Oto Advice Needed...

[MrsHennesy87]

So I have 2 otos. And there is a lot of algae on the glass but for some reason there not going near the glass, they jus stay on the rocks or huts? Why won't they clean the glass which is where most of the algae is?

 

[fishprotector]

It sounds like they could be shy. I would try increasing their numbers to at least 5.

 

[mike455555]

arint oto's more active at night?, the 2 in my 20L tend to hide during the day, but the tank is algae free (allmost) thanks to them.

the 5 in my 125l come out during the day as well

 

[MrsHennesy87]

Ya I plan to get one more this weekend. And ya they say they do a lot of work at night but the amount of algae on the tank is growing not going away.

 

[Caprichoso]

They can get timid and not do well unless they are in large groups. I started with 4 and they didn't do well so I upped the numbers to 8 and now they are all over the place, eating algae and having a great time

 

[Corydoralover]

i agree with the above but why dont you do sum of the work like reduce photoperiods and do sum manual cleaning anyways just a thought

 

[stu40]

So I have 2 otos. And there is a lot of algae on the glass but for some reason there not going near the glass, they jus stay on the rocks or huts? Why won't they clean the glass which is where most of the algae is?

The other thing to note, is that Oto's don't seem to touch Green spot algae, if that's what you've got?

 

[MrsHennesy87]

ya im going to get a glass scraper thing. and i cant add to many into my tank its only a 10g

 

[Mom of MnE]

well i dont think she wanted to scrap soon because if it is their food why take it all away?!?!?I have 4 otos and they eat all the algae off my tank. I heard and read that they eat green algae and soft brown..Just sayin......

 

[MrsHennesy87]

I thought so to and that is why when I do water changes I don't clean the glass. Because its there food source

 

[Caprichoso]

ya im going to get a glass scraper thing. and i cant add to many into my tank its only a 10g

If you're going to scrape, leave the algae on the back of the tank where it's less noticeable and then you can still have a food source for them. I only scrape the back every couple of months. What are the other fish in the tank? You may be able to add more oto's....

 

[Mom of MnE]

she has 3 female guppy 2 female platy and 1 male platy. lol its my sister in-law.

 

[MrsHennesy87]

Actually 2 female guppies, 2 female platys and 1 male platy and 2 otos

 

[Caprichoso]

Actually 2 female guppies, 2 female platys and 1 male platy and 2 otos

Ok, as long as you are doing weekly water changes of about 50%, doing a good gravel vac every week or couple of weeks, your filter is stuffed with bio media, and you don't plan on keeping any babies that will be coming your way eventually, then you could add 2-3 more oto's. Normally, I recommend getting a large group of oto's because they typically don't thrive in small numbers but in a 10g that is probably not a great idea since you don't want to add too much more to the bio-load and there is a chance there wouldn't be enough food for them in a 10g. Ideally, you would have a larger tank for fish like platy as they get to be 2.5-3 inches and tend to be quite beefy.

Good luck

 

[MrsHennesy87]

thank you. ya i have some fry in a different tank but once they are big enough i will be taking them to LFS. i think im gonna get 2 more otos so that way they are not so lonely/shy. hopefully that will do the trick