cleanup crew

[easty1]

what sugestions for a clean up fish for a 42 gall tank

[discuslover]

can't go past the common or asian suckerfish can be a bit lazy if you feed your discus on the BH Diet though

Simon

[ILLUSN]

Bristlenoses and whiptails are good, kulli loaches are good, dwarf loaches are good, SAE's are great once they get big.

[samir]

a hand with a sponge attached to it usually works best.

[goldenpigeon]

no such thing as a clean up fish lol.

people think bn are a clean up fish but actually, in comparison to your discus's eating habits they make discus the clean up fish.

a bn will consume in my oppinion about 6 times more (possibly even more) food than a discus if being fed properly and in the right conditions.

so really your going to have to supply your catfish with a huge amount of food to make up the rest of their diet after they "clean up your tank".

unless your prepared to do this i suggest samirs idea

[DiscusEden]

Are you after algae eaters? (Which are the suggestions already made.)

Or were you after fish to eat any scraps of food the discus leave?
In which case, the algae eaters are great, some people have corys or even some rams can be good.

[Hollowman]

I have 4 Sterbai's they are great for a clean up crew, very busy, stay small and dont upset anyone.

Hollowman

[albatrozz]

i've been searching for good CLEAN clean up fish too. Tried BN's and pleco's yes they are great at cleaning up scraps of BH and other food, but they make so much waste it isn't funny... i mean these guys are s***ting machines. The pleco's also barge into my plants pulling them out of the gravel :x . Anyone know any good, peaceful, discus compatible clean-up fish that produce less waste?

[DiscusEden]

For food scraps, there's a pack of corys, or I like blue rams.

Or for algae, there's always ottocinclus. Or like Samir said, a sponge.

[Hollowman]

Here is a pic of a couple of my Sterbai. These are great, and don't create much poo like the plecos do.

Hollowman

[JoeDiscus85]

yeah plecos suck!

[Mr Discus]

My 'cleanup' crew that works a charm (mimicked from my LFS discus display tank)...

Algae - SAE's & Whiptails
Excess Food/Snails - Clown Loach

These fish alone keep my 3ft tank pretty damn spotless.

I personally think BN's are very overrated. Considering the damage they have the ability of doing in a well planted tank is the reason I steer away from them.

[Matt15]

+1 for the corydora's. They are fantastic bottom dwelling cleaners and are very playful in groups of 4+. Have loads of personality and can be bought in a number of different coloured varieties. Albinos, browns & pandas are pretty cheap @ about $4-10ea. Then anywhere around $15-30 for your Sterbai, Julii or Leucomelas.

[vanessa messig]

Hello, I have a medium sized pleco which keeps my 6 foot tank spotless and on occasion lifts up a small plant or two, it is very healthy and loves to vacuum up the discus food so I feed them more often. The problem I have with the pleco is the waste it produces, well that would not be so bad if I could siphon it easily but it seems to be too heavy to lift all the way up into the siphon and ends up back mixed into the sand. Besides getting rid of the pleco, does anyone have a solution to this problem?

Thanks.

[ILLUSN]

Try a smaller pleco, like a clown or bristlenose, their poop is easier to clean up, whiptails are also good, i like dwarf /chain loaches myself, they are small enough to not bother discus and are great for uneaten food and baby snails, they eben handel temps of 31c without a problem.

[vanessa messig]

Thanks ILLUSN, I will check them out.. I hate the thought of getting rid of the pleco though.

[JoeDiscus85]

I didnt like getting rid of mine either. I got it when it was about half an inch or so and it grew to be 6 inches in a year!. But he really made my discus's lives hell!!! He would suck on their slime coat and chase them around the tank all day!



Joe

[cityguy]

I agree, Cory Cats are the best and safest for Discus tanks..

[vanessa messig]

I gave my beautiful pleco away but I think he was also the cause of my nitrates going up sky high, this being because I had to feed the discus more often as he was quick to eat it all up first and also because of the waste he produced. I am still struggling to get the nitrates down. Sadly I lost my ring leopard discus in the process, the others seem ok so far and am doing lots of water changes.

[Andy123]

i used to have clown loaches for cleanup crew. The problem with them was afetr a couple of months they decided they like the taste of discus slime coat and wouldn't leave them alone. They went back to the LFS. My whiptails have never bothered the discus in the time they have been together. Cory's I have had with the discus too and went well.

[vanessa messig]

I have two whiptails now and find them great, they are not as efficient as the pleco as far as cleaning up goes but do the job anyway.... one thing for sure is that they do not leave a big poop mess in the morning!! Cory's are wonderful and a must for a discus tank in my opinion.

[lpiasente]

Gosh, I have 5 clown loaches in my tank. I didn't know they would bother the Discus. Funny I found this post I was complaining to my brother this morning about how much poop I have now that the discus are in the tank.

[Tommy01]

Does anybody have Panda Corys with Discus? I just got 5 young ones into my quarantine tank and am wondering if/for how long will they make it at 30 deg C?

In the past I had corys with other tropical fish (Angels etc) and they disturbed the substrate so much there was hardly ever anything to vacuum (it all used to end up in the filter). It will be interesting to see how well they do their job in the Discus tank.

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum Tommy.

Pandas should be fine, especially if you gradually increase the temp while they're in quarantine.

They're probably not as tough as the bronze cories, but they should still be fine.

[Tommy01]

Thank you for the welcome Merrilyn.

I will try the 5 Pandas first and see how they do. I want to grow them a bit in the qt tank first because they are still quite small. Any other cory type recommendations for the warm discus tank? :)

[fud]

Sterbais go really well in discus tanks.I spend as much time watching them as I do the discus,they love playing in the bubble wall!

[lpiasente]

I added a knife fish about a month ago, he makes sure there is no beef heart mix left.