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FAQs on Otocinclus Systems
Related Articles:
Otocinclus, Loricariids,
Related Catfish FAQs:
Otocinclus 1, Otocinclus 2,
& FAQs on: Otocinclus Identification,
Otocinclus Behavior,
Otocinclus Compatibility, Otocinclus Selection,
Otocinclus Feeding,
Otocinclus Health,
Otocinclus Reproduction, &
Suckermouth Catfishes
of South and Central America, Loricariid
Identification, Loricariid Behavior,
Loricariid Compatibility,
Loricariid Selection,
Loricariid Systems,
Loricariid Feeding,
Loricariid Reproduction,
Loricariid Disease, Catfish:
Identification,
Behavior,
Compatibility,
Selection,
Systems,
Feeding, Disease,
Reproduction, Algae
Eaters,
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Soft/er, acidic water... well-established
systems... with green algae (not filamentous) present
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Should I move my Oto Cats? Sys. mostly
11/15/09
Hi there, sure hope you can give me some advice.
<Will certainly try.>
Three days ago I added 3 oto cats to my 10 gallon aquarium, that they
share with a powder blue dwarf Gourami.
<Hmm... not wild about either of these species for casual aquarists
(forgive me for saying this if you're a serious aquarist who knows all
about them). Colisa lalia is notoriously prone to bacterial and viral
diseases, and an awful lot of them die quite soon after purchase. If
you've had this specimen a few months, then you may be fine. But do
research both Mycobacteria infections and something called Dwarf Gourami
Iridovirus.
Neither is curable, both are fatal, and in the case of DGIV, fully 28%
of the Colisa lalia exported from Singapore appear to be infected!>
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 8
Artificial plants, not much algae
I allowed myself to be convinced by someone at the fish store that they
would be great companions to the Gourami, which may be true, however I
should have done the research first (doh!) because in hindsight, there
is not much algae in that tank, and there are artificial plants, not
real.
<Well, plastic plants are not a problem here. They will soon become
covered with algae, and to a degree, the Otocinclus will eat this algae.
However, and this is a big "however", the types of algae Otocinclus eat
are limited to green algae and diatoms. They will not eat blue-green
algae, hair algae, thread algae or red algae. Green algae in particular
only grows in tanks with good water quality and bright light. Such
conditions are usually found in planted aquaria. In tanks where the
fishkeeper hasn't bothered with bright lights and is using plastic
plants, Otocinclus can starve to death.
I should point out that plastic plants and poor lighting isn't a bad
thing in itself, and indeed fish prefer poor lighting and usually show
their best colours in shady tanks. But in the case of Otocinclus, it's
not what you want.>
They don't appear to be eating algae wafers and I'm worried they will
not survive in that tank because of these factors.
<Do also review water temperature (which should be no more than 25 C)
and water current (which needs to be brisk, ideally with extra
aeration). In short, not the same conditions as Dwarf Gouramis want.
Dwarf Gouramis like warm water, around 28-30 C, with a gentle water
current.>
I also have a 20 gallon aquarium, that includes 3 oto cats, 1
Farlowella, 7 Corys, 2 swords, and 8 black phantom tetras.
<Ah, now this is a tank that should be maintained quite cool, around
24-25 C, given the mix of fish you have. All these fish like a strong
current as well. So this seems like an ideal place for Otocinclus spp.,
particularly if brightly illuminated.>
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10
25% water change and vacuum weekly
Live plants, 2 large pieces driftwood, some visible algae
<Sounds a nice tank.>
Do you think I should move the 3 Otos that I put in the 10 gallon into
the large tank with real plants and more algae?
<Yes.>
I'm worried that (1) My Farlowella will lose significant food supply if
there are 6 Otos present;
<A risk, but Farlowella should take algae wafers readily enough. You can
also supplement with sliced courgette and cucumber, and perhaps strips
of Sushi Nori (a good, cheap food for algae eaters generally, and easily
bought in Asian food stores).>
and (2) My 20 gallon will be overstocked (which you may tell me is
already overstocked without adding 3 more Otos!).
