Clown Loaches with Discus

[LoJack]

I currently have 5 Discus residing in a 150 gallon tank, and in that tank I have 6 clown loaches working as the cleanup crew. But the clowns seem a bit too active and skittish, and they look like they are possibly stressing out the discus and making them anxious.

Does anyone keep clowns with their discus and have you noticed any problems?

There is nothing in the tank except for some floating plants, a terracotta pot, and about 1cm of black sand

[Lafayette Jeff]

I have a 75 gallon with 6 discus and 3 clown loaches and a bristlenose pec. The loaches hide in one of the hollowed out fake diftwood peices that everyone seems to have from PetSmart. They only come out in the morning to create havac for the first feed of the day.

I've always liked clown loaches but these guys are getting pretty big, I never see them except for the 5 minutes of havoc in the morning. I'm thinking about taking to the lfs but concerned that won't do well there.

I'm of the opionion to not put clown loaches with discus. I can't imagine how large a pack of 6 would get in a 150 gallon over time. I don't think your discus will miss them.

[surfzone]

I had a pair on my 30g. plant tank and they were cool. in fact my discus chased the loaches around. on loach would distract the discus while the other stole food and they would take turns doing this. they never seemed to bother each other much other than that. the loaches were active all day, i guess because of the subduedlighting because of all the plants. i took the loaches out once the discus began to show signs of spawning. the loaches are now in a 25g. with a pair of MRs. and a rather large male blue ram. as before they don't seem to bother the discus much, and this pair of young discus are laying eggs in the tank ( they havn't gotten the exact science of spawning down yet), but the loaches don't seem to make much of a diffrence yet. once the eggs are viable i'll move the loaches and ram into the angel tank.

[swinters66]

I may be wrong on this one...but yo yo botias don't get as big as the clowns, and they really are pretty. Maybe you could switch out one kind of loach for another....

[Rod]

I've tried clown loaches with discus in a 200g tank, they seemed ok when the group was small, but after 4" they started terrorizing the discus especially at night. I'd give the clowns a new home.

[LoJack]

That was the plan ... I definitely want a cleanup crew in that tank, the thought of food not being eaten scares me ... I'm a bit crazy when it comes to my water quality

I was thinking a good sized group of Panda Cory's ... has anyone had any problems with these guys? I know they are a lot more calm, and still cruise the bottom for snacks all day ... my concern would be size, I know fish die all the time from trying to eat Cory's and then the spines get stuck in their throat .... Could a discus try to make a meal out of one of these guys?

[poconogal]

That was the plan ... I definitely want a cleanup crew in that tank, the thought of food not being eaten scares me ... I'm a bit crazy when it comes to my water quality

I was thinking a good sized group of Panda Cory's ... has anyone had any problems with these guys? I know they are a lot more calm, and still cruise the bottom for snacks all day ... my concern would be size, I know fish die all the time from trying to eat Cory's and then the spines get stuck in their throat .... Could a discus try to make a meal out of one of these guys?

I had Panda cories in my Discus tank. The Discus never bothered them, even though they were babies, but none lasted more than six months. From what I've read, they don't tolerate the higher temps of a Discus tank and tend to last only about six months. I think Sterbai or Julii (spelling?) cories are better suited. I got a Julii along with my Pandas, and he's just fine.

Connie

[LoJack]

wow I wasn't even thinking about that. Thanks for the heads up!

[swinters66]

I have 3 spotted corys and 2 albino corys....the seem to handle the temps just fine. My discus seem oblivious to them. Good clean up guys!!

[Marinemom]

I wouldn't put clown loaches with Discus. They are just too skittish. If you want loaches I would recommend the yo-yo loaches instead. They do not get as big and do not seem as territorial. I do have a small school of panda cories in with my discus and they are doing fine. They have been there now for several months. I do not think that the discus can eat the pandas because the mouths of the discus are so small. The pandas are very cute and are not bothered by the discus and the discus are not bothered by the pandas either. I think it is a good mix.

Marinemom

[cobaltblue]

Ive done both clowns and pandas with my discus in my 125g tank and in a 90g planted tank. The clowns as others have said got too big and started dominating feeding time. I traded them in at the pet store. My pandas only last a few months before they started dying off from the higher tank temps. I keep my tanks 84-86, and pandas like it more in the 78-80 range, though others have kept them at higher temps successfully. My bristlenose plecos do a good job cleaning the tank. Only downside with them is they poop alot, and i mean alot.

[Harriett]

My experience with clowns + discus is different, it looks like. I have a herd of 5-6 clowns in the 180g planted discus tank with sizes ranging from 2.5 to 5+ inches; I have never seen a single negative interaction--there is plenty of driftwood for the clowns which is key(and other botia/cory types I keep); these guys tend to school off by themselves and come out primarily either when I feed the tank or when the lights are out and the discus go into their suspended animation patterns; the clowns never disturb them nor are they unruly in behaviour towards them. The discus pretty much ignore them--they do allow the biggest one to eat with them, while the other clowns hang back until the discus get their fill.
Not a problem---go for it.
Best regards
Harriett

[pcsb23]

I've got 3 in my planted tank, don't seem to be much of an issue with the discus. I really like clowns but if I'm being honest I most likely wont get any more, still should never say never I agree with Harriet, if they have some wood to play with, on under and eat they should do ok.

[ShinShin]

Clowns are also nocturnal. Their activity at night is very disturbing to discus. I see them as simply a discus stresser both covertly and overtly. I have had them harass discus even at 2" size.

Mat

[lhforbes12]

My experience mirrors Harriet's and Paul's, I have 6 clowns all at about 5" TL in a 125 with 10 discus. There really is no interaction between them day or night, like Harriett and Paul my tank is heavily planted with lots of driftwood and many hiding places.