PlanetCatfish.com

Today I went to one of my favorite local fish stores, a mom and pop outfit called the Planted Aquarium Store here in Fort Lauderdale. I was on the search for more aquarium moss to complete my moss wall for my 30gal oto/shrimp tank. When I got there I was informed that they were out of moss (should have called first cause its like 30 minutes from my house) so I decided not to waste the trip and started to look around at their great selection of fishes and plants, almost all of which are specifically there because they are great for planted aquaria like my own.

Now, I have always had a thing for otos and have been working on spawning a few different common species recently with mixed success, so naturally I was drawn to their oto tank to see if they had any nice plump females or solid looking males to add to my growing shoal and what did my eyes gaze upon!? Otocinclus cocama!!!! Needless to say, they were in about as good of condition as you could ask for and had been there for about a week already. I purchased 4 of them and they are drip-acclimating as we speak. I am so excited. I will post some pictures once they are in and exploring.

While I am familiar with this species and its needs, these are my first ones and I don't want to make any rookie mistakes with them. I know there are a few of you on this forum that have kept these guys before and even spawned them (obviously my goal) and if you could be so generous, please feel free to share your experiences with these fish and any pointers you may have stumbled upon while keeping them. Particular favorite foods, spawning triggers, behaviors? Even the water parameters you have experienced the best results with. Anything that could help me be as successful as possible with these fish would be appreciated.


Joe

Congrats on your score. I have a small group of these in my community tank. I have had them for a year or 2. They have not bred for me yet. The temp of the tank is 80°, it is moderately planted, lots of rocks and caves, and plenty of algae for them to graze on. They are fairy reclusive, so I don't see them often. I feed them Hakari algae wafers, Kens spirulina pellets, and a bunch of other stuff. I run 2 AC 70s on the tank (it is a 46 gal BF), and there are a ton of other community fish, including corys and plecos, in the tank. And no issues. I have heard that you need a well established tank for them to do well (mine has been running 5+ years). Good luck. One of mine:

Thank you so much for your reply. Good to hear from someone who has been successful with them at that temperature. My tank is at 78*F (formerly a pygmy cory species tank) and I was worried it would be a bit hot for them. Have you found them to be aggressive feeders like standard otos? Mine haven't shown any foraging behavior yet, but they are still settling in.


Joe

Yes, most of the time when they are out and about, they are looking for food. I may go a week or more without seeing them out, however. I would say they are more reclusive then my oto affinis. Good luck.

I have added two Zebra Oto's to my own tank and they look fabulous. I do wish they were not so reclusive though, they seem to spend a lot of time in the darker shdows of the tank. Pity really, they are a brilliant looking fish.