want algae eaters-plecos or otos?

[1977]

I'm tired of scrubbing red and green algae every week. I've heard the bristlenose pleco is a good match for discus, but would oto's be better, do they take care of all the algae?

[ValorG]

u would need to get a lot of otos to equal the same efficiency as a pleco. The sucket size is about the only difference but i think plecos would eat more types of algae.

[aloosh]

Hey 1977,

My recommendation is an SAE (Siamese Algae Eater).
I had a serious algae problem with. Algae growing as long as 4 to 5 inches.
This is a 6 foot tank with about 14 discus in there and the SAE took about 1 to 2 weeks to do its magic.

I also have an Otto in there as the SAE does not go for algae on the glass, it likes the plants more and the driftwood.

This was about 2 to 3 months ago. I have not had to scrub any algae. The only downsde of an SAE is that grow to about 12 to 14 cms and if you do get one make sure it is not a "flying fox". They look similar but the flying fox will not do the work that the SAE does.

That's my epxerience.

Cheers

Ali

PS. I read alot on line that the SAE moves very fast and will disturb your discus. True they do move real quick but my discus have not been disturbed by it one bit.

[yogi]

Your best bet is dwarf albino bristlenose plecos. You can probably find some on aquabid. Otto's are known to bother discus.

[Howie_W]

I've always kept otocinclus (dwarf sucker/oto cats) in groups in my planted tanks and never had a problem.

Ancistrus (bristle nose/ busy nose) is probably the best overall to keep with Discus. There are dozens of species, all sold under the same common name. I've found they keep the tank spotless and free of all types of algae.

Howie

[oodi]

We have kept Oto's with Discus. While it didn't happen all the time, there were a few occassions where the Oto attached to the side of the Discus... and I've heard it's a common problem.

Judi
:)

[discusnutz]

I too have kept oto's at one time in with my discus, all was well for about 2 months, then they discovered the discus,.and were constantly attaching to the discus. Needless to say the discus were not very happy with this behavior. removed them....now I am the algae eater !!! ;D Brenda

[Howie_W]

I think some of the problem related to the potential discourse between otocinclus and Discus has to do with how heavily planted a given tank is, size of the tank, and the amount of additional fibre sources available for the plecos. If there is not the proper abundance of food available for the plecos, it makes sense that they would be attracted to the Discus' slime.

I've never kept any of the catfish species without supplementing their diet. If we're talking about a bare bottom tank I would not recommend oto cats.

Howie

[EthanCote.com]

I agree with most of the post here, a bushy nose pleco is the way to go. If you don't like them to grown too big then get the dwarf variety.

They do an excellent job of keeping your tank clean. And they will learn to eat the varieties of foods you feed your discus. This help supplement their food source when no algae is around.

If you keep them then I suggest getting a piece of driftwood. I believe this help in their digestion (please correct me if i'm wrong) and keep them happy.

I have 2 plecos now in my tank and the tank is spotless. Well minus the crap they seem to released in the tank. And they do crap alot =) But sometimes you will find your discus eating it. I imagine it can't be bad for the discus since the crap is mainly veggie in nature.

HTH.


Cheers,

Chi.

[1977]

I should have stated at first that I only have bare bottom tanks and I've had some oto's but they don't seem to do the trick, maybe you need lots of them?