Planning On Getting An Otocinclus Or Two...

[rolo0151]

I've got a 7 gallon with a betta & x3 amano shrimp in it. No issues as of yet (been in together 7months)
I find the shrimps interesting little creatures too.

 

[Paradise3]

If you are going to add shrimp take the Betta out add the shrimp then re add the fish.

Dropping shrimp from the top of the tank with the fish in will make it seem like your adding food. Almost all fish will be interested in something being added to the tank (the plac where food comes from). They'll no doubt go to investigate and check whether its food.

Shrimps already in the tank have more chance of being seen as part of the tank - though this will depend on the personality of the Betta

 
I added the shrimp first... The betta's took longer to notice the amano's because they were clear but when they did they shredded them. The cherries were noticed almost straight away despite being added into a planted tank.

 

[Fallwyn]

Oh, I have an update!
Today I found another aquarium while cleaning out my closet. Not sure how big it is exactly, but it's about 15 gallons, possibly bigger, from the looks of it. Would this still be too small for a couple Ottos?

 

[r.w.girard]

What are the dimensions of the tank? Post them here or cross-check them with a site like this or this, probably the latter would more most helpful.  That will give you volume.  If it is at least a 10g [20x10], a pair should be fine with a beta, although two in a 15g [24x12] would be even better. Really, they would do better in a larger group and thus a larger tank, what with being a shoaling fish.  Meaning don't expect to see them out and about very often if you only have two.  But do read up on keeping them as they tend to be in bad shape when in store and tend to die pretty quickly.  However, if they make it through the first couple of weeks they seem to be quite hardy little fish.  Adorable to boot.

 

[Paradise3]

What are the dimensions of the tank? Post them here or cross-check them with a site like this or this, probably the latter would more most helpful.  That will give you volume.  If it is at least a 10g [20x10], a pair should be fine with a beta, although two in a 15g [24x12] would be even better. Really, they would do better in a larger group and thus a larger tank, what with being a shoaling fish.  Meaning don't expect to see them out and about very often if you only have two.  But do read up on keeping them as they tend to be in bad shape when in store and tend to die pretty quickly.  However, if they make it through the first couple of weeks they seem to be quite hardy little fish.  Adorable to boot.

 
They shouldn't be kept in less than 6 minimum so a pair is no good. They also are usually in good shape in shops but need constant algae to survive so keeping them more than a few months is usually not easy. I had 6 at one point - 2 died within a week because they wouldn't eat anything including natural algae, 3 died over the course of the next month or so and the last one survived alone and ate to his hearts content. However, when I did try introducing more he killed them off.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I only have one survivor myself. I started out with 6 altogether, and one by one they died off. The one I still have seems very happy, though, so I hesitate to get more.

 

[Paradise3]

I only have one survivor myself. I started out with 6 altogether, and one by one they died off. The one I still have seems very happy, though, so I hesitate to get more.

 
See that's what happened with mine when I had them. I bought 6 - 5 died and one survived. I tried adding 3 more to give him company so he wasn't lonely till I could get the other 2 and then sat and watched him practically eat them alive. He did OK on his own but was shy and wouldn't go near other fish or anything whereas in groups they were out all the time and everything.

 

[r.w.girard]

What are the dimensions of the tank? Post them here or cross-check them with a site like this or this, probably the latter would more most helpful.  That will give you volume.  If it is at least a 10g [20x10], a pair should be fine with a beta, although two in a 15g [24x12] would be even better. Really, they would do better in a larger group and thus a larger tank, what with being a shoaling fish.  Meaning don't expect to see them out and about very often if you only have two.  But do read up on keeping them as they tend to be in bad shape when in store and tend to die pretty quickly.  However, if they make it through the first couple of weeks they seem to be quite hardy little fish.  Adorable to boot.

 
They shouldn't be kept in less than 6 minimum so a pair is no good. They also are usually in good shape in shops but need constant algae to survive so keeping them more than a few months is usually not easy. I had 6 at one point - 2 died within a week because they wouldn't eat anything including natural algae, 3 died over the course of the next month or so and the last one survived alone and ate to his hearts content. However, when I did try introducing more he killed them off.

 
Wait, Paradise, you would say that they should not keep a single otocinclus because their tank is too small for the "minimum school" of 6? That seems somewhat ridiculous, I am sorry to say, given that you yourself seem to be saying that you keep only one.  One, two or three otocinlus are regularly kept in tanks that are too small to keep a full shoal - they are not true schooling fish from what I have been able to learn - because both of a lack of grazing space and an overload to the tank's bioload.  To recommend six new first for a small tank of unknown dimensions, is both impossible and unfair.  Of course, we should try to keep a minimum of 50 in a tank, if not 20 times that.
 
As for why otocinclus tend to die, I can offer two reasons: firstly that they are often wild caught and therefore suffer in less than ideal conditions as most wild fish do, and secondly because they need to be able to graze somewhat constantly but are unable to do that in a) transport after extraction, b) a 20g LFS tank with some 20 otocinclus in it, c) in a new tank without an established algae/biofilm colony.  So, Fallwyn, if you decide to get a couple of otocinclus, one or two, or 8, depending on the actual size of your tank - Paradise is right, the more the better-, don't do it right away.  Give the tank a month or two - the longer the better - before adding the otocinclus.  And then, regularly supplement their diet with algae tabs and either cucumber or zucchini/courgette.

