otto cats

[fishcurious]

Hello:

has anyone ever kept otto cats, Otocinclus affinis, with their discus? If so did you have any problems with them bothering the discus? I want to get these for algae clean up. I assume the discus would eat shrimp if I used them for algae clean up.

Also am looking for a snail eater (snuck in on plants) for my tank. Any suggestions?

I have 1 small, 2 medium discus, blue loach (outgrowing the tank), corys, bristlenose, flying fox, and some tetras. I am still covered in hair and other algae.

thanks,
fishcurious

[BigDaddyAdo]

Get a couple of SAE. They will eat the hair algae. As for the snails id say some clown loaches but remember that they need to be kept in a group of 4 or more and they can get quite large.

What type of snails?


Ado

[fishcurious]

i don't know but the snails are a cone shape. I was thinking of the otto cats because they stay small. Are flying foxes SAE?

[Andy123]

if they are cone snales then it may be hard finding a fish that will remove them as they hav hard shells. you may need to take them out by hand.

[Robdog]

I think Foxes are slightly different to SAE's but probably equally useless.
Clown loaches will eat the snails but then you are stuck with them long after the snails are gone. Good for an Asian biotope setup but then discus aren't asian :ug
I'd go with the Otto's. I reckon they're great and just pick the snails out by hand.

[TW]

I'd go for ottos. I have kept them with discus for around 2 years now. They have never bothered them. I have heard of the other sucking catfish getting a taste for discus slime.

[fishcurious]

thanks for the replies. I added 5 otto cats about a week ago. Everyone is happy. The ottos haven't bothered the discus at all. I haven't seen them show any interest in the snail but then again I think that occurs at night. I'll see how things progress.