<Three Otocinclus will be neither here nor there. If nitrates are this
low, I'd actually be quite comfortable about adding the Otocinclus.>
What do you think?
<Go for it. Certainly more chance of success with them in the 20 gallon
than the 10 gallon.>
Thanks so much!
Chris
<Cheers, Neale.>
Can and/or do Oto Catfish
tolerate slightly brackish water? 5/17/09
<No.>
I put about a tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons.
<Why? Adding salt at this concentration does precisely nothing to make
your fish healthier or happier. Utter waste of money, and potentially
harmful to freshwater fish in the long term.>
If not, what small algae eating fish does well in brackish conditions?
<Best bets are Mollies and other Poeciliidae; algae-eating snails such
as Nerites; and salt-tolerant algae-eating shrimps such as Amano
shrimps. Most of the large herbivores like Scats will also eat
substantial amounts of
algae, though they're not normally used for algae control. As ever, if
you have an algae problem, the solution isn't fish but making sure the
tank is "balanced", in particular, that there are enough fast-growing
plants under strong light. Most algae problems occur in unbalanced
aquaria.>
Thanks
Hannah
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Oto Catfish and
brackish
water? 5/17/09
Hmm that's weird because I thought that Mollies do best with a little
bit of salt...
<They do. One tablespoon per 5 gallons doesn't make brackish water, and
neither does it do anything useful for freshwater fish. Adding such a
trivially small amount of salt is pointless. Mollies do well upwards of
6 grammes per litre, which is about one level teaspoon per litre, and
one litre is 3.75 US gallons, so that's about 3.75 teaspoons per US
gallon. Since one tablespoon is three teaspoons, that's a bit over a
tablespoon per gallon. You're adding less than a fifth the amount needed
to optimize Molly health. In other words, you're not doing much of
anything. Plain vanilla sodium chloride ("tonic salt" or "aquarium
salt") as opposed to marine salt mix (what you use in a brackish water
tank) only raises salinity, which has some therapeutic value in terms of
nitrate toxicity. Marine salt mix contains carbonate salts that buffers
the pH and raises the carbonate hardness, improving the stability of
conditions in the tank, and this also helps Mollies dramatically. Bottom
line, you cannot safely keep Otocinclus with Mollies: to create
conditions that Mollies need for maximum health and longevity, you need
to add more salt than you're doing now, and that would be harmful to
most freshwater fish, including Otocinclus. Trust me on this: I
literally wrote the book about brackish water fish! Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Oto Catfish and brackish
water? 05/18/09
Thank you much! I'm going to put some more salt in and look into the
Nerite snails... Thanks again
Hannah
<Good-oh. Nerites work well in brackish water, especially Clithon
species; these eat a lot of algae! Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Oto Catfish and brackish
water? 05/23/09
I went to my LFS and they didn't have any of the Nerite snails... They
just had "mystery snails."
<Not Nerite snails... Apple snails (Pomacea spp.)...>
I was told that they ate algae, but they were just sitting on the
bottom.
<Eat some algae, but hopeless algae-eaters in most aquaria, being
happier eating plants or fish food... also very difficult to maintain in
the long term. Most specimens die within a year; need a resting phase in
cooler conditions for 2-3 months per year. Generally fiddly; leave in
the shop, or at least read up on Apple Snails first, e.g.:
http://www.applesnail.net/ >
I was able to test how salty my tank was and it was > 1.000 I'm not sure
what that means...
<Nor am I; "> 1.000" simply means more saline than pure water... but
that includes the sea! Apple Snails not tolerant of brackish water, so
not an option for the Molly aquarium. You're after a specific gravity
("SG") of 1.002-1.003 for Mollies; see WWM re: Brackish water
fishkeeping:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracsystems.htm >
I could add more salt and keep looking for those snails.
