. out goes the otos to my 12g planted. tnxs again everyone

[pcsb23]

I'm not a fan of mixing ottos and discus.

[Wahter]

I've had some mixed luck with the usual otocinclus too - some do like to latch onto the sides, whereas others do not.

I have had excellent luck with parotocinclus though - these are a bit smaller than the usual otocinclus and I've not see these to the lamprey imitation move on the discus. I'm not sure which paroto this is either.



Hope that helps,


Walter

[bansart]

I've had some mixed luck with the usual otocinclus too - some do like to latch onto the sides, whereas others do not.

I have had excellent luck with parotocinclus though - these are a bit smaller than the usual otocinclus and I've not see these to the lamprey imitation move on the discus. I'm not sure which paroto this is either.

Hope that helps,


Walter

Woa. i like the look of this oto. Ill keep this one in mind but I think ill seperate the otos for now before I even get my discus (might be hard to catch em later). I can tell my otos gonna try to stick onto the discus cuz their already doing it to my hand when I trim plants or fix something in the tank

[Eyecandy]

Hi There.. I've had ottos in tanks for many years. They, like most fish are made up of unique individuals. But I twice had to remove them from my old 120 gallon planted discus tank. They were getting plenty of veggies etc but each time someone decided they liked discus slime. I actually saw one attached to a discus. The hard part was catching them but out they all went each time as when it came to catching the culprit they were too hard to tell apart. They all went into my angel and community tanks and never bothered the angel. I even have some in with sevs and no problems. Only problem was with the discus. So if you really like them I suggest you put them in another tank. BNs are great for the discus tank by the way. HTH Sue

[Wahter]

Woa. i like the look of this oto. Ill keep this one in mind but I think ill seperate the otos for now before I even get my discus (might be hard to catch em later). I can tell my otos gonna try to stick onto the discus cuz their already doing it to my hand when I trim plants or fix something in the tank

I like them a lot too, but after about 5 years, I'm down to only two of the original 7. They've spawned for me at least 3 times too, but the fry are extremely small and never made it (they shared the tank with discus). Maybe they became discus snacks...

Here's a close-up photo of the fry on the glass.


And here's a photo to show the size (that's my thumb) of the fry on the glass and in the background is a brown discus that I used to have.


I tried to net them, but they were so small and swam away (so small, they seemed to disappear!)- I think they probably could have squeezed through the mesh of some of the nets anyway.

I took these photos with my Canon EOS 20D digital SLR camera - using the Canon 17-85mm lens.

Hope that helps!


Walter

[bansart]

I have otos in my heavily planted talk also and they seem to be fine with smaller fish and such..well every now and then Id find one or two otos trying to chase down a celestial pearl danio to try and attach to it ( i think). yes I am planning to definetley seperate them before my discus arrive thanks for sharing your experience sue and everyone.

Those are really cool shots walter. i have never seen otos frys. man! I hope my otos mate. cool photo! thanks walter