Chalk one up for the plecos

[gary1218]

I was changing around my set up, AGAIN :D, and I had some dwarf albino bushy nose plecos that I moved from their own separate tank into two of my 56 gallon discus tanks. I have six 56 gallon tanks altogether on one central filter.

The last few times I've been doing my bi-monthly chore of wiping down the tanks I've noticed that the two tanks with the plecos are MUCH cleaner than the other four. Not so much from an algae standpoint, with wiping them down twice a month I don't have any algae problem, but more so from the discus slime that builds up on the sides of the tank. In fact the two tanks with the plecos always look as if I just cleaned them. There's no slime build up on the glass.

I was wondering if others with plecos in their tanks have noticed this as well. I gotta find some more of these little guys to put in the other four tanks ;D

GARY

[Discus_Newbie19]

I want some little bushynose plecos, havent seen them in any of the LFS here yet.

[Robin764]

I'm glad yours are working out....had to give mine away, along with a marble chinese algae eater:( Seems they enjoyed the slime and mucous so much they started chasing the fish around for it :(

[Howie_W]

I've been keeping a variety of plecos for a number of years, and have always found them extremely helpful with tank maintenance.

Many people have great success keeping them with discus, while others do not. Much of this has to do with a variety of factors, stocking density, water parameters, food types, and filtration. If the tank set-up is weighted too heavily in favor of the Discus, combined with the species of pleco being incorporated, problems will occur. Sometimes you just have to experiment.

Howie

[yogi]

Come September it will be 8 years I have been living in my current house. That is also the last time I wiped the sides or bottoms of my discus tanks. Maybe once per month I run a magnet cleaner across the front of my discus tanks. I have both wild caught bushynose plecos and dwarf albino bushynose plecos. They work great and have never bothered my discus.

I also have a tendency to overfeed my discus. The bushynose plecos eat all the leftovers. The only drawback is they love to poop a lot.

There are a few other types of plecos you can keep with discus. You just have to find out which kind. The wrong kinds will grow large or also eat the side of your discus. The Chinese algae eater does not eat algae it seems to eat fish. It is also known as the devil.

[beta]

I dont know if any of you have had this experience! My theory :D Large plecos(Hypostomus sp.) wont feed on the slime on the discus but the smaller ones will relentlessly go slime hunting on the discus. ::)

I never keep discus without a pleco sharing the same tank. Show tank or breeding tank. I never have to wipe down glasses with discus in it and they all stay very clean. The only place I do wipe down is that couple of inches above waterline. I have bristlenose. Albino and white edge. common pleco as large as 14" and lots of leopard sailfin pleco in larger tanks. They don't cause any damages to the discus if they grow up with a large group (100 plus) of juveniles who constantly picking on them and are too small to suck on. They will grow up not touching the discus at all. JMHO.
Jimmy

[mench]

Gary I have som extra plecos if ya need some,ya can come over after the ACA if ya want.
Now does anyone using the plecos put one in with the breeders????

Mench

Only the smaller Albino Bristnoses in the breeding tank. A corner sponge filter has to be large enough for them to hide from the pair. Otherwise they will not survive. I also place a common pleco to train by the breeder pair not to go near a discus. Usually a foster parent pair whose eggs or fry I will not keep. They will learn after the pair has torn off all their fins and they must hide when a discus is nearby. A vicious wild Alanquer Brown is the best choice.
Jimmy.