If you want more information on the species try these pages: 
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/35094-oto/
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/otocinclus-macrospilus/
 
http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=105
 
Mainly the same information but you still should look through them all.  Hope it helps.

 

[Paradise3]

 

What are the dimensions of the tank? Post them here or cross-check them with a site like this or this, probably the latter would more most helpful.  That will give you volume.  If it is at least a 10g [20x10], a pair should be fine with a beta, although two in a 15g [24x12] would be even better. Really, they would do better in a larger group and thus a larger tank, what with being a shoaling fish.  Meaning don't expect to see them out and about very often if you only have two.  But do read up on keeping them as they tend to be in bad shape when in store and tend to die pretty quickly.  However, if they make it through the first couple of weeks they seem to be quite hardy little fish.  Adorable to boot.

 
They shouldn't be kept in less than 6 minimum so a pair is no good. They also are usually in good shape in shops but need constant algae to survive so keeping them more than a few months is usually not easy. I had 6 at one point - 2 died within a week because they wouldn't eat anything including natural algae, 3 died over the course of the next month or so and the last one survived alone and ate to his hearts content. However, when I did try introducing more he killed them off.

 
Wait, Paradise, you would say that they should not keep a single otocinclus because their tank is too small for the "minimum school" of 6? That seems somewhat ridiculous, I am sorry to say, given that you yourself seem to be saying that you keep only one.  One, two or three otocinlus are regularly kept in tanks that are too small to keep a full shoal - they are not true schooling fish from what I have been able to learn - because both of a lack of grazing space and an overload to the tank's bioload.  To recommend six new first for a small tank of unknown dimensions, is both impossible and unfair.  Of course, we should try to keep a minimum of 50 in a tank, if not 20 times that.

 
I saw a complete difference in mine when I had 6 and when I had one. They were much, much happier in the group than the one on it's own. If you'll look back at what I said you'll find I actually said that I bought 6, 2 died within a week and I waited for the deaths to stop before trying to replace them - this ended up being a few months and I was left with one. I attempted to re-introduce 5 more(well 3 at first and was going to add the other 2 later one) and then watched him skin them alive which he had never done with the original ones. The original ones were happy bar the first two which died who wouldn't eat anything, including natural algae. I can even say my partners Zebra Oto's looked a lot happier in a larger group then they did when there was only 6 left. He started with 15 and they were always out and active. Obviously due to the mortality rates of oto's he lost quite a few over time despite there always being natural algae available. The 6 that were left were secluded, they came out but were a lot more nervy than they had been before in the larger group. This gives me reason to believe they prefer groups. People keep 2-3 corys together as they don't always shoal but if that was the case you'd be saying "you need 6 corys" so why is it different with something that reacts to bigger numbers almost exactly the same way?
Also, I never recommended them. I said they shouldn't be kept in less than 6.

 

[r.w.girard]

Use value?

 

[Wildbetta]

I do not recommend otocinclus catfish to anyone with a tank that is less than 6 months established although it is better to have a longer established tank in reality.  The way they are caught in the wild stuns a good many of them for the hunter/fisher/ect to be able to scoop up a big ole bunch of them, this along with the fact that they only eat soft forms of algae in the wild and are hard to transition over to other more readily available(for us) foods makes it a lose/lose situation in most cases.    They are less likely to stay hidden in bigger groups and in nature they are in big groups but on a normal basis for a person to be able to keep that many alive all in the same tank is ALMOST unheard of without problems.  I do happen to know of someone who can keep them in big groups and actually breeds them, raises fry, and then sells the fry once they are big enough.  If I ever wanted to attempt to keep otos again(I have kept them on and off and they always eventually die off), I would buy some of his tank raised ones since the probability of them eating stuff that you feed them is definately higher than the wild caught ones.
 
My recommendation is a mystery snail if you feel like you HAVE to add something to your tank.  Bettas don't get lonely --that is a sole human thought and concept.  They are solitary fish and are really best kept by themselves.  Now in the tank you just found -- if it is 10 gallons or more with a decent footprint, you could add a small school of pygmy cories(pygmaeous, hasbrous, hastatus -- one of those 3 types) would work good as long as your betta decides he will be ok with them.  I haven't personally had any problems with cories and my bettas BUT there are some males that will not tolerate another living thing in their area -- this includes snails.
 
Oh and you need a lid of some sort even if you have to rig something up.  Bettas think they can fly and can find the tiniest holes in a top to jump through which will lead to his death if you are not in the vicinity when he was to do it.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'd love to have some of those home grown otos ... In fact, I vowed to get only home raised fish a while back. Nearly every one of the wild caught fish I've bought have died.

 

[Fallwyn]

Thank you for all the advice! My friend gave me her 20-gallon tank a couple days ago so I have more space. I added two algae eaters, and they're getting along with my Betta very well. I'm going to wait a few months before adding more fish again.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Did you cycle the new tank?

 

[r.w.girard]

When you say "algae eaters," what exactly do you mean? Otocinclus? SAE? CAE?