<Don't buy the Apple snails for this system.>
Just wondering: do Oto cats tolerate that?
<No.>
I know they can be very picky when it comes to water parameters... What
do you think is best?
<For Otocinclus, you want low to middling temperature, around 23-26 C;
you want soft to moderately hard water, so 5-10 degrees dH is about
right; and pH 6.5-7.5 is fine. Water turnover should be medium-high to
high, so say 6-10 times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour.
Water should be clean, and the tank well established. Green algae MUST
be present in the tank, or else provided via substitutes such as algae
wafers; Otocinclus DO NOT eat diatoms (the golden brown algae on the
glass); hair algae; brush algae; thread algae; or blue-green algae. They
are not compatible with Mollies or other fish that want hard water, let
alone brackish water. The majority of Otocinclus sold die a few weeks
after purchase simply because their needs aren't met. If you don't have
the right tank for them, don't waste your money!>
Also, I was told that the Nerites were hard to find ??? Is that true?
<Not even remotely true in the UK; most good fish shops have them, for
around £1-2 a throw. In your own country may be different; consult
fishkeepers in your area. By far the best algae eating snails.>
Sorry for throwing all these questions at you.
Thank you so much
Hannah
<Cheers, Neale.>
Otocinclus
Hello Bob, have heard a lot about you from folks at SDMAS here in San Diego.
<Maybe see you later tonight>
My gig is working on breeding marine ornamentals but I saw your article on the
"little suckers" in FAMA and thought I'd use the excuse to introduce myself. I
had never head of the fish until a few months ago, I helped a friend set up a
fresh water planted tank and came across them. Gotta say I love 'em. I have a
small backyard pond (300 gals) and was wondering how they might do in there.
Temps are in the high 50's right now, but I thought as spring came on I could
introduce some, maybe twenty or so. Do you think they could handle So. Cal.
temps year round if acclimated?
<Not all year round, no... could be kept outdoors maybe four, five months out of
the year... but would insert a thermostatic heater... set low... for safety's
sake>
I've got some small Koi and pond comets (no surprise) but what stuns me is that
there are a number of zebra Danios and white clouds that came in with "feeder"
guppies I threw in there during the summer. To my surprise the guppies died out
as the weather got colder in December but the zebras and white clouds seem fine!
I know you're a busy guy but if you have a moment let me know what you think.
...David
<These are tough little minnows. Have had them outdoors (nearer the coast) in
large enough, weather-sheltered ponds in San Diego as well. Be seeing, chatting
with you. Bob Fenner, WetWebMedia>
Otocinclus Meals
Robert,
<Hi, EJ, Sabrina here tonight, instead>
I read your article on Otocinclus on wetwebmedia.com. Thanks.
<Glad you enjoyed it! I'm sure Bob appreciates the thank you greatly.>
A couple questions: In your article, you mentioned that they need wood to
survive. What kinds of North American woods are acceptable for Otocinclus?
<Pretty much anything that's been *very* well cleaned and either sinks on its
own or is weighted will do. Check out your LFS for driftwood ideas.>
What state should the wood be in? Fresh, weathered, decomposing, etc.?
<Very well weathered - as in, no bark remaining whatsoever. Wood that is
decomposing poses a problem as it will decay in the tank and make a genuine mess
of things.>
What is a good brand of sinking pellets to feed them?
<Frankly, my personal favorite dry food brand is Hikari, but I rarely (if ever)
use algae wafers to feed my algae munchin' dudes. Algae based frozen foods
(Ocean Nutrition's Formula Two, for one example) are a good prepared food item
to offer.>
Will they feed on other vegetables besides the spinach, Nori, and peas
you mentioned?
<Blanched cucumber and/or zucchini, perhaps the soft insides of green beans....
some years back, my Loricariids always appreciated the asparagus that I refused
to eat as a kid....>
Thank you very much.
