Actually, this is a "real" fish store, so I was surprised that the fish were that badly mislabelled. However, having looked around on the web, it seems to be a common mistake, as I saw many [what appeared to be] oto pics listed as chinese algae eaters.micahgee wrote:Uh......this store doesnt sound too knowledgable about fish...i really hope you are not buying fish at PETCO or something like that...So do yourself a favor, go to a real fish store...
saw an interesting possible explanation on why this might be happening at: http://www.otocinclus.com/newoto.html - related to chemical poisoning to catch them. Don't know if it's true, but it was interesting.micahgee wrote:I have mixed feelings about oto cats.... ive had the experience of unexplained initial fatalities. But once they are through the first couple of days they usually are pretty hardy.
The good water I can provide (or at least try to - we're on a well, so it can be hard to balance at times). The plants - well, the two large plecos were doing a number on them - I ended up with lots of stalks rather than plants. Swapped the plecos for otos and the plants are beginning to come back again.micahgee wrote: Oto cats nor any other fish or creature will rid your tank completely of algae. Good water conditions and plenty of fast-growing plants will keep algae in check by limiting the available nutrients on which algae thrives.
That's what I figured when I started looking at pics of the chinese algae eaters "Those don't look anything *like* what I've got in my tank!"micahgee wrote:Oh and BTW, i dont mean to insult your "fish store" but a chinese algae eater and a oto are pretty diferrent...and grossly mislabeled fish usually means some of the employees dont know much about fish...
