What's a good bottom cleaner fish that will get along with discus?

Question

i want something that won't grow too big. Maybe up to 6 inches. I also have tetras in my tank.

Answer 1

well DON'T get a sucking loach because it will suck the mucus of your discus so maybe get a plecostomus or corydoras catfish

Answer 2

You're running a bit of a risk with tetras in the same tank as discus since tetras are VERY susceptible to disease caused by environmental changes...heat, light, Ph, stress, etc.  They'll pass on those diseases VERY quickly to the discus.  tetras are notorious for this.

On another note, you're looking for a good bottom cleaner...I've always liked the Corydora catfish species as well as the Plecostomus, although the Corys are alot more active and entertaining for a home aquarium.  There's some cute ones like the "Panda Cory Catfish".

Answer 3

Gary D is right about the Tetras and I agree that Corydora cats are a good choice.

Answer 4

The only bottom dweller I could ever recommend for housing with Discus would be Clown Loaches.

Stay away from catfish and plecos, even though most every other person here suggested (even the supposed "marine biologist"). All cory cats harbor intestinal flagellates which Discus are quite susceptible to and Plecos are notorious for sucking the slime off the sides of Discus and thus causing open and infected sores.

Answer 5

Either a bristle nose pleco or a rubber mouth pleco would be good.  They are great algae eaters and grow to a maximum of 5-6 inches.  Very peaceful and shy.  Make sure you have some wood in the tank for it to chew on to aid digestion and a hiding place and it will be a happy fish.

*Additional*  Plecos are not notorious for sucking on discus!  This is a VERY RARE occurrence!  Any pleco that is sucking the slime coat off of a fish is doing so out of desperation because it is starving to death!  If you keep your pleco decently fed it will never bother your discus.  Make sure you give it some algae wafers and the occasional vegetable supplement, such as fresh or frozen zucchini, green beans, cucumber or mushrooms.  Plecos cannot live on algae alone.  :p

Answer 6

corys

plecos

catfish

coy(try not to though)

algea eaters

ghost shrimp

red clawed crab

Answer 7

I can say few things more than that several people that answered here have no idea what they're talking about.  You really want to avoid fish with a sucker mouth-- it is quite well documented that Plecos, Chinese Algae Eaters and the like can and will latch on to Discus and suck off their mucus.  The only exception to this would be Otos, which seem to have fallen through the cracks on this question.  A group of 5-10 would be great-- very effective, very entertaining, and very safe.  Kuhli Loaches, Cories, Dwarf Chain Loaches, Zebra Loaches, Banjo Cats, and similar species would work very well, tolerating the warm water Discus need and avoiding the fish in general.

There is NO problem with Tetras-- they aren't nearly as susceptible to infection as somebody made them out to be, and are actually among the best tankmates for Discus (assuming they're too big to be eaten).    Also, Cories are FAR less infamous for tracking internal parasites into a tank than fish like Rams, Plecos, or even Discus!!!