Otos

[McCool]

After moving my five gallon tank near a window for my plants, algae is starting to attack. The only Thing in the tank is a Halfmoon. Tank is cycled, been running for quite a while, Ammonia/Nitrite 0 ect.
I've heard you can't beat Otos for an algae clean up crew, and was wondering if I could have 2 or 3 in my tank. Substrate is sand with live plants, and I also plan on finding some driftwood and adding more plants soon. I do a 50% change every 4 to 5 days.
Opinions?

 

[stu40]

Hi
how big's the tank, and what does the algae look ?
Oto's won't eat all types.

 

[McCool]

Hi
how big's the tank, and what does the algae look ?
Oto's won't eat all types.

Its a 5 gallon, and the algae is kinda a brownish haze on the glass, with some spots. I'm not really algae savvy, so you'll have to excuse the bad description

 

[stu40]

No probs

Brown algae is usually Diatoms.
Good news is that Oto's love it.
Bad news Oto's can sometimes be very picky eaters.
5 Gal is not a big tank, so after they've cleared up your problem there might not be enough produced to keep them fed, unless you're prepared to add veggies.
Try searching 'Otto' here

 

[McCool]

No probs

Brown algae is usually Diatoms.
Good news is that Oto's love it.
Bad news Oto's can sometimes be very picky eaters.
5 Gal is not a big tank, so after they've cleared up your problem there might not be enough produced to keep them fed, unless you're prepared to add veggies.
Try searching 'Otto' here

Luckily I regularly feed my loaches and snails zucchini and other veggies, along with wafers, so feeding them wouldn't be a problem at all
I'll search them and see if I can find anything else useful. I know I could keep one, but I wouldn't want too have him alone since I know they like groups... And I'm not sure if my tank is big enough for 2 or 3.
Thanks for the help!

 

[stu40]

No probs.

If you're adding more plants,they like broad leaved ones such as Anubias & Amazon swords (you can get smaller varieties of the latter now)

 

[mike455555]

iv kept 1-3 in a 5 gal before they did just fine. dident even need to feed them. with a betta they mix fine

 

[McCool]

No probs.

If you're adding more plants,they like broad leaved ones such as Anubias & Amazon swords (you can get smaller varieties of the latter now)

Well then they would be in luck! My tank has an Anubias and a large sword! I think I'll get 3 of them along with some more plants on my next trip to my LFS. Thanks again for the help!

iv kept 1-3 in a 5 gal before they did just fine. dident even need to feed them. with a betta they mix fine

Good too hear!
I didn't even think about an algae problem when I moved my tank. Hope they can clear it up!

 

[LucyB]

I have some with my Betta fish - Oscar, they all get along fine!







(and they save me scrubbing brown algae off everything...)