Species Only Oto tank?

**MrJim** · 01-02-2012, 02:26 PM

These fish intrigue me~learned that they are actually a kind of pleco. What would you recommend to someone wanting to make a "species only" tank~~say a small tank like a 10 gal~fish quantity, substrates, plants (I think it should be a planted tank?), and filtration.

These would be for regular otos~~I was at "That Fish Place" and saw some Zebra Otos for the first time (munching a wafer alongside a larger pleco).

Thanks

**smaug** · 01-02-2012, 02:30 PM

Just have a nicely planted tank.They arent difficult to keep at all. In a 10 gal with a good filter and plenty of plants you could have 10 otos easily,maybe a few more.

**FinalJenemba** · 01-02-2012, 03:12 PM

Agree with smaug, it wouldn't be very hard to do. Just make sure its very well planted with lots of hiding places as they stress easy. Also, with that many your gonna need to feed allot of algae wafers, there isn't enough algae in the world to keep that may going naturally lol.

Seems like it would be a pretty boring tank to me though, unless you wanted the real star of the tank to be the plants. I like Oto's and think they're adorable, but behavior wise they don't really do anything besides eat and poop. Allot of aquarists like them because they blend in with the background and don't draw attention to themselves, unlike a pleco who bulldozes through everyone's business lol. Makes for a great quality in a cleaner crew, but I don't know about the star of the show. How about a really heavily plated shrimp tank, and having the Ottos on top of that? Or you could add a Betta, I have never had one of my Betta's bother or even notice an Oto. Just some ideas.

Also, if Otos are known for one thing, its dying for no reason, they are really good at it. I have never had an Oto live for longer than a year, most less than 6 months. I have good water, good enough for GBR's anyway. Most, including myself, agree that because they are wild caught that are very hard to keep alive due to stress and such. They like being in schools so the more you get the better. But don't be surprised if like half the ones you get die the first month, its not uncommon.

**MrJim** · 01-02-2012, 03:12 PM

Do you think a single AC20 would be sufficient? I generally run two filters on my tanks (I have two AC20s on my existing 10 gal).

**MrJim** · 01-02-2012, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by FinalJenemba

Agree with smaug, it wouldn't be very hard to do. Just make sure its very well planted with lots of hiding places as they stress easy. Also, with that many your gonna need to feed allot of algae wafers, there isn't enough algae in the world to keep that may going naturally lol.

Seems like it would be a pretty boring tank to me though, unless you wanted the real star of the tank to be the plants. I like Oto's and think they're adorable, but behavior wise they don't really do anything besides eat and poop. Allot of aquarists like them because they blend in with the background and don't draw attention to themselves, unlike a pleco who bulldozes through everyone's business lol. Makes for a great quality in a cleaner crew, but I don't know about the star of the show. How about a really heavily plated shrimp tank, and having the Ottos on top of that? Or you could add a Betta, I have never had one of my Betta's notice an Oto. Just some ideas.

Also, if Otos are known for one thing, its dying for no reason, they are really good at it. I have never had an Oto live for longer than a year, most less than 6 months. I have good water, good enough for GBR's anyway. Most, including myself, agree that because they are wild caught that are very hard to keep alive due to stress and such. They like being in schools so the more you get the better. But don't be surprised if like half the ones you get die the first month, its not uncommon.

Yeah I've kept otos for a few years now but you're right they are generally not long lived~I have three now in two separate tanks...it was an idea that made me curious...

**sheamurai** · 01-02-2012, 05:52 PM

Just to note on their behavior - a ten gallon Oto only tank might be boring, as FJ said, but in a larger tank they are quite active.

I have a school in my 4ft tank, and its quite amusing to watch them zip around. They get quite excited during feeding time for some reason (its not like they eat pellet or flake) but they go into these bursts of action, they zoom and flit around like maniacs for a few minutes, then go about cleaning the decorations again. They generally stay together pretty well.

I added 8 otos back in Oct '10, and currently have 5 of them left. I should top them up again...

**MrJim** · 01-03-2012, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by sheamurai

Just to note on their behavior - a ten gallon Oto only tank might be boring, as FJ said, but in a larger tank they are quite active.

I have a school in my 4ft tank, and its quite amusing to watch them zip around. They get quite excited during feeding time for some reason (its not like they eat pellet or flake) but they go into these bursts of action, they zoom and flit around like maniacs for a few minutes, then go about cleaning the decorations again. They generally stay together pretty well.

I added 8 otos back in Oct '10, and currently have 5 of them left. I should top them up again...

Well I have a 20Long that's sitting around not doing anything~not 4' but double a 10..