Looking into getting some Otos

[Teelie]

First is, are live plants really essential to their long term life? There are two tanks I'm considering them for and neither has live plants right now (I plan to get some java fern and moss for all my bogwood soon as well as other plants). One of them, the 30g, has a large chunk of bogwood with an excellent growth of algae on it however. My real concern is them eating it all away. Until I have some moss or fern growing on it, that's pretty much the only decoration on the wood. The 10g has some algae and bogwood but not much.

Second is, would they be harassed too much by 3 Spot Gouramis, Red Tailed Sharks or Clown Loaches? I have some of those in the 30g (all temporary before anyone points out "it's too small"). The 10g has Kuhlis and some pond snails so I doubt those will be a problem if they go in there. At current, the clowns (3) are at most 1.5" at the biggest with the gourami and shark (one of each) topping out around 2.5" with plenty of hiding spots in the tank.

And lastly, would 5-6 of them be overstocking either of those tanks? I know they're cousins of plecos and crap nonstop so tank maintenence would have to be higher for whichever tank they go in. I just don't want to have to do 50% weekly water changes because of a half dozen little fish if I can help it.

I can wait on getting them until I have a bigger, planted tank, though I've been wanting to get a bunch for a very long time now. I figure before I start setting up my spare 10 for shellies (seashells, bumping the pH over 8, adding the right salts, etc), I can quarantine them in there before moving them off to one of the tanks.

If not, then I'll have to wait. Keeping fish is a good way to learn patience.

 

[jollysue]

Sorry, Teelie, I asked some similar questions. I was wordy. Thought that might be why I didn't get an answer. So I condensed to three questions. Still didn't get a response. Either no knows, no one cares, no one's there who knows or cares, or I've pissed someone off.

 

[Teelie]

It sometimes takes a few hours or even days to get an answer.

 

[emma12321]

Hi Teelie,

In answer to you first question i have found that they do better with live plants but as long as you have enough sufaces in the tank for algae to grow on i wouldn't see that it is a problem. I have kept them sucessfully with plastic plants. The main thing is that the tank is mature or at least the bog wood is mature with pleanty of algae on it.

I have kept mine with sparkling gourami and they are currently living with 3 clown loach among other loaches, the biggest clown is 5 inches and doesn't even pay attention to them. I suppose it depends if you find your gourami agressive and if you provide hiding places for the ottos. I have no experience with RTS.

I wouldn't put more than 4 in the 10 gallon, simply because they would quickly run out of algae, though you can give them wafers and cucumber to supplement this.

p.s have you seen the zebra otto, this is a fish on my wish list.

Hope this helps

Emma

 

[freddyk]

All they really ask for is clean water and a constant food supply. They eat a lot for their weight and tank algae isn't always enough. Planted tanks are ideal, but there is no reason you can't keep them in a well maintained tank with no real plants. The 30 gallon is a much better choice for the group you have in mind.

They are sensitive fish and don't always acclimate well, and they tend to be starving by the time they end up in our tanks, which only weakens their systems. Deaths after introduction are common, but once adjusted they'll do fine as long as you keep it clean and keep them full.

 

[AllusiveLife]

Does one recommend placing Otos in a tank with Cichlids? Or would they be too small. I wanted to place 10 Otos in my 125 gallon, I just didn't want them to be fish food.

 

[Teelie]

Thanks, that does help. I have algae wafers I feed my fish already and my kuhlis don't need more than a half wafer so I can just crumble another half for Otos if I put them in there. The Clowns and Shark nibble on wafers but they don't eat more than a half eitther.

I've seen the Zebra Otos online but not in person. If possible, I'd like to get those but that may be pricey. I went into PetCo today, the only place around here with them and they only had two and one didn't look great. My minimum was going to be four anyways.

Oh well, have to wait another week or two before looking again.

 

[Briarmoor]

I keep a Gold female gourami with my 2 ottos in a 20g and she doesn't mess with them at all. She does get after the 3 corys from time to time, especially during feeding. I break up an algae wafer into 5 pieces and wait until lights out so the gourami settles in and doesn't eat it all. The ottos are very diligent cleaners. They also love zucchini. I freeze it first, then thaw it. I read that makes it easier for them to digest. I don't leave it more than a day in the tank and feed it every few days. I also take the hulls of thawed frozen peas and put a few in the tank so they can eat that too.

P.

 

[boxman]

I wouldn't really recommend oto's with cichlids.

Oto's are great guys but can be prone to dropping dead for no reason. Saying that, I've had a couple for ages now and they're fat little boys (or girls) so it just depends on the individuals hardyness I guess.

Answering your questions

1) Oto's (from my experience) as well as alot of other catfish will munch on a plant or two occasionally. Mine love bogwood and suck on it inbetween chasing eachother around and munching on a bit more algae. They don't go for the thick black hairy algae in my experience, only the green coating on plants and the sides of the tank so don't expect your algae cleaner to be redundant!

2) I don't personally get on with RTBS so I couldn't comment. The rest should be fine.

3) You (as you have pointed out) are over stocked in the 30g - if you can move the clowns (and seek advice with otos compatability with RTBS) I wouldn't see any reason why you couldn't put 6 without a problem (yes, they crap like there's no tomorrow - or branflakes so keep that substrate clean!!) In the 10g they should be fine, 3 would do it.

Hope that helps

 

[Teelie]

So far the shark is the only concern. I don't think it'll bother them too much but given their territorial nature it's hard to say. Then again he only chases the other fish during feeding time, which is what my main concern is. He can be mean as hell, so can the clowns for that matter. They all chase off the Gourami if the food falls below a certain depth.

The 10g is smaller but far more peaceful. I may add them in there instead. My other 30g with Cories is stocked up so it's out of the question and my other 10g is going to have shellies so it's out of the question. While I was in the store yesterday I saw my answer: a 55g long tank. Too bad I can't afford/have nowhere to put it right now.

I think I'll wait on them til I figure something out.

 

[jollysue]

RTB?

What about the larger tanks? 100-125 gal? How many can sustain themselves in a larger tank? with a bristlenose or two? Will 10 be overkill and too dirty?

 

[Teelie]

3-4 should be okay in a 10g as long as it's not crowded already. Someone else actually was asking about Otos for a 100g in this thread yesterday. Hard to spot though as it wasn't obvious.

Hi jollysue,

You should be fine with 10-12 ottos in 100 gallons, I keep 6 in a 400 litre which i think is 88 gallons ish and have not had any problems, i would like to get 6 zebra ottos if i seen any in my lfs. Mine live with a farlowella and a breeding pair of bristlenose plecs and some babies under an inch long. The ottos spend most of their time grazing on the plant algae, the others are mostly on the glass and the bottom.

For a plec that stays small you can't go wrong with a bristle nose, rubber nose plecs are also cute and pit bull plecs (though mine died after a day in my tank so i think they are a bit sensitive like ottos can be).

If you go with a pair of bristlenose you are virtually guaranteed to get babies at some point.

Hope this helps

Emma

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[jollysue]

Thanks Teelie and Emma

There was also someone asking about a 125 gal in this thread.

 

[jkeylounatic]

i have an otto in a 10g and he is doing well, live plants and my gourami isnt bothering him, i think that what you want to do will be fine

 

[freddyk]

Oto's are definetly not recommended with cichlids. There are exceptions though - I've introduced a couple into the 75 gallon tank (see below) without any problems, and I'd be comfortable adding them with any full bottom dweller (Nicaraguensis, Geophagus). They also do fine in most dwarf cichlid setups.