Can I see your Oto?

I loved my otos. Not only did they eat algae in the tank, they used to float upside down at the surface of the water, sucking a thin bacterial film from the surface of the water. They never bothered any of my fish and were quite peaceful.

The only problem was that once my tank ran out of algae, they didn't transition to eating veggies or algae tablets. So the poor things ended up starving to death.
 
doreenjoy said:
The only problem was that once my tank ran out of algae, they didn't transition to eating veggies or algae tablets. So the poor things ended up starving to death.
Click to expand...

You know, I wondered about that. Currently I have no algae in my tank. (not always the case, but it is for now) and I wondered what they would eat.
 
I had four in my first tank. I loved them but two died relatvely soon after I got them and the other two never transitioned to other foods when the algea ran out and they died off as well. They were always out and very fun to watch but too delicate.
 
I have to go about 40 miles to get anything decent. They did have some of these last time I was there.
 
This is one of mine, I have three kinds, once they eat veggies they should be okay. They dont bother any fast moving fish in my experience.
This one is a zebra otto a little bigger than otto affinis but much the same in behaviour.

ottto.jpg
 
They dont eat live plants, slightly cooked zucchini, broccoli, potato, sprouts, cabbage etc or raw cucumber and sometimes they eat algae wafers and mussels.
 
My experience with Otos is 50/50.

Half of them died within days of being in the tank... any tank.
I see them all about half the time.

Never have I see one latched onto another fish.
I leave the back wall of my tank alone when I clean so they have something to eat but I don't see any cleaned spots that look like they mowed it down. The hang out mostly on the plants, rocks and wood but sometimes the bottom.

I really don't know what they have been eating. I have never seen them eat flake or pellets which is all I use. Their bellies are always nice and plump. I only introduce them to a tank that is cycled AND has been running for many months afterwards.

I love these little guys and would like to have dozens but I don't think I'll be getting anymore from now on unless it's to try to breed them. They don't seem to do to well after capture in my opinion.

Q
 
Sorry this is so blurry. I took it with my phone. There are actually only 3 of them (the ones on the far left in the back are reflections). I'm really surprised so many people have such negative opinions of Otos. I love mine. They're such cute little buggers. They're really active and they never hide. They can be trained to accept other foods (mine will eat veggies and algae wafers) but if you're worried that won't work you can increase your lighting or move the tank so it gets more sunlight to encourage algae growth. The tank won't turn green, I promise. I used to have my Otos in a smaller tank that sat right on the windowsill, but I moved them to a 20g long tank awhile ago that sits on a bench right in front of the window. There's no background on the tank, the window faces south and it gets direct sunlight for several hours a day, but the tank's totally clear because the Otos eat all the algae. I only give mine occasional veggie supplements, otherwise I don't feed them at all and they're fat, happy little piggies. Their only tankmates are 3 neon tetras which are actually my brother's (I babysat them while he treated his tank for a snail infestation, but he keeps forgetting to take them back whenever he comes over). The tetras are usually wherever the Otos are, and when they zip around the tank they look like some kind of misfit school.

11-14-07_2113.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom