Greenfingaz Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 Hey guys. First port on this forum. We have recently set up a 300l freshwater aquarium which after a full cycle we would like to put 5 or 6 discus in. For tank mates we have 11 rummy nose tetras, a pair of Blue Rams and a couple of Pictus Catfish. We were just wondering if you guys could recommend or suggest some algae eaters that will get on alright with everyone else. Any help would be great! Seth & Manuela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebelle Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 Sorry to tell you this ( and I know others will disagree), but as long as you feed your fish, no algae will be eaten by the so called "cleaners". Every fish prefers what you provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanoz Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 True Siamese Algae Eaters or Commonly known as Flying Foxes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pk333 Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 Some cleaner fish produce a lot of waste. I don't know if the pictus catfish are good choice, as they are known to eat smaller tetra species, and as they are nocturnal, can easily pick off sleeping tetras. I'd sooner keep a couple of L134 leopard frog plecos in there instead of the pictus. Or a school of corydoras. As for algae eaters, I like otocinclus and the omnivorous royal whiptails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 L134 are a good choice and fetch a good price as adults if you decide later to sell them. Its a difficult problem though as many "algae eaters" will graze on discus flanks if they get hungry. But if you feed them heavily, they dont eat algae and you have high waste levels to deal with. I used to reccomend otto's and whiptails....... but recently I have watched both species graze discus. At least discus can flick off larger catfish, ottos can be really annoying for them as they just stick. Whiptails are not so bad, but then discus are emotional creatures and it can be the small things that make them sook. Flying foxes are good, especially if you have anubias and driftwood. They tend to target the hair algae that other fish ignore. Buy them small, but not small enough to be eaten by the pictus! Then trade them when they get large, for smaller ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenfingaz Posted November 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2013 Thanks for your replies guys. We are reading into the flying foxes now. but am unsure what will be better as i have read online that in schools they can be territorial or get one which may try and dominate the other species in the aquarium… what do you think guys. 1 or more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanoz Posted November 18, 2013 Report Share Posted November 18, 2013 I have three in my tank with Geo's, Pepp's, Tetras, Harlequins etc and they are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter m Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 I have a school of panda corys (10)with my discus never any uneaten food and very tiny ammount of algae on plants (java fern, anubias, swords and peacock moss). Both varieties of fish compleatly compatable, in 300 lit tank. peter m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pk333 Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Very old thread dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbetta Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 bristle nose catfish should be ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
