i was starting to get a brown algae problem in my tank so on monday i went and purchased 3 little otto's i love these guys 2 days later and there isn't a speck of the stuff anywhere and they seem to be very gentle on my plants. on a side note my betta is now eating out of my hand...pretty cool
yeah, Otos are great. They're not aggressive, they work constantly (at least when young) and they keep a low profile so I can even house them with my DP woo!
On a side note, since as you say they seem to have outworked their lunch, be sure to supplement them some algae wafers every 3-5 days or so, depending on what you see for food availabilty. They're not very good at locating food specifically for them so you may even have to go with blanched zuccini and a veggie clip. Speaking from experience they wont harm any of your plants.
They can also be pretty fragile at least when purchased from Petstupid...I've had more otos die than any other fish and sometimes a week or two after purchase in near-perf water params. So don't be surprised if you lose one within the next week or so.
yeah I have a single in my 5gal. Although I added him thinking he was going to remove the GSA (greenspot) from my acrylic...their little suckers aren't quite that strong to eliminate algae I could barely scrub off with my finger pressed hard against it. lol After removing that at least, he keepts it real clean as I can't keep a snail in Blimpie's tank for more than 30 seconds without it being consumed.
Generally they like to have their own company though. They don't really school or anything I guess its just more comfy for them and they probably stand less of a chance of stress-death.
I asked about brown algae in another thread but didn't see this one. Brown algae just sprang up out of nowhere in several of my tanks at once. How many oto's for a 37 gallon community tank? I'm thinking two? I have smaller tanks that would only work with one but it doesn't sound like one oto would be good so how's API's algae treatment, anyone used it?
i think one would be fine, mind you 3 or more would make them happier. I have never used any alage treatments because everyone that i have seen is not safe for shrimp
I just read an article on brown algae and it said that introducing an algae eater isn't necessary in my case. It looks like I may have provided too much light. In preparation for a vacation I put my tanks on a timer and set them for 12 hours on and 12 hours off. The article said that any light more than 8-10 hours per day may allow algae to grow. I'm thinking that this may be the case since most of my tanks have brown algae at the same time immediately following the introduction of the light timers.
Any thoughts? I've set my lights back to 8 hours per day, but how do I get rid of the brown algae that's in the tanks now? I'd rather not add any algae eaters if I can manage the algae through the availability of light.
Yeah 8-10 is fine for no live plants. I only keep mine on 12 hours, rarely longer, because all my tanks have live plants. 3 otos is still a pretty sure way to keep your tank clear of most forms of algae. They don't handle BSA and GSA well though since it adheres to things like cement in some cases. I also found out they don't deal with hair algae because they have no conventional way to eat it (flat mouth and all). But it seems a rare occurance in most aquaria anyway.
The minimum recommended is 3, but I've had the same one in my 16 gal for nearly a year now and he does well. I'm keeping 3 in my 30 gal.
My only concern with having 3 is the impact it would have on my max number of fish allowable in the tank. I have "plans" for what I want in the tank and I'm assuming I'd have to reduce the planned type/number of fish because of the addition of 3 of the wee oto's. Correct? Are they very messy? I know they may need a supplement food if the algae isn't enough. But, if I reduce the light to 8 hours a day, will this algae continue to grow? I'd hate to get a few of them and then find that I have little algae after changing the amount of light.
well they max out at 2 in i think they dont get to big and they are not messy. If you are keep up on your water changes i dont think 3 little ottos will do much harm and if you were going to do 2 what is one more you know. and if they do keep up with the algae then you dont have to reduce your light.
I got 3 oto's today because I need to attack this algae *now* and can't wait. I am cleaning it by hand in my smaller tanks but I don't want to do that with my bigger tank. I got three of them because I'm fairly convinced that they will be happier as a trio. Although, one of them isn't behaving right....not sure if he's going to die. If he starts looking really rough then I have some stuff to humanely euthanize him with. :(
It was a big day for aquatics for me. :) It has been hard to find oto's, Cardinal Tetras, and a male African Dwarf Frog -- things I've been looking for. I found all of them today. Woohoo!
As I mentioned earlier Otos often show up to the LFS in rough condition...and taking them home is sometimes just the last straw. You probably just saved him from serving out his ''term'' in that ''holding pen'' anyway. Dont' be surprised if he doesn't make it.
I feel the same way about the "term". I've already rescued several aquatic beings knowing they were dying, but wanting them to die in peace or to come home and be humanely euthanized. The last was a tiny frog who had a broken leg, and I know that these frogs die when they have a broken leg. I watched him for a while, he had no hiding places (and these frogs really need them), he couldn't swim and his tank was way too deep making it hard to get to the top to breathe so he was about to drown, and since he couldn't swim well and there were no plants, he was just tumbling around in the current from the filter and from the dither fish (of all things) that were in his tank. I was furious, gave the dimwit responsible a HUGE piece of my mind and told him to bag up the frog. The frog died the next day, but he was calm and not bothered. And was hanging out in some lovely plants, nice and safe.
