new otos - any hints/tips on keeping them??

[millym]

hi
we've just added a couple of dwarf otos to our well established tank. theyve been with us for a week so far & are slowly getting through all the algae we have on our plants. ive been adding algae tabs for them & other tankmates but just want to know from anyone whose kept these cute little guys before if you have any hints or tips on keeping them healthy & happy. i have read that they quite often die for no apparent reason or are hard to acclimatise so would like to know if theres anything else i can do to help them settle
thanks

 

[GuppyDude]

umm iv got a tip, dont add salt! i bought 2 baby otos and i killed them in 2 days because the water they were in had salt in it i still feal really bad about that

 

[clutterydrawer]

Good quality water, lots of broadleaved plants, mature tank, sufficient food. (you can grow extra algae for them on pebbles in a jar)

 

[Oddball]

Ottos are naturally shoaling fish that enjoy the "many eyes" defense for spotting predators so feel a lot calmer when there are more ottos, so as a result stress is cut down. When algae is not in huge supply, they nibble on soft plant matter, u can add a few shelled boiled peas in now and then to feed em. They prefer slightly acid water and should be kept with smallish peaceful fish for several reasons:
1) ottos are armoured so if they take any physical damage from an aggressive fish it is to the eyes
2) they are tiny so can be swallowed whole by larger fish (thus this may choke the larger fish as the otto is armoured and when threatened they raise their dorsal and caudal fins in defence and may become lodged in the throat, causing the diner to chke to death)
3) ottos are naturally wary of large fish and hide, so they become less visible
Hope this helps

 

[noclueman]

While we're on the topic...I have 3 oto's in a 10 gallon tank. But I am upgrading tank sizes very soon to a 55 gallon. I have been wondering if I should use oto's in the 55 gallon also, because there will be larger fish in there. Angel, Pictus Cats, few other large ones.

If I had 3-5 oto's do you think they would survive with the larger fish?

 

[Kittycat]

What is the minimum number to keep them?

And do you mean that they are absolutely intolerant of salt? (I'm worried because I feed baby brine shrimp to my other fishies, and inevitably include some of their salt water into the tank)

 

[TorPeteO]

I've read it's usually best to keep them in groups of five or six, but a lot of people ignore that and keep pairs. I'm included, as I've only got two in my 5 gallon tank. I'm hoping to upgrade to a 15 gallon within a few months (i.e. Christmas), and when that happens I'll purchase 4 or 5 more to go in it.

I have algae wafers, but they hardly touch them anyway, so I don't bother anymore. They just pollute the tank for me, and so I don't like them. Perhaps yours are different, though.

Good luck with your Otos!

 

[millym]

thanks everyone for all the good advice.......we've had our otos for over a week now & they seem to be settling well and are munching their way through the large amounts of algae in our tank & ive also been putting in algae wafers occ too to make sure theyre getting enough grub. theyve started moving around the tank a lot more & are spending time on our large rocks now whereas at first they hid in some of the broad leaved plants. none of our other fish are paying them any attention at all i suppose the biggest risk could be from our barbs but theyre not interested & neither are our yoyos who never bother anyone else.. we'd love to get a couple more but think we mught be pushing the tank limits (esp as we just got some new barbs this weekend).......so fingers crossed theyre ok & happy

 

[Kittycat]

Thanks, too. I've had mine for a couple of days...bought one first last Friday because it was expensive (more expensive price per fish than any other fish in my tank) and I read that they tend to suddenly die. When it lasted the weekend, I added two more today. So far they've been hanging out a lot at the sides of the quarantine tank (it has lots of algae, that was why I got them). Will be running to the store for some algae wafers, etc tomorrow.

Do they eat vegetarian flakes? Can someone suggest good foods for ottos of Tetra or Serra brands (they're the ones most commonly available here in the Philippines)?

 

[Erised]

My otos cant get to food like algae tablets in time because the rest of my fish eat it ... so I boil some cucumber and other green vegetables for them from time to time, stick a plant weight in it, and they love it!

 

[clutterydrawer]

You can also grow them extra food by putting pebbles in a jar on a sunny windowsill.