Should i?

[CassCats]

@AdoraBelle Dearheart

Thanks to you, I've been feeling an inch to get a small shoal of Otos! But I have to think logically.

I have 3 "tropical" tanks plus a goldfish tank and betta tanks. Goldies and bettas are not candidates for otos for obvious reasons.

However.

I have to think on a couple things.

My GH is 90-150 but reads 120 on strips so good oto range

Tank 1:
46 gallon amazon blackwater, features 2 large Amazon sword plants and a couple young sword sprouts. Lots of driftwood, leaflitter, and sand.
Temperature 78F
Stock:
2 Farlowella twig catfish** (which eat the same foods otos do, but are more delicate than otos, food competition!)
15 pangio loaches (Java, kuhli, and doriae)
13 corydoras (aeneus, schultzei, and sterbai)
1 L240 Vampire Pleco (hes a baby and is only in this tank as a grow out, he will get his own tank eventually. Carnivorous pleco, so no food competition)
7 black neon tetras
2 dwarf gourami
2 bamboo shrimp
1 ghost shrimp
Assassin snails

Problem: farlowellas are food competition on this tank, they both eat soft algaes and biofilm, off surfaces and plants. My farlows had previously starved out my ramshorn snails, so otos may not go well in this set up.



Tank 2:
55 gallons
Temperature 72F
Sand, driftwood, plants, rocks.
Stock:
3 platies (not getting more, these will retire in this tank)
6 cherry barbs
6 skirt tetras
3 hoplosternum punctatum catfish
1 bristlenose pleco
33 corydoras

I worry its not established enough. The driftwood and rocks were transferred from setups set up for months, but the tank was upgraded to a 55 gallon, maybe 3-4 months ago? I dont know I dont really see much algae in this tank. I feed my BN pleco wafers, pellets, and veggies but not all otos will take those foods, so i worry.

Tank 3:
20 gallon long
Temperature 75F
Stock:
10+ pygmaeus corydoras
7 kubotai rasboras
3 sparkling gourami who constantly spawn.
1 nerite snail (small species)
Ramshorn snails

Plants and hardscape from established 10g, i upgraded to a 20 long maybe 2 months ago.

I worry with how territorial the sparkling gourami are when spawning, the otos potentially could be attacked. My male sparkler has a favorite crypt leaf he builds his nests under.



So, would you do otocinclus?

If yes, which set up?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I would do the 20g long - it’s the least crowded.

*When I see title of thread*

<I don’t care what this is about, but if it’s about fish, the answer should be yesss>

Otos are really cute. @AdoraBelle Dearheart’s are so precious.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Tank one sounds perfect for them, they do like blackwater apparently, especially for breeding. But competition with the twig cats is a legit concern. Two could be perfect, if the cherry barbs and skirts would leave them alone? I don't know much about hoplos either, how peaceful they are - I only know that they're adorable!

I'd be worried about the sparklers too.

I've kept eight otos, and none refused extra food. I don't know how true that part of their rep is, although it could well be based on facts given they're all wild caught. I think the main part of the rep is that when caught, warehoused and shipped before going into clean store tanks, they're probably not being given enough algae tablets for all of them, and the shyer ones might hang back or be pushed back by the bolder ones.

I read some things about selecting which otos to get when in stores which I'll find and link you, basically wait until they've been in the store for a couple of weeks, and the initial die off has happened Sad as that is, means the remaining ones are likely stronger and taking supplemental food since store tanks don't have enough algae to sustain 30-50 otos without them taking extras. Then select healthy looking specimens with rounded tummies, meaning they've eaten well recently.

I didn't carefully select. My first batch I bought five, lost one within 24 hours after drip acclimating them. Four survived and filled out. thrived for months. I got another four, made sure they'd been in the store for a while (a month, in my case) and just asked for four, didn't select individuals - they're not easy to catch at all. I also didn't quarantine the second batch, which you should! learn from my mistake. When I realised how thin and frail they looked compared to mine, I worried they wouldn't survive a clean quarantine tank, so I added them right into my oto tank. So if you're gonna go for some, I'd suggest pinching some bits of plants from your existing tanks, and cultivating an algae coated quarantine tank for them before adding to your established tank, especially with wild caught fish like otos.

When I got the second batch home, one had a damaged tail, and all looked so small and thin compared to my original four. Their little tummies weren't rounded like I was used to. I lost the damaged tail one within a few days, the others filled out and became impossible to tell apart from the original four.

I've since lost a couple, but not due to hunger, I assume likely from the hard water I had them in. My 15 gallon kept eight otos with rounded tummies without a problem, I add some veggies or algae wafers 2-3 times a week. You can also take some stones and put them in a vase or bowl of water in a window, and cultivate extra algae for them until you're sure they're taking prepared foods.

 

[CassCats]

Tank one sounds perfect for them, they do like blackwater apparently, especially for breeding. But competition with the twig cats is a legit concern. Two could be perfect, if the cherry barbs and skirts would leave them alone? I don't know much about hoplos either, how peaceful they are - I only know that they're adorable!

I'd be worried about the sparklers too.

I've kept eight otos, and none refused extra food. I don't know how true that part of their rep is, although it could well be based on facts given they're all wild caught. I think the main part of the rep is that when caught, warehoused and shipped before going into clean store tanks, they're probably not being given enough algae tablets for all of them, and the shyer ones might hang back or be pushed back by the bolder ones.

I read some things about selecting which otos to get when in stores which I'll find and link you, basically wait until they've been in the store for a couple of weeks, and the initial die off has happened Sad as that is, means the remaining ones are likely stronger and taking supplemental food since store tanks don't have enough algae to sustain 30-50 otos without them taking extras. Then select healthy looking specimens with rounded tummies, meaning they've eaten well recently.

I didn't carefully select. My first batch I bought five, lost one within 24 hours after drip acclimating them. Four survived and filled out. thrived for months. I got another four, made sure they'd been in the store for a while (a month, in my case) and just asked for four, didn't select individuals - they're not easy to catch at all. I also didn't quarantine the second batch, which you should! learn from my mistake. When I realised how thin and frail they looked compared to mine, I worried they wouldn't survive a clean quarantine tank, so I added them right into my oto tank. So if you're gonna go for some, I'd suggest pinching some bits of plants from your existing tanks, and cultivating an algae coated quarantine tank for them before adding to your established tank, especially with wild caught fish like otos.

When I got the second batch home, one had a damaged tail, and all looked so small and thin compared to my original four. Their little tummies weren't rounded like I was used to. I lost the damaged tail one within a few days, the others filled out and became impossible to tell apart from the original four.

I've since lost a couple, but not due to hunger, I assume likely from the hard water I had them in. My 15 gallon kept eight otos with rounded tummies without a problem, I add some veggies or algae wafers 2-3 times a week. You can also take some stones and put them in a vase or bowl of water in a window, and cultivate extra algae for them until you're sure they're taking prepared foods.

My hoplo trio are super friendly and peaceful, just very boisterous. I wrote an article for them recently actually.

PlanetCatfish.com - April - 2024 - Catfish of the Month

Images are copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.

www.planetcatfish.com

My skirts only bicker among themselves but are more bark than bite. They're calm once they settle their hierarchy. My cherry barbs can be a little fiery, but again this is kept among themselves. They don't bother other fish very much at all and most of their "bickering" is just a brief chase. They're shy and hang mostly in the planted areas of the tank, but given that they dont bother anyone, I dont worry so much about the temperament of this tank.

My most aggressive tank is my 20 gallon nano. The sparkling gourami will shred each other with spawning disputes. And the kubotais are quick and "Chasey" though dont bother anyone but each other.