View Full Version : Best loach for planted discus tank?
Only had clowns in the past are the any type of loach that eats snails but isn't as agro as the clowns. Mellow loach?
fishorama
03-24-2011, 6:12 PM
Botia striata may work. I haven't tried the combo yet but may in future. There may be risk, loaches may carry nematodes. I treat all mine in QT just in case. Clowns like the discus temp but are nocturnal, spooked my angels, so I won't try that again with discus. Pinkertd had y.sidthimunki with her discus but took them out, I think because the big discus made the sids hide, not sure...Debbi? Yoyos & histrionica maybe be too rowdy...
Have you tried other methods of snail control? Loaches need a social group, most like stronger current than discus. You can squish snails against the glass, bait & remove...a few are no big deal.
Jeremy Smith
03-24-2011, 9:20 PM
Tough combo, the loaches that are best suited for discus type tank tend tobe more active than ideal for discus. Off the top of my head unfortunatly I can not think of a very good option.
As fish said above striata may be the best choice. They need a group and may still be to active for discus. Wish I had a solution for you.
Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
Just fishing around for ideas on a future planted discus tank. No matter how hard I try with planted I always manage a few snails. Just checking out options. thanks for your responses.
Roy
AlyssaKay
09-18-2011, 4:41 PM
I've had skunk botia and clown loaches with discus - but you HAVE to monitor the tank in night mode with all the lights out to check for bullying periodically. I found that the botias and loaches would sometimes start to terrorize the other tank mates in the dark - I'd have to catch the in the act with a flashlight before i could identify the bully fish to remove it. Usually it was just one or two specific fish that had issues - removing them seemed to always resolve that issue.
TheFishBoss97
10-23-2011, 11:58 PM
i want to say yoyos....but they are way too activfe and will scare the discus...or not................
maybe dwarf chain loach, idk how those are.......good luck:)
authmal
10-24-2011, 12:15 AM
Only had clowns in the past are the any type of loach that eats snails but isn't as agro as the clowns. Mellow loach?
Discus being what they are, I'd go with assassin snails.
discuspaul
10-24-2011, 1:41 PM
As others have suggested, it is quite likely that most loaches would be too active and tend to display what I can best describe as 'pushy' behavior, which could stress discus. I know that Clowns often do that.
The only loach that I'm aware of, that I believe should not pose a problem for discus is the Kuhli loach, but they wouldn't likely help with snail management.
wesleydnunder
10-24-2011, 4:57 PM
As others have suggested, it is quite likely that most loaches would be too active and tend to display what I can best describe as 'pushy' behavior, which could stress discus. I know that Clowns often do that.
The only loach that I'm aware of, that I believe should not pose a problem for discus is the Kuhli loach, but they wouldn't likely help with snail management.
+1
I kept kuhlis with discus for years and the discus are not bothered by the kuhlis. I even had kuhlis spawn when my latest 125g got jungly.
Mark
TwoTankAmin
12-01-2011, 11:36 AM
Get dwarf chain loach (Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki). They stay small and are very active but way to0 small to bother discus. They are great snail eaters too.
Understand that big loaches only eat big snails but not the tiny ones. Small loaches, like the sidtimunki can only eat small snails but not big ones. This means you will have to manually remove the big ones while the sids will decimate the babies.
Only go with assassins if you have a fine gravel or sand substrate as assassin babies and youngsters are programmed to bury themselves for protection.