how would ottos work with my fancy goldfish

[bigbad-ratman]

i have 75 gal that is my true labor of love. however i am at the point where algae is taking over. so my question is: how many ottos could i put in my tank that they will share with 6 fancy goldfish? tank is well established, have double filtration, and of course, lotsa algae. think i would need to add a few hidding places for any ottos, but other than that, what do y ou guys think?

[Rue]

I think otos need warmer water and lots of plants.

Goldfish need colder water, and they tear up any 'real' plants.

Not a good mix.

[bigbad-ratman]

i keep the tank on the warmer side as is. right now it is sitting at 78 degrees. i already give them veggies and can do the same for the ottos.

if it is just a bad idea, could you recomend a cleaner other than mystery snails? already have a couple and want a something different for the goldies. i was thinking i grow out a pleco, but wouldnt wanna have to go through the hassle of gettin rid of it later.

[Rue]

I was told that the rubber-lipped pleco is a colder water option...so it would fit in better with the goldies. It's a smaller species, won't be a problem in your tank. Petsmart used to carry them.

My goldfish tank might be too cold for them, which is why I have the dojos...but if yours is at 78 I can't see any problems.

[bigbad-ratman]

thanks. i'll have to look into those guys.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

78 would be fine for them. I'd say they would likely be a good option for your tank.

[VoidParadigm]

As long as you have LOTS of algae and the tank is pretty warm I say you could do a school of 6-8, maybe even 10 without problem. Just make sure the goldfish don't get curious. A temporary houseguest we had a while ago was a goldfish, and he tried to eat one of my cories. o-o (Luckily once he realized the cory was a living thing he got freaked out and hid. :lol: Kinda funny to see an eight-inch goldfish get spooked by a 1 1/2 inch fish.)

[sheamurai]

I have a 77gal that sits at 78 degrees, and I have 6 otos in there. They aren't much for cleaning the gravel tho - so if you need your gravel cleaned you may want to get a few otos and a few b/n's. Otos are great for cleaning decorations and ok for cleaning the walls of the tank, but I don't find they spend any time on the gravel at all. I do not have any live plants in there, either. They do a great job of cleaning plastic plants, and they love driftwood. I have at least three in all my tanks (except for the cichlid tank of course!).