Is My Oto Lonely?

[meggofishy]

okay so I have been reading a whole lot of posts saying that otos are very hard to keep and that they are hard to get eating and that they need buddies, like  4 or 5. I have 1 oto and he is the easiest fish I have, he is always eating and he has quite the plump belly forming but now that I know that he needs friends should I get him some buddies?
 
p.s. I also just added some live plants and he has been on the spiral one non-stop is that normal? 

 

[techen]

Yes, Otos belong in groups. So I do suggest getting a few more to keep them happy.
 
Most otos will chill out on plants after eating, So yea it's normal. They can be very lazy.

 

[meggofishy]

how many more? i don't want a whole bunch of them in my tank. I would like to just get 2 or 3 more, would that do? and he doesn't seem lonely or anything he just goes about his business, he is definitely not stressed.

 

[r.w.girard]

Obviously, the more the merrier, but aim for at least 3, although 6+ is generally regarded as preferable for any schooling/shoaling fish - the otocinclus belonging to the latter.  These are fish that live in shoals of hundreds if not thousands in the wild.  Also, be conscious of how many your tank can practically support, taking into consideration the fact they if left to eat only algae, they will most likely die of starvation.

 

[misterpro]

Give hime 2 buddies or something like that.  That would be OK.
 
*edit* Was late Have to agree with r.w.girard

 

[meggofishy]

okay so if I get 2 more would I have to feed them the algae disks? or would it be better to grow my own algae in a window and feed them that?
 
I like my tank really clean so there is not much algae in the tank to begin with, having a piggy oto also helps

 

[r.w.girard]

Mine love, L.O.V.E., cucumber.  I just cut a piece, preferably without seeds, and attach it to a small stone disk from a necklace I bought -for this purpose - in a hippy-esque jewelry store with fishing line - just thread it through the center of the veggie.  I usually leave it in the tank for a couple of days, two or three, and take it out before it totally degrades.  You might want to time that with when you do your cleaning so that you don't end up polluting the water quality too much. The algae disks are must less of a hit.  Other people say things like zucchini - courgette -, lettuce and spinach are big winners among the otocinclus community as well.  I have used courgette, but I tend to eat it myself, while I always seem to have cucumber lying around...

 

[meggofishy]

I never thought to feed him veggies, i'll have to try some lettuce today to see how he likes it. He probably wont eat it because he has been eating the new plant I got for the aquarium non stop. I will have to try, thanks