Naughty Otto

[Themuleous]

Hi All,

I recently added 5 ottos to my 20G and woke up this morning and one (or more!) has eaten one of my anubias, literally eaten the whole rhizome thing the leaves are attached to, now the leaves are just held on by threads.

Has anyone got any advice? Ive tried feeding algae wafers but they don't seem interested. Wondering if I should feed when I go to bed as the anubais damage seems to happen at night?

I realise I shouldn't have added 5 to a 20G so have re-homed two to other tanks, so have three left (they are around 2cm long) it this still to many?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Sam

 

[catxx]

why shouldnt 5 be added to a 20g? that sounds fine to me.

my otos have never touched any of my live plants. weird!

 

[Silverlady]

I have Four in my 28 Gallon tank. They have never eaten my plants .Could it be another Fish.

 

[catxx]

good point, is it really an oto?
does it look similar to this and tiiny?

 

[Arfie]

No experience of otto's eating plants, mine sit on leaves all day and don't do any damage to them.

You could try adding some blanched courgette or cucumber in the evening though to see if they are attracted by that instead.

I'd also say 5 otto's in 20gallons is fine too , depending on what other stock you have of course

Arfie

 

[demonmagus]

otos don't eat plants, I'm sure...

Thats why they are such good planted janitors

 

[Themuleous]

Well the only other things I have are tetras (serpae, lemon, x-ray and neon) some corys and some clown loaches? And Ive had them years (quite literally in some cases!) and they've never touched the plants or are even known to eat plants. I do have algae (amano) shrimp but it cant be them they are far to weak to cut through anubias stems and Ive also had them in with anubias before with no problems. The thing is that this only started to happen when I added the ottos, so the finger is squarely pointed at them

The only thing I guess is that its only happened to one plant, so it could just be a duff plant, but again its been fine up to adding the ottos.

I thought as a general rule you allowed 10G of water per otto?

Do people generally speaking not feed their ottos?

Thanks for the advice

Sam

 

[catxx]

i feed my otos plec flakes and occasional veges as they eat the algae too quick!

10g per oto? naaah i don't think thats right.

i have 3 in a heavily planted 7.5 gallon which i do NOT advise people to do, i will upgrade them eventually, but for now they're happy hiding in the plants. (i know it's too small really, don't eat me!)

i am concerned about the numbers in your 20 though, clown loaches really need a 50g+, 100g+ when full grown.

 

[Themuleous]

Yes I am well aware of the needs of clowns when adult, but they are fine for the time being and no where near adult size. When I move in a year or so I'm getting a huge 4/5' tank to house them long term, but thanks for the concern.

Sam

 

[demonmagus]

they grow very slowly anyway, thats why large clowns are quite expensive

 

[Themuleous]

Yes indeed so could always sell them to pay for the huge tank!

 

[catxx]

what about the others? what kind of shoals do you have the tetras and corys in?

i'm wary over people keeping clown loaches, ever since i saw a kid with 10 in a 10 gallon + other fish

 

[Themuleous]

The others are fine. If you want to know my stocking level check out my profile.

 

[BBrain]

otos don't eat plants, I'm sure...

Thats why they are such good planted janitors

That's what I used to believe, also!
Check out my topic, that Fishkiller-nomore just linked to: My oto thinks Water Sprite is candy!
I have caught him on film, doing the damage!

 

[Synirr]

I have two otos in one of my 10 gallons (inherited from my grandmother when she downgraded her tank, I don't particularly like them), and they have never touched my plants. They will happily munch on already dead leaves though, maybe that's what happened in your case?