Are Otocinclus suitable for my tank?

Kathryn002 · Post by **Kathryn002** » 07 Mar 2007, 16:40

Hi everyone,
I have a 100 litre tropical community aquarium, quite densely planted with boogwood and gravel substrate.
Fish:
6 Black Phantom Tetras
1 Blue Ram (my other died very suddenly a few days ago, RIP little one)
4 Panda Corydoras
2 Mollies.

My water is very soft, but the pH is quite high at around 7.8.

Are Otocinclus suitable? If so, how many should I get, if not, can you recommend any other fish suitable for the tank?

Thanks everyone.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 07 Mar 2007, 16:55

You should be OK with the Oto's in that setup. I'm a little confused about the "soft alkaline" - of course, soft water is easy to change pH-wise, but I'm still wondering if it's right - what method do you test the pH with? If you use paper-strips, they tend to be quite a bit off...

A group of 5 is the minimum. A larger number would be fine too.

You'll need to feed them tho, once any algae is eaten in your tank. That food needs to be fairly soft - courgette that has been sitting in the water for maybe 24 hours works well.

--
Mats

Kathryn002 · Post by **Kathryn002** » 07 Mar 2007, 17:23

Thanks for the swift reply.
How many would you recommend for my tank? I don't want to overstock. ;)
Well, I live in Edinburgh, where the water is very soft, but ages ago when I knew very little I was told to add coral sand to my water to raise the pH as the Mollies prefer it like that. I didn't know my other fish would not like it, but they have all grown accustomed to the more alkaline water.
I use Nutrafin tests which are quite accurate, so I'm sure the pH is what it tells me it is.

Yes, I'll make sure they're fed a good variety of food. do they like live bloodworm and brineshrimp etc?

Thanks again.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 07 Mar 2007, 17:27

I'm a little confused about the "soft alkaline" - of course, soft water is easy to change pH-wise

Mats, I think the water companies add alkalinity to soft water to prevent corrosion to the metal pipes.

The pH should drop in the aquarium though provided there is no decor in the tank that will raise the pH.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 07 Mar 2007, 17:51

racoll: Yes of course, that's one half, and Kathryn having corall sand in the tank will add hardness and alkalinity too.

I'd say a group of 5-10 would be fine in that tank. Perhaps 7 is a good number.

--
Mats

Kathryn002 · Post by **Kathryn002** » 07 Mar 2007, 17:53

Thank you.
Is there anything else obvious I need to know about Otos? (obviously I will be doing research too)

Thanks again.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 07 Mar 2007, 17:58

The only "obvious" thing is that they aren't the easiest fish to introduce to a tank. They tend to not feed well, which is considered to be caused by stress and possibly also mismanagement of the fish during the import/wholesale/shop phase of their aquarium life. So don't be too disappointed if a few of them don't make it.

They also should NOT be fed with meaty foods such as bloodworms, as that tends to kill them. Algae wafers are borderline, given sparingly that should be OK, but it shouldn't be their "daily bread".

Mike_Noren is the "knows all about Oto's" on this site (I'm sure there are others too, but he's stood out on more than one occasion with his knowledge on these litte fishes).

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 07 Mar 2007, 18:08

racoll: Yes of course, that's one half, and Kathryn having corall sand in the tank will add hardness and alkalinity too.

I must have been typing when Katheryn posted!

Is there anything else obvious I need to know about Otos? (obviously I will be doing research too)

Make sure you leave them in the shop for about a month after import. Perhaps reserve some if you are worried about them being sold.

If the shop doesn't treat them well after import they can die off in large numbers.

Make sure they take the losses, not you. After a month they should be left with the strong ones.

As Mats has said, when you feed them make sure you leave the food in there until it starts getting really soft (24-48 hours). If they are still eating it, leave it in.

Microwaved spring greens, spinach or kale are other good foods.

do they like live bloodworm and brineshrimp etc

I think feeding them brineshrimp or blood worm once or twice a week is good for them. Any more is too much for an algae grazer.

They aren't the fasted fish to the food, so don't worry too much when feeding the other fish.

Scraps of flake will also be good for them.

Kathryn002 · Post by **Kathryn002** » 07 Mar 2007, 18:13

MatsP wrote:The only "obvious" thing is that they aren't the easiest fish to introduce to a tank. They tend to not feed well, which is considered to be caused by stress and possibly also mismanagement of the fish during the import/wholesale/shop phase of their aquarium life. So don't be too disappointed if a few of them don't make it.

They also should NOT be fed with meaty foods such as bloodworms, as that tends to kill them. Algae wafers are borderline, given sparingly that should be OK, but it shouldn't be their "daily bread".

Mike_Noren is the "knows all about Oto's" on this site (I'm sure there are others too, but he's stood out on more than one occasion with his knowledge on these litte fishes).

--
Mats

Thank you. I amn't wanting fish to die obviously. I will think about it definitely.

Kathryn002 · Post by **Kathryn002** » 07 Mar 2007, 18:14

racoll wrote:
racoll: Yes of course, that's one half, and Kathryn having corall sand in the tank will add hardness and alkalinity too.

I must have been typing when Katheryn posted!

Is there anything else obvious I need to know about Otos? (obviously I will be doing research too)
Make sure you leave them in the shop for about a month after import. Perhaps reserve some if you are worried about them being sold.

If the shop doesn't treat them well after import they can die off in large numbers.

Make sure they take the losses, not you. After a month they should be left with the strong ones.

As Mats has said, when you feed them make sure you leave the food in there until it starts getting really soft (24-48 hours). If they are still eating it, leave it in.

Microwaved spring greens, spinach or kale are other good foods.

do they like live bloodworm and brineshrimp etc
I think feeding them brineshrimp or blood worm once or twice a week is good for them. Any more is too much for an algae grazer.

They aren't the fasted fish to the food, so don't worry too much when feeding the other fish.

Scraps of flake will also be good for them.

Thanks for all the info. It is appreciated.

Well, two different posters said two different things, are bloodworms ok for them, or should I avoid it?
Thanks.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 07 Mar 2007, 18:24

Well, two different posters said two different things, are bloodworms ok for them, or should I avoid it?
Thanks.

Mine have the odd bloodworm, and they are still going strong.

Does Mats know something I don't?

Bloodworms are a fairly large item for a small fish, and they can all their protein from other sources, so perhaps not feed them to be on the safe side.

Too much protein rich food can cause problems with the long guts of vegetarian fish.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 07 Mar 2007, 18:28

I'm just going by what Mike_Noren has been writing - I haven't actually kept Oto's myself at all...

Once in a while and small portions of bloodworm is probably fine [just like eating greasy pizza once a blue moon won't kill you, but eating it every day is perhaps not the best idea - racoll's "Favurite TV dietist" wouldn't think so anyways...

].

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 07 Mar 2007, 18:36

All is explained in this post.

I'm just off to have a mung bean stew.....

Kathryn002 · Post by **Kathryn002** » 07 Mar 2007, 20:59

Thanks everyone for the info. It's very much appreciated.