Good Bottom Feeder

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Does anyone have any good Bottom Feeders they can recommend for a Discus tank?

[Dissident]

I love botia striata (Zebra Loach). They eat snails too, very nice if you have any plants. They never bother any of the fish and sometimes will school with my rummy nose tetras. They stay small ~2-3"

They will eat excess blod worms, tetrabits, brine shrimp, snails, not a big fan of beefheart unless the pieces are small enough.

[lhforbes12]

Corydoras julii, Chromobotia macaranthus (clown loach) (they get very big though), most Ancistrus spp. All of them do very well in my discus tanks.

[tpl*co]

I have Botia Kubotai or Burmese border loaches with mine :). Nice and peaceful. I've heard clown loaches are good but eventually they get big.

Tina

[traco]

I've got albino cories and have no problems.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I'm looking for something a little less common than cories. I have a pair of L177 Baryancistrus sp. for the tank. I'd kind of like something South American rather than many of the Botia which are Asian. I've had a few cories but I'm not sure if there are any I really want for the tank.

[Dissident]

http://fish.mongabay.com/data/ecosystem_index.htm
give that link a look if you are looking to do a biotope, also indexed by location/habatat

[Ed13]

Rams or apistos might be good tankmates. As for bottom feeder Corydora sterbai is my fav. a nice school, come on , you can't beat that!!!! Often overlook a Porthole catfish. If the tank is huge a royal PLec might work for a smaller tank a clown plec. If dissolve Oxygen is high most hypancistrus will work and are carnivorous too. Can't forget about ancistrus.

BTW, L-177 are very territorial as they grow watch out for agression!

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Don't worry Ed, I've done plenty research on the Plecs. My tank will be fine as far as that is concerned. I do have a good lead on getting some Sterbai for the tank. I was originally not wanting cories do to the fact I wanted something a little less common, however, Sterbai cories are not that common around here. :)

[wolfbane]

Check out corydorus Robinae, the only ones with horizontal tail stripes!! I love mine!

[RyanH]

I also really like the Sterbai Corys. I have a group of 9 in my 150 and they are a joy to have around.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I actually considering Brochis splendens. Anyone have any thoughts on those? I have always like those as well.

BTW, I won't be puting any Asian fish in the tank, I absolutly loathe mixing continents in my tanks. :)

[senso]

Since you are not mixing my choice would be the cory - your choice. A nice school of 8 to 12. You won't be disappointed

[korbi_doc]

:D I still have C. Jullii, they are really cute roaming the tank together....also have a few bristlenose plecs, 1 is albino...they do well & no need to worry 'bout cleaning inside walls....will get more when I resettle in Tn...... Dottie ;)

[AmberC]

With my discus I had yoyo botia loaches, panda cory cats, bamboo shrimp and amano shrimp and a bn pleco

Amber

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Thank you al for your suggestions. After a good deal of reading I think I have it down to 2 coices:
1. Brochis splendens
2. Corydoras sterbai

I'm planning on a schoal of 4-6 of which ever one I choose.

[SantaClaws]

Sounds kind of strange but if you have a planted tank take a look into Electric Blue Crayfish, also known as Florida Blue Hammers I believe. They look extremely cool and clean subtrate better than any other I have seen. These little things never stop eating, and they reach deep in to the subtrate where fish just can't reach.

The only down side with them is you have to snip their claws every 3 months or so, to stop them from making snack food out of the Otto's.

[Ed13]

Thank you al for your suggestions. After a good deal of reading I think I have it down to 2 coices:
1. Brochis splendens
2. Corydoras sterbai

I'm planning on a schoal of 4-6 of which ever one I choose.

Brochis can take the heat just as well and depending on the market in your area will most likely be cheaper to make a nice school. If the tank is big the larger size of the brochis wont draw your attention to much..

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I plan think I will more than likely go witht he Brochis. The tank is a 75gal tank that is going to be very heavily planted. I have Dwarf Hairgrass for the bottom so the fish will have a nice place to live. :) The Brochis is available locally so they will be cheaper to get than the Sterbai since I would have to order those online. I may be able to get my LFS to get them, I'll have to check.

[tpl*co]

Check out corydorus Robinae, the only ones with horizontal tail stripes!! I love mine!

Wow, those are nice? Where do you get them? I was lucky and got some sterbai from my clubs fish auction from someone that got them to breed. Have them in a different tank now but may put them in with the discus when I get the larger tank set up.

Tina

[wolfbane]

Tina, got mine in Houston at Village Tropical, but someone at your local store should be able to order them for you, they are happy, busy creatures, industrious in their bottom cleaning, and love to school, so you need a few.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

When I get back from vacation I'm going to talk to my LFS about ordering in some Sterbai or some Brochis Splendens. They can probaly get a better price than I can online.

[Catfish Junkie]

Hey don't forget about the value of shrimp in the planted tank. A small colony of . . . well any shrimp will keep your tank pristine. I know because this is what I use as well as other catfish. These Cherrry and Amano shrimp live in all the places the fish have trouble getting into. They are cheep and they will breed. Although I do have to agreee with the Sterbai. my personal favorite. I plan to get a small school of these in the near future. Good luck!