Bristlenose aka ancistrus questions

[paramedic07]

Bristlenose, the thought crossed my mind today after waking up this morning from my 24 hr shift on the ambulance.

Note, I am a bit paranoid about putting a sucker fish or any other fish in my discus tank. BUT......From what Ive gathered, people have put at least one bristlenose in a breeding discus tank before and have had no problems whatsoever.......

Past experience? Comments? Questions? Ideas in jest?

[Sundance]

Might depend on whether you're having an algae problem. If not, why bother? My experience with BN has been nothing but positive, but I haven't kept discus (angels, but no discus). They will feed on dead fish, but other than that, I've never seen any interest in "fish". All plecos can produce a lot of waste. Denny

[paramedic07]

i bought 3 otocinclus instead of a bristlenose. i feel more comfortable with otos and stuff right now. I'll be supplementing the otos diet with blanched zucchini.

[paramedic07]

At this time, Ive decided to do just the otos ONLY and i haven't ruled out a bristlenose in the future.

[sumpnfishy]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but ottos are actually MORE likely to try to feed off the sides of discus. Due to their smaller size they seem to be a bit harder for them to shake off. I know of lots of people keeping ottos with discus but my first choice would be the ancistrus.

[paramedic07]

might be able to get an albino bristlenose for 12.99- including shipping. i know, i know. but i trust the guy. if i do get one, i'll try it out on my community tank.

the otos in the discus tank are going nowhere near the discus and are leaving them alone completely. they sure are helpin to keep my discus tank very clean though. theyre started to like the blanched zucchinni too.