Otos sucking discus

[Adam_Parker]

Hey guys I picked up 4 otos a while back and got them finally to my 125. They cleaned up the algae I had perfectly. I've been adding algae Wafers and shrimp pellets.

Walked in tonight and I had an oto sucking the top of my silver pigeon. The pigeon got startled and flipped the oto off.

I never thought otos were a problem, but this is enough to make me try and catch them tomorrow during the water change.

Any others had this happen?

[FishFanMan]

I had that happen couple months ago with my otos that I had for a year with my discus. Next day those otos were in my freezer.

[Adam_Parker]

Surprisingly got them all 4 removed. Never had otos do that before, and their bellies are definitely full.

[nolefan]

Had same issues with my ottos sucking on my discus years ago threw them in my Zaire frontosa tank and they never did it again... They actually lived together for about a year

[John_Nicholson]

Otos always do this but normally it is at night when the lights are out and so most people never notice. Dwarf bristlenose are the only thing that I know of that work well with discus.

-john

[Adam_Parker]

They got replaced with my nerite snails

[John_Nicholson]

Never tried those...I absolutely hate snails with a passion.

-john

[pamdb33]

I have otos in my discus tank... one will occasionally land on a discus when its still... but the discus is quick to shake them off. A long as the otos are well fed, I haven't had any issues. Nerites are fine - but get males... females leave ugly white eggs everywhere.

[Adam_Parker]

I really wish these little guys wouldn't suck the discus. They cleaned my tank up so good from brown algae. They're all fat and healthy also, fed every day/night so I dunno why they took to the discus so quickly.

[discuspaul]

Discus' slime coat is an appealing protein part of the diet for Otos, SAE's, and many types of Plecos, except for BNP's.
While the discus will usually shrug them off quickly, it's a form of harassment that no doubt stresses discus, so it's best to get rid of the problem.

[Adam_Parker]

So true sae aren't good either? I figured with them not having sucker mouths they'd be okay

[discuspaul]

So true sae aren't good either? I figured with them not having sucker mouths they'd be okay

I've had 2 separate batches of SAE's giving the discus a bad time in 2 different tanks. No more SAE's for me. (I'm quite sure Flying Foxes would be just as guilty too.) BTW, SAE's do have sucker mouths, as do the false SAE's - Flying Foxes.

[Adam_Parker]

Guess it's just a BN and Amano shrimp then