They tend to be found suckered to the glass, grazing on leaves, resting and sitting around on wood and decor, plants and decor, maybe sometimes sitting on the substrate, or eating on some food from the substrate, but they are suckermouthed... they graze on the soft algae, biofilm, diatoms, and other tiny organisms found in healthy, established tanks. So it's important to be careful when preparing to get them, then when choosing the store, the stocking, and the health of the fish you see when you're ready to buy! No idea about "otoginglus", but otocinclus are not really bottom dwelling fish, and they don't dig, so they'll be fine on gravel.
Adorable little fish.It is a Juwel Rio 125 aquarium 27.5 gallon, I've had it up and running for four days, used API tap water conditioner and Seachem Stability, my real plants are in with liquid fertiliser added. The fish I'm looking at having is mainly Tetras, I'm looking at Ember Tetra, Green Tetra, Black Neon Tetra, and Neon Tetra,, and one or two Honey Gourami. Obviously not having them all but the Tetras I will end up with will be in shoals of 10, the Otoginglus I'm thinking of just two.She's right about many bottom dwellers, and if we were talking about corydoras, I'd agree!
But fortunately, otos are grazers, and don't dig into the substrate the way some bottom dwellers like corydoras do, so yes, they'd be fine with gravel so long as it's smooth. I'd avoid rough, jagged substrate, but a smooth pea or normal gravel won't bother them at all.
Mine are in a tank that's half sand, half gravel.
In my oto tank, I never clean the inside glass on the back, and one side, and let algae grow there on purpose for the otos and other tiny fish I have in there.
It's great that you want to get a group, they do like to be in groups of six or more.. but they also struggle hard with shipping and are delicate, so better to only get them once your tank is well established, and you're confident you have plenty of food for them to graze on. Then choose healthy specimens in store. Look for healthy, round tummies - if the tummy isn't round, or is concave, the fish is starving
They're wonderful little fish! One of my absolute favourites. Can I ask how long ago you set up the tank, please? What size is it and what other stocking is/will be in there?
Roughly how long would you leave a new tank before adding them ?
Cool, what method are you using to cycle the tank? Have you added any beneficial bacteria/ammonia? Do you have a water testing kit?
as I've said used API tap water and stability my local dealer has told me to leave for a week then test water and if okay add four fish, which would be small Tetras.Minimum of three months after cycling, ideally, six months. It takes a while to get a tank fully established, and patience is often a hard learned lesson in this hobby, sadly! But that's why it's good to do the research and ask these sorts of questions before going ahead and getting the fish, so want to make sure to give you kudos for that!
Lots of threads here if you search for "otocinclus care" or similar, it's well worth being prepared before getting them, giving the plants time to establish and begin growing in, algae, microcritters, and biofilms to begin colonising the tank, and really stable water parameters. That all takes time. A tank is usually stable by about three months in, if maintained properly, and what we'd call "established" at around six months or more.
Sadly, all the otos available in stores are wild caught. They're a delicate fish that struggles, they often use toxins like cyanide to stun the fish in order to catch them, then warehouse them in huge containers before shipping out batches to different stores across the world. They're one of the most tricky fish to ship, because they're grazers, wild caught, not used to commercial foods and don't always take to them right away... many starve and die when being caught, warehoused, and during shipping. It's also not uncommon for fish stores to get a batch of otos, and find most dead on arrival. Or a lot of them, then can struggle to get them eating in store tanks, since those aren't usually coated with algae, biofilm and live plants either. So if the wild caught, highly stressed and starving fish make it to the store alive, then to your tank - if the fish aren't getting enough to eat, haven't adapted to commercial foods, were warehoused for too long or couldn't handle the stress of the whole process, people often buy a group only to lose most or all of them within the first weeks.
I warn you of all that not to put you off - as I said, they're wonderful fish! But so you'll be informed and can wait until your tank is ready for them, get a larger group (remember they live in groups of thousands in the wild - having two doesn't work... people sometimes "Noah's Ark" a tank and get two of each species, thinking "he has a friend at least", but that doesn't work for the fish. People often do only keep one or two as algae cleaners, but they thrive better, and are more likely to breed - if you get a larger group number. You can also be prepared in advance for the kinds of foods they need, and know what to look out for when you choose your otos from a store, so you have the best chance of them making it.
Cool, what method are you using to cycle the tank? Have you added any beneficial bacteria/ammonia? Do you have a water testing kit?
Definitely need to wait a while for the fish I'm afraid, cycling takes a while, but it does give you time to plan and choose what fish you really like, and research them before deciding what you want!
Cant you feed them pellets that sink to the bottom of the tank
Because they are wild caught, they do not know how to eat these yet at the time you buy them usually. If they do not have real biofilm, they will not live long enough to figure the other stuff out.
This. It's like buying sheep and giving them dog food. They just won't recognise it as food.
