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im going to start a brackish aquarium that will have two green spotted puffers. the tank is a 30usg and i will use sand substrate. but i was also told that oto's would be a good addition to help keep the tank clean. so what im asking is:

how many oto's can be in a 30usg?

how will they react with the sand substrate?

compatibility with a green spotted puffer?

You could keep a number of otos in 30 gallons, and I doubt there would be problems with sand, particularly as they rarely bother to alight on the bottom. However, I wouldn't necessarily trust sensitive otos to either potentially territorial puffers or to brackish conditions - you're probably best off just using a good ol' algae scraper if it becomes a problem. Besides, Otos are only good for a couple of types of algae - little use planning ahead to add them if you're just going to end up with BBA or hair algae they won't touch. Usually it's best to wait until algae develops and then find a fish that can deal with it - plus, no starvation worries that way.

-Molly
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if not the oto's then what could i put with these green spotted puffer's? or they best by them selves.

Algae eaters in a brackish aquarium? Hmm. Try Scats or certain livebearers. Limias are reputedly good in this case, although whether they are found in brackish waters is a moot point. Check beforehand, and if you find that some Limias will tolerate brackish water, problem solved.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002