Fancy Pleco for a discus Tank

Dolphin Dip · Post by **Dolphin Dip** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:16

hi, i was hoping this forum might be able to help me in selecting a fancy plaeco for my discus tank.

right now i have to pieces of mopani and outside of a colony of duckweed and frogbit the tank is unplanted.
water params are: NO3:0, NO2:0, PH: 7.5, KH:180 GH:60 temp: 85* F

the tank is a 75 gallon, filtered by a fluval 405, with bio media and pads only. current tank occupants are: 6 juvenile discus [about 3 inches]
5 sterbai cories [soon to be seven, i hope].
the tank recieves water changes 4-6 times a week.

i would like the pleco itself to grow to 8 inches or less in a tank and to feed primariy on algae. other foods put into the tank include but are not limited to: frozen krill, mysis shrimp, beef heart, blood worms, tubifex worms, daphina, jack wattley discus formula, and a high quality flake/pellet.

thanks.

drpleco · Post by **drpleco** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:29

Any pleco that feeds primarily on algae will NOT do well in a tank that receives offerings of worms and beefheart. Only carnivorous plecos like hypancistrus/pseudacanthicus will do well with that kind of food. Herbivorous plecos will develop intestinal blockages with that sort of diet, especially the beefheart.

You might be able to get away with otos for algae control (too small/shy to eat the worms and other meat) and then get a more omnivorous/carnivorous plec for show. Larger hypancistrus like L066/L333 can get decent sized, otherwise capive gold nuggets (L177, 18, 81) rarely get over 8." These all like the hot water you'll have for discus. Other options are really any hypancistrus or maybe a scobiancistrus (L14, L48), thought these get to 12" or so.

I guess the main point is to avoid an algae eating pleco for this tank because it will not be smart enough to avoid the food that will kill it.

Dolphin Dip · Post by **Dolphin Dip** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:43

thanks!
one of the gold nugget variants is what i had initially had in mind. but i wanted to see what else is out there.

now that you mention ottos, my lfs sold me couple ottos called pitbull otos, which look a lot like a small gold nugget. i searched them under common names and found nothing. have you ever heard of them? [i'm trying to get more, but the exporter has been out of stock for the last few months]

i appreciate the advice and will look into the other varieties.

drpleco · Post by **drpleco** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:53

Probably the pitbull pleco:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=236

Not sure how they'd fare with a high protein diet, but probably not well in the long-term. They're likely to eat off the bottom - more so than regular otos (though they might, too).

Dolphin Dip · Post by **Dolphin Dip** » 18 Dec 2007, 00:15

excellent, mine look very similar to parotocinclus jumbo.. although the patterning on mine may vary slightly from those pictured.

so far i'm really liking the L018s and L066s.

thank you.

edit: i don't suppose that their is a pleco similar to L128 that could handle the temp/diet of discus? i really like the blue fins.

drpleco · Post by **drpleco** » 18 Dec 2007, 00:21

you might also have this:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=157

which I've seen come in with pitbull plecs as a contaminant. I have one and it's pretty hardy, though reclusive. Mine is actually the one pictured in the cat-e-log (I got it from Heok-Hee before he moved home). The fish loves zuccini.

Dolphin Dip · Post by **Dolphin Dip** » 18 Dec 2007, 00:31

thanks again! that looks more like what i have. both the paterning and color change are things i can readily observe on my fish.

Plecofanatic1989 · Post by **Plecofanatic1989** » 18 Dec 2007, 06:25

In addition to the gold-nugget, I have one that absolutely LOVES blackworms, you can try the vampire pleco Leporacanthicus galaxias. Mine is very reclusive, but is also very beautiful. Protein rich foods seem to be a staple and some algae is eaten, although I can't be positive because I rarely see him.
Good luck deciding on a pleco.
Josh

Dolphin Dip · Post by **Dolphin Dip** » 18 Dec 2007, 07:09

Plecofanatic1989 wrote:In addition to the gold-nugget, I have one that absolutely LOVES blackworms, you can try the vampire pl*co Leporacanthicus galaxias. Mine is very reclusive, but is also very beautiful. Protein rich foods seem to be a staple and some algae is eaten, although I can't be positive because I rarely see him.
Good luck deciding on a pl*co.
Josh

it's definetly a good looking fish, that would probaly do okay in my set up. m only issue is temperature, i've noticed, to my suprise, that a lot of these fish seem to require cooler water than i can provide for them.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 18 Dec 2007, 19:37

I specialize in Discus and the fancy Plecos I find to do well with discus are Gold Nuggets, Hypancistrus and Peckoltia L134. Parotocinclus jumbo cannot withstand the warm temperatures that Discus require and will slowly decline and then die when kept in Discus conditions; I have already tried them. I keep ten Heckels which I bought 2 years ago when they were 3 inches in diameter. They are now all between 5-1/2 and 6 inches.

I find Common Ancistrus species 3 to be the one to use for algae control.

I advise not feeding beef heart blends except as ocassional treats in a planted discus aquarium. Use frozen blood worms, live black worms and Tetra color bits. Heckels like earthworm sticks but other discus do not accept them as well but the plecos will.

Dolphin Dip · Post by **Dolphin Dip** » 18 Dec 2007, 21:46

well, as of right now, the tank is bare bottom. and will stay that way until the my fish are adults. all that i'll have in there until then is a few pieces of mopani.

right now it's a toss up between L081 and ancistrus.
the ancistrus is what i should get. seeing as how initially i wanted a pleco for algae control. but at the same time... this tank is almost the first thing my granpsrents guests see when the walk in. as much as i love the fish and the hobby.. my grandma loves the fish for decoration/room center & conversation piece.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 19 Dec 2007, 01:04

My remarks about beef heart blends do not apply to Domestic Discus raised in bare bottom tanks. It is my primary food for my Domestic Discus. No other food grows Domestic Discus as fast and large as a good beef heart blend. I want to raise my domestics fast so I can sell them as soon as possible. They have become well adapted to it after hundreds of generations of captive breeding.

I use much less with my wild Discus.

Altum angels are not cheap but not as much as some wild discus. $25 each for the sellers' large sizes. They are still small compared to their adult size. The real problem is finding healthy stock and keeping them that way. They are a very difficult species to keep. Many hearts have been broken among would be Altum keepers.