I Bought Otos!

[Animal Lover 2000]

i bought otos and tey are cute and settling in weel

 

[Spurry]

they are nice, the best of luck m8 i cant keep them ive tried......

 

[LucyB]

I cannot keep them either! I got 4 but 3 died for no reason... I now have one which has been going strong for a few months now...

Not to put you off or anything...

Kidding! good luck with em'! Make sure they get enough food!

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

thank you algea wafers and tank alge every day there nammes are Remora Tom and Jerry

 

[gregswimm]

Jest remember they need to CONSTANTLY be eating green algae to stay healthy. You need to constantly have appropriate species algae in the tank for them to be healthy. They wont eat hair algae, diatoms/bga or bba. All otos are wild caught and come from areas of high tannin content and pH of around 4 and low hardness. Plants seem to be essential for long term health by reducing stress, I recommend some anubias; they are easy, low light and hard to kill if you keep their rhizome from being buried. Also the addition of mopani(they may also feed on it) wood will help keep tannin levels up, your aim is a deep tea/red colored water (tannins will help prevent illness).

Because they are fragile misunderstood fish and all of them come directly from the wild, you can expect a 1/3 to 1/4 survival rate once you get them home.

It should also be noted that otos are rather nitrate intolerant (levels under 30ppm, although levels are 15ppm are ideal). I would also consider otos to be one of the most difficult freshwater fish. Mind you I had trouble growing enough of the right type of algae for 4 them in a 29g.... If they do lots of swimming something is wrong, check your water and algae growth; they are very inactive during the day.

Edit: Almost forgot. They do better in shoals of more than 6. This further compounds their difficulty, making it harder to grow enough food. You can also supplement their diet by adding zucchini to the tank at night, just remove the uneaten food in the morning. A fat oto is a healthy oto.