i was thinking about getting an oto or two for my tank, my question is i have 4 or 5 plants and will they eat my plants as well as the algae? thanks
otos
- Thread starter biogirl361
- Start date
My otos have not touched my plants, but they do an amazing job keeping my aquarium clean of algae. I was having to scrape my aquarium glass every week to get rid of the algae until I got them I have 4 in my 29 gallon tank and they are the best money I have spent so far!
now, i have heard that these guys can be delicate. is that just in the first month or so because of being treated badly at the store, or are they always delicate? reason i ask is because being in a dorm i have to move around quite a bit and so my fish have to travel for about one hour to get home with me and then back to school and so on. i won't be settling down until they have had to move 4 more times. so if they respond the same to periodic stress as most fish do, i will take the chance with them, but if they are more delicate than normal even after having been treated well for several months in my tank then i might just wait. i sure would love something to take care of my algae without eating my plants though. also, are most oto's wild caught or tank raised?
Seaman
Shrimp gumbo, shrimp salad etc...
well its not really stress as much.....they have this bacteria in their stomachs that processes all the algae that they eat...and a lot of times they dont eat in petstores from being stressed, and the bacteria in their stomach dies...so they can still eat and look normal, but one day it'l just drop dead, because it cant absorb the nutrients it needs with out that good bacteria.
so do you think if it lived for a month or two in my tank then it would be as hardy as other fish when it came to moving?
proud new oto owner here... he sure is cute! now lets hope all goes well and he doesnt bring ich with him or die or something!
In my experience w/ sudden oto deaths, it usually happens within the first 3 weeks of being in the tank. I lost my first one w/ no signs. One day he's fine, next day he's dead on the bottom of the tank. Haven't lost another yet, though. My friend bought 3 about a month ago, and today we found one dead w/ no signs. Cute buggers, but it's sad when you lose one. Hope yours has a healthy life.
biogirl361 said:
Did you just get one because they are natuarally shoaling fish and feel more comfortable in a small group.
yeah i just got one because i only have a 10 gallon tank and it already has 8 other fish in it and i sure would hate to get 2 and have them die, so i thought i would see how this one fared before buying more, seeing as i heard they are delicate. plus i have to move around a lot because i live in a dorm and i didnt want to get a lot of them only to have them die from stress. if this one does good i will prob get more in a year or so when i am done with dorms and settle in the same place for a longer time and have my bigger tank back. he seems really happy right now wolfing down the massive amounts of algae in my new plant tank. are they supposed to eat constantly? because he is. i hope he stays this happy because i am attached to him already.