In general, otos don't last all that long. I think its just nature. Anyhow, if it died over the night, there may have been enough time for the other fish to start eating away at it. 
Missing Otocinclus
- Thread starter disneytvl
- Start date
Otos should last for several years. If they aren't, most likely either a) the stock went too long without a meal and lost the bacteria in their gut needed to digest food, or b) they starved to death for lack of adequate algae. I have 5 in my 55, and they are all fat and healthy, been there for about a year now. But, I seldom see all 5 at one time, since they easily hide on the underneath of large leaves and within denser plantings. I agree with cdawson--they are not really appropriate for unplanted tanks.
i have three oto in my 55g unplanted, which i've only had running fully stocked/cycled for a couple weeks (hurrah for biospira) -- i've been putting in algea wafers for them, but the other fish seem to steal the food before they get to it. what can i do to keep them fed? my light is much, much too low to plant much of anything, tho maybe a floating plant or two would do okay...
Thanks for all the replies. I've looked everywhere, and I guess he's gone for good :sad . Just FYI, it is a planted 10 gal., and he/she was with us for about 9 months and always seemed happy and healthy. I do 25% water changes every 10-14 days. I'm not sure what happened - he never looked sick. We may try again with another in a few weeks.
Thanks again for all the help. Seems like a great group here.
Thanks again for all the help. Seems like a great group here.
