Oto?

[jaymasta]

hey guys i read about these alot on here, but haven't seen them forsale at ANY of my LFS, two of them haven't even heard of them and the other two don't get them in regularily, wondering if someone has a picture to post of one, and how big/how much i should pay for one, I really want one from what i read, but i will have to special order it, the guy is looking into how much cause he ddin't even have them in his computer...

[hughitt1]

Here ya go:
some pictures (http://images.google.com/images?hs=VZ1&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=otocinclus%20affinis&btnG=Search&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi)

Normally they go for between $1-2 .. they are really small, and sometimes may be called "dwarf suckermouth" or something along those lines.

gl :)

[nerdyguy83]

Petco. doesn't carry them (at least here), Petsmart does, and the locally owned store here doesn't either. So I guess they are a little hard to find...

In any case, be sure to get a good visual ID if you buy something called "Dwarf Algae Eater". Those pictures are a good reference. You don't want to end up with a CAE or SAE which get much bigger.

[twig]

Oto's are out of season right now ... They'll be very hard to find ...

[harrishawk]

Rare to find? My LFS has like 200 in a 50gl in the back of the store.
Ok i have ? about these guys do they need to have a planted aquarium are does drift wood work just wondering thanks?

[nerdyguy83]

I have kept them successfully in an unplanted tank. They got a little nutty and become a little agressive when they hungry (I had one that chased my male guppy when I forgot to drop an algae wafer in). You just have to make sure they get enough food.

[Wishful]

Otos don't need driftwood in a tank, though they certainly appreciate it..mostly because all that rough texture is a haven for the types of algae they love. You do need to make sure they're kept well fed. Starving otos will eat at the slime coat on other fish. I ran across a lot of sites saying they won't accept prepared foods, but mine will happily munch on algae wafers, though it's not their preferred food. I'm actually looking at starting a window algae tank to rotate rocks and wood in to act as an oto buffet.

[harrishawk]

Thats a great idea let us all know how it works out. Thanks for all the help. :thm:

[twig]

Yup ... It's the rainy season over there so if your lfs runs out it's really hard to get new ones...

my otocinclus eat cucumber ... :D
unfortunately so does all my other fish.

[Cfortunato]

For some reason, Petco doesn't carry oto's, but they carry lots of Chinese Algae Eaters. Oto's are great, one will keep about 20 gallons clean, and they are tiny - their bioload is almost non-existent. However, they are very fragile, and should be acclimated slowly.