Are Otto Cats hard to keep?

JosephMCorbett

JosephMCorbett

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Feb 7, 2005
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Northern California
I went into my LFS today because I've heard that Ottos are good at eating the algae that grow on fake plants. The lady that runs the place told me that neither her or her partner were ever able to keep them alive, so they don't carry them. She went further to state that her customers can't keep them alive either. Next, she says that so many people have been requesting them lately that she is thinking of getting some in and "trying" it again. She then gave me two algae eating shrimp to try in my tank as I was hesitant to buy any because I think they will just get eaten by my fish. If they survive, I may go in and buy more, but I think I would rather have the Ottos. Anyway, are Ottos hard to keep?
 
JosephMCorbett said:
I went into my LFS today because I've heard that Ottos are good at eating the algae that grow on fake plants. The lady that runs the place told me that neither her or her partner were ever able to keep them alive, so they don't carry them. She went further to state that her customers can't keep them alive either. Next, she says that so many people have been requesting them lately that she is thinking of getting some in and "trying" it again. She then gave me two algae eating shrimp to try in my tank as I was hesitant to buy any because I think they will just get eaten by my fish. If they survive, I may go in and buy more, but I think I would rather have the Ottos. Anyway, are Ottos hard to keep?
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The problem with ottos is that they they don't do well in shipping. To top that of, most of the ottos are imported wild caught specimens. So, somewhere some fellow witha net catches a bunch of them, shakes them into a dirty old container with umpteen other fish, doesn't feed them, takes them somewhere where they package them for shipping to America and points East and West. You see where this is going already, I assume. Anyway, some people have terrible luck with ottos. By the time we recieve them they are sometimes already off food and what can you do?

Be very careful when you buy them. Make sure they have round bellies and try to make sure they have some green in them. Also, make sure the tank is well established and you have some algae for them. They don't take well to algae tabs for most folks. They are great fish, but yes, they can be difficult at times. Acclimate them slowly and be sure to keep an eye on water parameters. I'd say Spring is probably a good time to get them. Little warmer temps during shipping. I'm sure some people have had much better luck, and your LFS might too, by having a different supplier.
 
I've heard that the capture methods can be brutal - poisons, etc. Often they die within the first few days. Mine have been doing quite well, but they have lots of algae to eat.
I've heard not to buy Ottos unless they've been in the LFS for a while. Let the fish store owners lose them to attrition, not you.
FWIW

Harlock beat me to it, and more eloquently at that!
 
I bought two yesterday, did a very, very slowwww acclemation...I hope they both make it, so far so good...
 
Agreed...these guys need to be acclimated slowly. Once they make it past the first couple weeks and have enough natural algae to eat in your tank ive found them to be quite hardy. Have had 6 over a year. Anyone get them to breed?
 
I have 2 ottos in a 10 gallon, bought them from petsmart and the first person i talked to there had no idea that they even had those fish, the second one told me she had several in her own tanks but apparently they dont sell very many. There were probably 4 total in the tank and i assumed they had been in there for a while. Brought them home to a tank with what I have since learned was an overly aggressive dwarf gourami, and water which I attribute at least partially to the death of neon tetras, and both have done quite well. During the day they have their own favorite spots to rest, and I rarely see them move from there. One under my driftwood, the other wedged between a plant and the glass. I have spotted them guarding algae tabs and sucking at them as well. Of all the fish I have gotten, strangely enough, I have had the greatest luck with my ottos.
 
Otos have a symbiotic relationship with a bactieria that helps digest all the algae they eat. if they go to long without food that bacteria dies off or becomes reduced in number to the point that they don't get much nurishment out of the food even if they have lots to eat.

if you get an otto to survive and live a while you may have more success with the otos you get to live with that one as they may help reestablish the digestion aids for the new otos.

the method that has gotten me the most otos to live a while in my tanks is to let them sit at the store for 5 days to a week and then get the shortest littlest ones. Make sure they do not get hit with the frame of the net when the sales person catches them as all the ones that get banged that way died on me. otos like to suck on to things when being chased so they can be aggrivating to catch, as long as they are slowly nudged off the surface they seem to be ok.

oh and from my experience one otto per 10 gallons roughly is about the number that is sustainable in the long term.
 
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I've got 7 ottos in my 29 gallon tank, and I heve never had any problem with them. I bought them at Big All's in Mississauga, ON. There are lots of ottos.
 
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