<You bet. Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
EJ
Question Re: Oto placement 12/10/06
Hi Tom,
<<Hey, Sean.>>
I have another question for you already.
<<Let's hear it...>>
I was at a major chain pet store today, and much to my surprise, they were
selling Otos (Otocinclus) for $1.99. Since this is the first time I've seen them
in my area, and that price is too good to pass up, I bought 3 (I read on WWM
that they do well in groups). I have 2 tanks, and I can't decide which one they
would do best in.
<<The quarantine tank, Sean. (Being a little silly but I’ll explain.) The store
I buy my fish from, my Otos included, is, literally, a “Mom and Pop” operation
and won’t sell their freshwater animals for the first two weeks after they take
delivery, i.e. they quarantine them all. Saltwater fish are held for four weeks
with cards posted on the tanks showing the dates that the fish arrived at the
store. That said, I can guarantee that this isn’t the case with your Otos. Point
number one. Next, Otos are notorious for being difficult to acclimate. Wonderful
little guys that they are, they’re easily lost early on no doubt due to the
stress of transporting, handling, lack of sufficient food and – the big one –
means of capture. Because of their tiny size and naturally tangled environment,
many (most?) of the Otos that reach the store have been taken in the wild using
cyanide, or other chemicals, to disable them for collection. (I would be
skeptical that ‘tank-raised’ Otos would be going for $1.99 each. Mine were $3.99
each which I thought was a bargain.) The upshot here is that these chemicals can
remain in the internal organs of the fish either shortening their natural
lifespans of about five years or leading to a much, much earlier demise. Darned
hard on the Oto, to be sure, but if one is lost and picked at by another fish,
it, too, may end up with contamination from the chemicals I referred to. Now,
let’s move on to your options.>>
Tank one is a 24g tall/show tank, moderately planted, with a cheap "fizz tab"
CO2 system. Its inhabitants are 4 Opaline Gouramis, Trichogaster trichopterus (2
are the gold variety), 2 paradise fish, Macropodus opercularis, 2 Ramshorn
snails, and one common Pleco, who will be re-homed soon as this tank will be way
too small for him (he's only about 4" right now).
<<Sounds like a good choice, Sean. And, I appreciate your thinking regarding the
upgrade for the Pleco.>>
Tank 2 is a 5g, moderately planted, with no CO2. Its inhabitants are 1 Betta and
3 cherry shrimp.
<<Could be a good option as well but, personally, I like to add some aquarium
salt in with my Betta. Your Otos would “tolerate” the amount of salt I use but I
don’t think they’d appreciate it very much.>>
Both tanks have laterite and gravel substrate, a good amount of driftwood, and a
pH just above 7. Neither tank has much of an algae problem, although both tanks
have small amounts of green "spot" algae.
Now, here's my question: which of these tanks would be a better fit for my Otos?
<<As you may have gathered, Sean, I like the larger tank for your new pets. The
smaller tank would likely work just fine but I’m not a huge fan of keeping
Bettas with other fish. Just me, perhaps. Also, if you do decide to add salt to
your Betta’s tank down the road, and I do recommend this, it probably wouldn’t
sit well with the Otos if they were in the tank.>>
Sean
<<Enjoy your new fish, Sean. Tom>>
What do I do with extra
Otocinclus? 5/30/07
I have a 5 gal. Eclipse Corner Tank on my desk at work. There were 2 Betta's
(with a divider) in it, but when I added 3 Oto's from PetSmart soon after the
Betta's died of tail/fin rot. I moved them to separate bowls, and treated them
but they died. I figured it was the addition of the Oto's so I expected them to
die as well. That didn't happen. They cleaned my tank of all algae, and I feared
they would have nothing to eat because it seems they won't eat the algae flakes.
