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probably not for some people but i spent every 15-20 minutes putting a little tank water into their floating bag after they had about 30 minutes for the temp change. after about 3 hours of this i netted them into the tank (i don't trust lfs water, especially the water from the lfs they came from ). they are all 3 still pretty active so hopefully i got some good ones

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

well, the ottos are still doing well. and my glass is about half clean. ...unless you're a pessimist and then i guess it's half dirty?

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

i wasnt sure if i still had all 5 ottos when i drained my 29 to move it, i went along to catch them to relocate them to a 10 gallon i re-set up now i see em all the time even on the front glass they did that before i re-scaped the 29 and made it less planted, and less hiding spots, but the 20 gallon is hevely planted with fake plants, and has a large cave at one corner. they dont even hide, but there was a little bit of brown algae in there, can they be fad green hair algae? when i go fishing i usually catch a bit of that atleast durring this season and i just thought that maybe i could take the treat home to them, as i will be taking some plants too

Take a peek at my article in the "Articles" section of FP.

I've had one live for over 9 years. And I feel cheated if they don't last for 5. Cared for well, they're surprisingly long lived little fishes. And excellent algal grazers into the bargain. My number one choice of algae eater for the more modest sized aquarium (say 24" x 12" x 12".

Of course, if you can give them an 8 foot aquarium as one FP member has done, they'll love you, epsecially if it has decent filtration and a nice crop of green fur on the decor to munch on. Fur covered bogwood bits are to Otocinclus what fresh red salmon is to cats.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Anyone know lifespan of otos. I've had a few for about 2 years now.


My Scapes

Otocinclus prefer to rasp algae from surfaces such as rocks, bogwood and plant leaves, because that is their modus operandi in the wild. They will rasp algae from glass, and are pretty efficient at it when they do, but if given a choice, they'll prefer to do their algal grazing from a 'natural' surface, because it requires less effort on their part. It's the standard energy equation routine: expend the least amount of energy obtaining the most energy from food.

Mind you, if you have a pile of green fur on your glass, then Otocinclus will help themselves to the banquet with gusto, especially if they have been 'rough handled' between wholesaler and retailer, and need to feed badly. Once they do, however, they'll end up with that nice 'fingerprint' mark on the underside that is the sign of a full-bellied and contented Otocinclus.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

ok, found the 3rd one and they all seem to be pretty active they are definitely doing a great job with the glass algae so far

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

so far so good. i can't find the 3rd one today, but the two that i can see have done a great job on the glass in less than 24 hours hopefully the 3rd one will turn up alive soon, otherwise i'll have to assume it didn't make it

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

i love my ottos...but i cant seem to get them all in one place...everytime i add an otto in the tank..one will surely die afterwards ... i got one otto each for my 3 tanks.

I have two in a 10g and the only place I ever see them is on the glass. When they're on the front or sides you can see how full their bellies are

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

i was considering getting a few ottos for my new 10g guppy tank, but i want to make sure they'll clean up the glass. i have plenty of algae going on all over the place, but it's really bad on the glass.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

my ottos are fat and lazy and they prefer sitting on leaves to eating algae on my glass lol. ottos seem to be a touch fragile in the us (never had any problems in NZ) so i hope you acclimatized them well

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Billy was a scientist, Billy is no more. For what he thought was H20, was H2SO4

picked up 3 today at the lfs and they have been going at the glass and rocks non stop since i let them loose a few hours ago. i can see little trails in the algae where they've been eating at it, hopefully they keep going

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

I had 5 ottos but 2 died and they did a great job. I had 3 left and they were always eating algae on the back wall but 1 died and they hide in a cave all day now. But good fish for algae!

Otos are great little fish, but as far as glass clean-up I think it depends on what else you have in the tank. If you have alot of plants and driftwood the otos will probably spend more time on that then the glass.

Acclimate slowly....

My Scapes

Oto's will do a great job & they're very good on glass aswell.


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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

we got some for our 15g when we started getting green glass. they cleared the glass in the first day. sadly they died a week after. we have just purchased 6 more for the same purpose. and the glass is clean once again. hopefully these will be more hardy as they are bigger than the last lot.

ottos arent especially hardy and need time to acclimatise, but great little guys and very good at cleaning glass

well, i'll be picking some up tomorrow (if the lfs has them -- which they almost always do) so we'll find out soon enough.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

moondog

I will be getting mine for the same reason 11G Betta tank. I have been advised they will do a fantastic job. The ones I have seen in small dispay tanks they are all algae free.

Keith

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