How many otos

Lansirill

Lansirill

Mathemagician
Jun 14, 2007
248
0
16
Washington, DC
Well, I -was- going to ask about wilting cryptocoryne plants before I realized I somehow posted this to the catfish forum. Since I'm going to be posting -something-, how many otos do you need in a tank for them to really be happy? I want to add them and cories, but I might be pushing my bioload with both once I'm fully stocked. IF I can get away with just one or two otos, though, I probably can squeeze in both fish.
 
Last edited:
And buy a few extra as they are prone to dying. I've only had one death in my tank and it was an oto after only two weeks in the tank. The other two I have are fine, but no otos coming for several weeks.
 
Also, they won't be competing for the same swimming area as other fish in the tank, since they tend to stick to plants, the sides, or the bottoms, so that along with the low bioload means you can probably find room for one more, 3. I noticed when I went from 2 to 3, all 3 became less timid and more visable, even during the day. You'll really enjoy them. (They steal the show.)

Remember to try and purchase them either right away when the store gets them, or several weeks later (by then, the starved/weaker ones probably wouldn't have made it.) Ask for extra water/oxygen, acclimate slowly for about an hour, and I like to provide food from the get go, algae wafers, or boiled spinach or cucumber or zucchini. It tells them they have options, if they eat up all the algae available to them, or if like in my tank, there probably never was any really.
 
The tank is 33G and right now the only things that are definately booked for living in it are 10 bloodfin tetras (I got a few extra in case of deaths, however they seem to be doing fine except for a missing eye.) I plan on adding two or three platies, enough pearl gouramis to bring out the male's color, and some bottom feeders so that I have some fish throughout the tank. I'll probably adjust that plan as I add fish and see how much space everyone is taking up and if I start to have waste problems. The gouramis in particular might need to be dropped from my list, or just try my luck with a single male. Should be a happy little tank.

Sounds like I'm probably going to want to pick otos or cories though, since they both want to have a decent number in the tank. Unless I'm really mistaken, the top-dwelling fish are going to have me fairly fully stocked already.
 
If you have some algae for them to eat, I'd buy 4, assuming that 1 won't make it. They're quick workers, so having more than 1/10g means somebody has nothing to do. Supplement w/ algae wafers, knock some flake to the bottom now & then.

PS - wait until tank is established if it is not yet established (cycled, old enough to have grown some algae).
 
The tank is still quite clean (although I've started adding fertilizers so I'm sure I'll have an algae farm soon) and they'd be going into a clean QT regardless of that, so they're going to have to learn to love algae wafers and veggies. The QT is fully cycled, and while my 33G is still having a few hiccups (I used established media, but not enough for an instant cycle), my next batch of fish won't be going in there for another six weeks.
 
I can't remember where I read this, but I remember being informed that you should use a 1 Oto : 10 Gallons ratio. So in your case you should have at least 3. More than that may actually start to starve the Oto's from lack of food. Using this rule, I bought 2 Oto's for my 20 gallon and they have thrived well *knock on wood* for 6 months.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom