new otocinclus died overnight
- Thread starter Dvguru
- Start date
I bought two otos last week and put them in a mature tank with lots of algae. I slowly acclimated to the tank water and put them in. The next morning both were dead.
My 20 gal. tank was one year old and full of algae. I bought 3oto's and I didnt have any problems with them. I had them now for 6 months and they nice and healthy They have been keeping the tank clean and I supplement them every 3 days with algae wafers I guess I got lucky with these three.
SAE's get about 12" and they can be very aggressive. Stick with the otos. You might try apple snails.
Kim
Kim
Sorry roan, I have to dissagree with you on this one. When I got my 2 ottos, my tank was overrun with diatoms and in 2 days it was almost completely gone. I even started noticeing a difference after only several hours.Roan Art said:
BTW I have never fed my ottos, there is more than enough algea in my tank to keep them bussy. Although I do know someone who adds blanched zuchini to his tank overnight once a week, but now they hardlly eat algea that's why I don't feed mine.
Otto's are like any other creature. Some are weak and die quickly and other live long health lives. I was lucky with my first otto. I have had him for a year now. It took me six other otto's before I got him/her a tankmate that did not die within the first week. Luckily my LFS has a 1 week guarantee on all fish.
LittlePuff said:
Littlepuff,
I think you are confusing the SAE with the CAE (chinese algae eater). The SAE only gets to about 6" and is not known to be agressive. The CAE on the other hand gets about 11-13" long and is a big fish slime sucker.
Different Algae Eaters
I waited to add otos to my tanks until they were a bit more mature than a month and didn't lose any... I had some algae but not a lot (since you should try to find out why you have algae and change things instead of just getting fish to eat it) but really liked the otos... I feed them algae wafers, zucchini, shrimp pellets, flake food, spirulina flakes and tabs, etc. They are fun 
Roan Art said:
Wait a minute, was this a typo?
Diatoms are the favorite food of otocinclus.
Although it's best to introduce otos into a semi-mature tank with plenty of diatoms and other "soft" algae, as long as they have a steady supply of suitable food they should do well. This is assuming you start with healthy stock that is not already starved and beyond hope.
A variety of veggies work well, including cucumber, zucchini, brussel sprouts, shelled peas, and romaine lettuce (among others). If you try a few different types of vegetables over the course of a week or so and the otos don't touch them, chances are they are getting enough nourishment from the algae in the tank.
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How big was the tank? If it was overrun with diatoms, I sincerely doubt the otos could clean it out that fast. They aren't that big and they don't work *that* fast.stingray4540 said:
My four SAE have taken weeks to clean up the first 75g that bottomed out in nitrates and developed some really nasty algae. They are three times as big as the otos and eat just as much. More, actually and now that I think of it. They don't "rest" like otos do, they are constantly eating.
IE and FWIR otos do not eat diatoms. Seriously. Diatoms WILL however, disappear on their own if the nutrient balance is in check. In fact, mine just disappeared out of my new tank. Took about 3 days and it wasn't the SAEs eating them.
Roan
