Are Otto Cats hard to keep?

i've been wondering about ottos as well since i got 2 a couple of weeks ago. they immediately ate all the algae in the tank, but other than that i dont see them eating at all. i've tried algae wafers, bio blend herbiverous (sp?), cucumber and mexican squash. im afraid they'll die of starvation!! :eek:
 
I got 2 otos about 4 weeks ago, lost one in about twelve hrs, but I couldn't find a body to take it back. About 2 weeks ago I got 3 more and I still have all 4 and they are growing pretty good, they love zucchini.
 
I purchased 6 of them for my 55 gallon tank. They were very cool looking and I'd heard they were excellent at eating both brown and green algae which my tank was over run with. None of them survived more than 2-3 days. They did eat a lot of algae in that time period though.
 
The first otto I bought survived a day. I waited a while before buying any more, from Petsmart of all places, and they are still going strong 6 months later. I was careful to pick out the fattest and most active ones.

Now I feed them zucchini and yams which they love. I've always wondered what my tank would be like without them.
 
I'll jump in here 2. We had one otto for a long time, 5 months. Finally found some more at petco. I don't like petco in general but this was a whole tank full of busy busy little ottos. I made the girl put several back before got ones I likes. That has been 3 weeks ago and they are looking great.
Ours ignore the algae tabs and everything else, fish, snails whatever.... they just mind their own business. Ours are also busy all day.
 
I bought my first one last Xmas and he is doing great. I bought him a buddy in February and he is doing great also. The only problem I have is keeping up with the first one I bought. He is the all time master of hide-and-seek. I will lose him for days and then suddenly there he is. My newer one was larger than my first and looked well fed when I got him. He is always out in the open and I see him everyday.
 
I love ottos. I have 5, could only count 4 for a couple of days ago and felt really sad about it. Yesteday I counted 5 again and I was sssssssssooooo relieved. I added 2 to my newly setup 20g yesterday. After they found each other, they went to town on my green algae.

Question: They've turned from dull grey to a weird greenish color. I figure its because they are gorging on green algae. Should I worry? They seem quite energetic and settled at this point.

BTW, buy only ottos that have survived transport, and have been housed by the store for a couple weeks. Your chances are better. I lost a couple at first, but have kept five without incidence for a couple months now.
 
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Otos need to costantly graze, which is a big part of the reason they don't handle shipping very well compared to most fish. They really should be kept in planted tanks for them to be happy and healthy. It's hard to keep enough algae in a tank to provide enough nourishment for a group of them, unless the tank gets direct sunlight or you grow algae in a seperate container. They will accept various kinds of veggies, and it's a good idea to provide a variety of them to supplement their diets.

I've had a good success rate with otos. I've lost only two to camallanus, and some got eaten - but other than that the ones that arrived alive and healthy are still alive and healthy (some did get ich, but they are handling treatment well and are almost recovered). I've got 24 of them, and 6 hisonotus which are quite similar.
 
Yup. I bought 3 of 'em about 3 weeks ago and lost 2 within the first day or 2. The 3rd one is still going strong.
 
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