Can I see your Oto?

[mellowvision]

I have 4 otos, currently in 2 tanks in pairs. I'm relatively new to fishkeeping and haven't lost an oto yet, even after faced with gas bubble disease, and one who keeps wedging himself in the corner of the tank stuck behind the intake tube... the last time he got wedged for a while, and I found him an inch from the surface rapidly breathing, but unable to move. I freed him, and his underside was thoroughly bruised from trying to breath and escape... but a week later he seems fine. he's done this twice now.

mine are all very skitish, aand seem to like the areas near the filter intakes, and spend a lot of time on my dwarf sag. They don't bother the other fish, or shrimp... and will hold back if the other fish are fighting over algae wafers... eventually though, they all seem to get to the wafers. some of them like cucumber, while one or two don't seem to.

 

[srcfx]

Pictre of two in my 14g planted. The tank is about 3 months old. Started with 8, 3 died. can only find 4. There are two varieties. The 2nd batch had a couple of big otos. That night I put them in, one of my guppies developed a nasty bruise about the size of a big sucker. Hasn't happened since. I love these little guys. Sometimes they hide. Other times they are in front and active. Cleaned up the tank the first night. They eat algea waffers and cucumbers.

 

[morfin]

Hey don't get me wrong, I love my ottos, I just don't ever get to see them, so the fact that I have them is great. And they lived which is great. But I'd just love them to come out and be seen. In my 50 gallon they can be gone for days before you see them again.

 

[Aislinn]

Hey don't get me wrong, I love my ottos, I just don't ever get to see them, so the fact that I have them is great. And they lived which is great. But I'd just love them to come out and be seen. In my 50 gallon they can be gone for days before you see them again.

The Synos in my Malawi tank are like that. Sometimes I won't see them for a month or two at a time, because they hide in one of the zillion caves. Other times they're front and center, doing that spazzy "feed me" dance.

I guess I never even realised Otos have a tendency to hide or be shy, because mine are too busy sniffing around for algae or cruising in the filter current to hide. They even sleep in the open. Their only tankmates are the same size as them, though.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Otos are one of my bugaboo fish. After killing about 50 over a couple of years, I gave up trying to keep them. However I did get a few pics of the zebra otos:

 

[FishBliss]

Everyone: from your experiences with otos do you have a feel for which types are more/less hardy than others?

This thread is extremely informative -- the experience you all are sharing is tremendously helpful. I love the stories, both happy and sad.