I'm thinking of getting a Dwarf Otto for algae eating duties in a 5 Gallon tank (this tank will also have 1M and 3F Endlers in)... Is getting just one Otto ok... or should I get at least two? I've also read that Dwarf Ottos are delicate fish and a high number don't even make it through the first night... is there anything I can do to minimise a loss?
Dwarf Otto...
- Thread starter bogwood
- Start date
Yeah, I've had pretty rotten luck with my ottos, so far. 2/3 loss. So far, I have 1 otto that's Not Dead Yet (I've decided to name him that. A whole month in my tank. I feel like I've won some kind of game.)
I read on otocinclus.com that having a ready supply of food usually helps, preferably in the form of soft algae and not veggies.
I imagine 'perfect water' couldn't hurt. Apart from that, I can't offer you much advice, except maybe try not to get too attached to them for the first month you have them.
Some people seem to have lots of luck with them, and have zero loss. And there are others that can't seem to keep them alive. I'm sad to say that I seem to fall into the latter group.
I read on otocinclus.com that having a ready supply of food usually helps, preferably in the form of soft algae and not veggies.
I imagine 'perfect water' couldn't hurt. Apart from that, I can't offer you much advice, except maybe try not to get too attached to them for the first month you have them.
Some people seem to have lots of luck with them, and have zero loss. And there are others that can't seem to keep them alive. I'm sad to say that I seem to fall into the latter group.
In my experience your tank really needs to be set up for quite a while and have a certain amount of algae already present. If not you will experience difficulties keeping these little fish. Broad leaf plants such as Amazon sword varieties added to their aquarium as they seem to love to browse over and under the large leaves.
Regards
BigC
Regards
BigC
Amerce
Fish Herder
I have about 5 ottos in my "new"community tank which has been going for about 6 months and they are nicely tucking into the algae I developed before I put in more plants and moss balls to combat the algae. I keep a couple of ottos in the 3 gallon betta tank that I have (it is acrylic) which because it doesn't have plants seems to develop green on the tank just for the sake of it.
So far they all seem to be happy and I only lost one out of the group that I bought originally.
So far they all seem to be happy and I only lost one out of the group that I bought originally.
Otos haven't been tank raised yet so they are all wild caught. The trip is rough on them as they are not the hardiest of fish anyway. Usually, there will be about a 50% die-off when they arrive at your LFS. Before you buy them, always ask the LFS how long they've had them. If they've been there at least 2 weeks, you are probably fine to buy some as the die-off should have ended by then.
They are schooling/shoaling fish so you do need at least 3 of them. I have also struggled with keeping otos. They seem to just die for no apparent reason. I finally gave up and didn't buy any more after the last of mine died. My experience was that they really tore into the algae when I first put them in the tank but they seemed to lose interest in it later on. And after I gave them cucumbers for the first time, they all but quit eating algae altogether.
They are schooling/shoaling fish so you do need at least 3 of them. I have also struggled with keeping otos. They seem to just die for no apparent reason. I finally gave up and didn't buy any more after the last of mine died. My experience was that they really tore into the algae when I first put them in the tank but they seemed to lose interest in it later on. And after I gave them cucumbers for the first time, they all but quit eating algae altogether.
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