Otto's Feeding Off Discus Body!

[sjolliff]

Iv got about 6-8 Ottos in my tank, along with 8 discus, 2 angels, corries,plecs.

Iv noticed over the last few week that 1/2 of the ottos go around the discus body asif there eating there slime?

 

[GShorty1981]

Yeh its pretty common i'm afraid

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

As said above, there sucking their slime coat. Better get rid of them as it is very stressful for the Discus. This is why I recommend NO sucker mouth algae eating fish in with Discus.

 

[Bluetooth]

Both are correct, the sucker mouths have developed a taste for the slime coat of the discus, if you want to keep your discus well and healthy you need to ditch the sucker mouths asap as when this happens it leaves the fish with no defence against water borne parasites and diseases and makes it a LOT easier for the discus to get sick, especially with the actual act of having their slime sucked off its quite a stressful thing. Stress + no slime coat = bad things will happen.

I have found that BN plecs dont have any issues with the sucking of the slime coat, and a lot of discus keepers use BN's for tank cleaning etc.

 

[sjolliff]

The ottos have been fine fine for ages, now its started, not sure if its just the one
will they stop?

 

[Davo86]

No, it won't stop now that they have aquired a taste for the slime,
they need to be separated before they cause harm to the discus

 

[beechey]

i had a flying fox that kept doin this

 

[three-fingers]

Otos aren't suited for living with discus anyway (temperature wise), so it would be better for them too.

 

[sjolliff]

Should i start of with taken the ones out which i see doing it.

coz i dont think all are doin it?

also how should i get rid of the ottos, sell/give them away or take them to a fish shop?

 

[sjolliff]

Iv been watching the tank for the past 15 mins and its only been the one. at the min he is captured in the net, but still in the tank.

 

[three-fingers]

The best thing to do would be to remove all of them, and give them away or swap them to another aquarist who has a suitable tank for them, with cooler water and lots of algae, and who are also prepared to give them extra food.

 

[sjolliff]

the fish get 4 feeds a day ( 2 dry,2 frozen) plus there is bogwood/algae and plants in there.
ill have to put a post up in the classifieds.

what shall i do with the one iv seen attack the discus and have caught?
is it okl to leave it in the net in the tank?

 

[three-fingers]

I'd be worried about how slow your discus are if the otos are getting a chance to eat any algae wafers put in for them, blanched veggies would really be required.

The little guy can stay in the net, though tbh I'd just let him to avoid stressing him. The stress caused to the fish in the net would probably be far more than he could cause to the discus.

 

[sjolliff]

I dont put in any algae wafers in as i thought the 2 dry,2 frozen plus plants/algae etc was ok for them already.

like you say if i put wafers in the discus and angels would attack them

 

[mattbond]

i know this is probably a rather silly question, but dont discus fry eat the slime coat wen they breed, so why is it an issue if a smaller fish does it? surely fry present the same problem as an otto would?