ottos

[sharpie]

hi there-
i am looking for something that will help out with algae in a ten gallon planted tank. there are a few tetras in there right now and if i do get a catfish i know to feed it "food" and i dont expect it to live off algae. i was just wondering if any of you (who have ottos) have ever had it attach itself to a fish and then eventually kill it?
-thanks so much :hi:

[sumthin fishy]

I've never seen, nor heard of this happening with this particular fish. Other algae eaters, such as SAE have been known to do this though.

[NeedlsslyComplx]

Otto's are the man.

They're little algae eating machines, and I have never seen them attach themselves to another fish.

I dropped 2 in a 20gallon planted tank a few years ago that was choked with algae. They made *quick* work of it.

One died, one continued to keep the algae patrol up for a good long while.

And, if you have enough algae growth, I'm pretty sure you don't need to feed your otto. I forget, but I believe theres some general guideline for how many gallons of established tank can support an otto.

[thesydmonster]

I think you could put two otos happily in a 10 gallon and yes, I would supplement them with food such as algae wafers and fresh zucchini. They are great little workers :)

[mandimoron]

Ya know, I've heard people saying that ottos do that (the latching on to other fish and whatnot), but I don't think I've ever met anyone who actually saw it happen. I think it's a myth.

My experience with ottos is that they're very friendly with other fish, and are just plain cute. I say go for it. ^_^

[joephys]

Oto's don't need to be fed if they are getting enough algae, otherwise they are easy to feed, fresh blanched veggies, and algae waffers. They are usually weak when they come from stores (they clean all their algae, so they don't get fed well, and they might have been caught using cyinide). Generally I think most people buy about 1.5 x the number they want assuming that a few will die. (Half of the ones I bought died in the first week. I thought it was me at first, untill I found out some more about them.)

[dougall]

I've seen Otos attach themselves to other fish.

I bought some at the same time as a couple of royal farlowellas.

my friendly store assistant put everything in the same bag. when I arrived home there were 2 otos attached to 1 farlowella and another on another.

They were definitely attached, but there was no damage done either, after a couple of hours in their new home they had separated into their own little cliques.

[NoчnoyGostь]

Hi. I've seen my ottos TRYING to attach to a platy once, but they weren't successful at it (platy outmanuevered (did I spell that right? :) ) them easily). They might've been hungry, since I forgot to give them zuccini for a couple of days. I've never had a problem with green algae before, and since I added ottos I haven't seen a green spot at all, so I rely on vegetables to keep them well fed (haven't seen mine eat algae wafers, but then again maybe the kuhlis get to it first). Ottos are great at controling green algae, are very peaceful, shy even.