Which is the best way to go?

[Chazbot]

Ok, another newbie question. :rolleyes:

My 29 gallon tank is cycled and now the algae is showing up. I just read a great article by Dave66 about it and what I have is "diatroms" that he says will go away on their own. Ok, that's great!

BUT!

See my signature - this is a heavily stocked tank. I'm doing at least a 30% w/c and a gravel vac twice a week and testing regularly to keep an eye on things, but I was wondering if I could add one or two otos to that tank just to assist with cleaning? There's plenty of places for them to hide and as far as I know they'll eat the flakes and frozen goodies my other dudes eat, right?

I'm running two 30 gallon HOBs on that tank and I'll alternate rinsing filters with water changes so that each filter gets rinsed once a week.

As of about 30 minutes ago -
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 10

pH this morning was 7.2 which is the norm.

So what do you guys think? Leave things as is or get one or two otos?

AAANNNDDD - as long as I'm at it - Would it be nice to have an oto in the other tanks? See my sig again - they're Betta tanks. One 10 and one 5 gal.

I have tons of critters as you can see and I'm NUTS about proper care for them - I don't mind cleaning up after critters! But if the otos can help a little and I can "rescue" something else from a pet shop - I'm all about it!

[Red]

Oto's seem fine to me, just two though!

[Chazbot]

Oto's seem fine to me, just two though!

Thanks Red!

What about the Betta tanks?

Hey Red I recently read a post of yours that said you were done with fishkeeping. I do hope you've reconsidered.

[Red]

yeah, wanted to quit, lost a tank full of $$ fish and my favs. Upsetting. If you want to clean up you betta tanks and there above 2gals I would add snails.

[Chazbot]

Yeah, I read the whole thread and I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how frustrating that's got to be.

Thanks again! I'm TERRIFIED of snails and their multiplication habits. But I'll definitely think about it. Being smaller tanks and not as heavily decorated or stocked they'll be easier to deal with. However snails are SO pretty...hmmmm...

[troy]

I disagree. Otos need to be in groups of at the VERY least 3.

[Chazbot]

Really? How come?

[Sharon]

I wouldn't add Otos until the cycle has been stable for three months. They are very sensitive....

[PostalPenguin]

Bettas and otos get along on a personality level. Otos need a bigger tank than bettas however. I had 2 in my 5 gallon betta tank and they didn't seem to be all that happy so I moved them into my 10g where they are today. They even survived a cold water disaster without problem so once they are fed and adjusted to the tank I'd say they are quite hardy. I don't ever see the otos hanging out together during the day but at night when they are most active they may group together.

[Chazbot]

Well since I first posted, I've added 2 Otos to each tank and so far, so good!

[bocrayfish]

oooo:scry: hope you reconsider quiting fish rearing rs but i never heard of keeping 3+ as a rule????? ill go do some research and see what i can find