Bottom Feeders/Algae Crew for Discus tank

jmarsh3253

jmarsh3253

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Apr 11, 2007
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I have a heavily planted 55G Discus tank with 5 3-5" Discus. I had some Spotted Corys that seemed to be suffering in the discus heat...83-85*, so I moved them to another tank. What would be your recommendations for some bottom feeders and an algae crew. By no means do I have an algae problem, but there would be some good food for an algae crew. Tank parameters: NH3-0, No2-0, No3 ~10, pH - 7.2, KH-10, Co2 tank injected. Thanks.
 
Fancy plecos. Do you have drifwood?

If not I suggest an L-260

If you do the list increases dramatically.
You can get
L:
134
200
128
400
333
191
190...
The list goes on and on.
 
Use albino or bronze corys for bottom(they can handle a very wide range of parameters) and otos for the algae, just make sure they have plenty to eat.
 
if you add any plecos to the tank, they need to be fed. they cannot thrive on leftovers and algae - depending on what kind they are, they need algae wafers, fresh veggies, protein, or even wood as a main part of their diet. any bottom feeder you add is still going to contribute to the overall bioload and physical waste in the tank, which means that you will have to do more water changes to keep the water clean enough for the discus. hungry plecos will become territorial against the discus, and a starving pleco will latch on and start sucking the slime coat off of your expensive fish.

your best "bottom feeder/algae eater" is going to be your gravel vac and an algae magnet.
 
Hi Jmarsh,
Over a period of time, I've tried lots of cleanup crew fish with my discus and here's what I recommend:

No fancy plecos....it is only a matter of time before they will suck on the slime coat of the discus during the night!

No SAE's or Flying Foxes......it is only a matter of time before they too will suck on the slime coat of the discus and once they start, they pester the heck out of the discus and you will have to tear your planted tank apart trying to catch those sons-of-guns!:grinyes:

I have been keeping albino cories and bristlenose plecos as cleaning crew in my tanks which are 86-88F. There's never any leftover food in my tanks!! They do a great job and don't ever bother the discus.

Debbi:)
 
pinkertd said:
No SAE's or Flying Foxes......it is only a matter of time before they too will suck on the slime coat of the discus and once they start, they pester the heck out of the discus and you will have to tear your planted tank apart trying to catch those sons-of-guns!:grinyes:
Click to expand...
I've never seen my true SAEs pester my discus.
 
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