Algae Eaters

[Xandict]

I know this may not be the right forum but I'm new at this and read somewhere about someone recommending Otto's as algae eaters. What is the common name of this fish?

[Fishalicious]

Otocinclus is the name - there are more than 20 different colorations
Common name: Oto Cats

[Tolley]

otocinclus affinis i think, before you get them i recommend reading dave article on feeding them one second i'll get you the link.

[Tolley]

here you go, http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=17810&highlight=otocinclus read it, its worth it :D

[doug z]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

How big a tank will you be putting them in?

Is it an established tank, or a new one (just cycled)?

[B_Ez]

I just added two otos to my tank on Saturday. I was getting an ugly case of brown algae. As of today, there's no algae on my glass and VERY little on my plants. Those guys are a serious clean up crew.

[Xandict]

It's an 18G. Still cycling. Just researching for future additions

[doug z]

They're are big eaters, so if you don't have algae in your tank already, you'll have to keep up with the algae wafers and the parboiled cucumbers.. :)

They like to be in schools of at least 6, but if it's just an 18, then just one I guess..

You could get a single bristlenose pleco, instead..

[Xandict]

Ok. I'll check them out. Really want something other than CAE that get aggressive later in life

[doug z]

Plus it'd get way too big for your tank...

[Ellen4God]

I have two otos in my 10g. They're great!! My tank had some algae problems, and they've done an excellent job at clearing all of that up. I haven't started the cucumber/zucchini diet yet, and they've been in my tank for at least a month now - maybe longer. They haven't had problems with lack of food, although I will soon begin supplementing their diet. I tried algae wafers, but was unsuccessful, and after Dave posted the article about feeding otos, I've changed their menu to something better for them.

If you get them, you will need to wait until there is a good bit of algae in your tank. As with any algae eater, in order for them to be successful (and alive and healthy) in your tank, they must have algae to eat. I would say you could get at least 2 for your tank - maybe 3 (?). Just make sure that you supplement their diet since there are three of them scavenging your tank instead of just one.

These little guys are great!! I'm sure you'd love them. :19:

[Bobo the Clown Loach]

I picked up a few more Otos recently. I only had 1, Zippy. He was from my old 7 gallon tank. I now have 7 Oto's and plenty of cleaning for them to do with the planted tank and almost 4 watts per gallon. They seem to do better in a bigger school. I also found that in addition to cucumbers and apples, they are huge fans of spinach. I normally hang a leaf in over night once a week in a veggie cliip for my clown loaches and snails and found the Otos devouring it this morning. They are a great cleaning crew.

[Blue Ram]

I will give you the same info gave to another member of this forum.


I have heard that oto cats are great at eating up algae or algae eaters. Oto cats though are hard to keep alive for the first month due to there poor feeding. They eat only plant based matieral and so if not fed at least algae wafers then they wont do so great. They will take blanched veggies of certain types. Additonal algae can be offered though by doing the following : First you need some small sized rocks and a container of reasonable size. Place the rocks in the container and fill up with water. Then place by a window or by some source of light and let sit for a few weeks. Soon you will have algae covered rocks and with those you can plop in a few and when they run low on alage put them away in the container to grow more aalgae and plop a few new ones in. This way you have a never ending supply of algae unless you stop growing it. Oto cats do require being fed a couple times a day, but after a month or so if they have survived they shoud be good to go and wont drop like flies. Something else that stresses algae eaters out is the fact that it is really hard to catch them in the wild. So the people who capture them use a chemical which will slow them down or sometimes paralize temporarly. Imagine yourself trying to catch a small and fast bottom feeder in a large body of water with rocks, wood and heavily planted areas. Not so fun sounding is it! Algae eaters i dont recomend usually due to there large size. Unless of course you have a large tank with tankmates of sae or similar size. Algae eaters do become overly aggressive so be careful on choosing the right tank mates for these fellows. Be careful! Otos are often confused with algae eaters due to the fact that they look very similar when young. Ylou may think you got an oto but accidenlt got an algae eater. Good Luck!!!

P.S. I myself have never owned an oto. This is just some research I've done when i was thinking about getting them!

[Adrian]

I have 4 oto's in my tank, and have never once had a problem with them. As some people here have stated, they can be a bit hard to keep at first. With proper acclimation to the tank, meaning drip acclimating, they do well. Once established they are a very hardy species.

I have heard tale of flying foxes being good algae eaters too. Never had one, but may get one in the future. Also another algae eater is the farowella, which I believe is a uniquely shaped fish for something a bit different. Not sure on how big the latter two get, but would break up the monotony of the standard fish "look".

Just remember, that algae eaters don't always eat all algae types. Like the hard to get rid of spot algae, that needs to be scraped off the tank sides. It is too tough for the oto's to take care of. I have also noticed that they don't like brush algae, but my golden snails love it.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

[carebear]

What if you have algae bloom though? The fish aren't able to take it in from the water, are they?