So, I went to my buddy's Cichlid tank and traded all the ornaments (no, I don't
know if this was a smart thing to do or not, but I did it anyway). It seemed,
that this brought new life to the Oto's, as very soon after I spotted little
white things on the front of the tank. When I realized it was fry, I shut off
the filter. I counted about 12 fry stuck the glass. I turned to the internet for
advice and found little. I put a baby sock rubber banded over the filter intake
and turned that back on. Added an air pump for them. I fed them boiled spinach
leaves. Well, a spinach leaf from a coworkers salad stuffed in a cup of hot
water. They ate little holes in that overnight. I do a 50% water change weekly,
and slowly suck out the leftover food every few days to keep the substrate
somewhat clean. Now I keep exchanging plants with my buddy's Cichlid tank for
food and they clean it overnight. There are now 4 or 5 baby's left and they are
half the size of the adults and seem to be doing fine. My question is, what can
I do with these extra Oto's? Can they go in the Cichlid tank? Isn't that too
much hardness for a Cichlid? Or can I support 7 to 8 Oto's in a 5 gal tank?
PetSmart told me that they stock the same sex in the same tank and sell them
that way so this wouldn't happen. Well they screwed up and now I have these new
guy's. What do people do with their new fish when they didn't mean or even know
they would spawn?
<Wow. This is quite an amazing tale! On the one hand, a 5 gallon tank is really
too small for Otocinclus. As a group, Otocinclus are considered "delicate"
because they need good water quality and lots of oxygen. In most community
tanks, they tend to be short lived. But yours are doing well, so well done!
Anyway, as to where to put the Otocinclus. I personally wouldn't mix them with
anything other than, perhaps, South American or West African dwarf cichlids. The
problems are multiple. Firstly, yes, they will not do well in Lake Malawi/Lake
Tanganyika type aquaria. Such hard and alkaline water conditions will not suit
them at all. Secondly, when kept with slow moving things like angelfish and
discus they tend to suck the sides of the bigger fish, scraping off the mucous.
I've seen this in my own tanks, with the Otocinclus rasping away on large
gobies, creating nasty blisters. Aggressive fish like convict cichlids will
simply hammer them to death. So ideally, give them to someone with a peaceful
community of other small fish such as barbs and tetras. PetSmart cannot possibly
sex Otocinclus so their advice there was nonsense. In fact, breeding Otocinclus
is quite uncommon, so you've actually done rather well.>
Tom
<Cheers, Neale>
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What is the best live plant
for Otocinclus? 4/19/08
What is the best type of live plant for Otocinclus? I have two tanks, one 30
gallon and one 10 gallon. I just added two Otocinclus to the 10 gallon, which is
4 months old and has 8 molly fry, born two months ago. (As they grow, I plan to
move them to a bigger tank and only keep 2 mollies in the 10 gallon with the
Otos.)
I appreciate your site. Thank you!
<Otocinclus spp. couldn't care less about plants, so use whatever you want. What
Otocinclus need is green algae (not diatoms and not hair algae). So provided you
have 2 Watts per gallon upwards, plus lots of surfaces to grow green algae
(rocks, plastic plants, etc.) they will be happy. Otocinclus spp. are not
compatible with Mollies; their water chemistry requirements are entirely
different. Specifically, Mollies more often than not need salt to do well and
definitely need hard, basic water conditions. Salt will stress the Otocinclus,
which need not-too-warm, oxygen rich water that is soft and slightly acidic.
There's no overlap really between what the two species need to do well in the
long term. Otocinclus are extremely demanding, difficult fish, and the vast
majority of specimens die within months of import. Good luck, Neale.>
Re: What is the best live
plant for Otocinclus? 4/19/08
Thank you for your help. I will separate my Otos and my mollies. I am very
new at this, and I obviously have a lot to learn. :)
<Glad to help. There is indeed lots to learn, so buying a book before buying a
fish is always good advice. Remember, the guys in the pet store mostly want to
make sales! Good luck! Neale.>
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