Any alternatives to otos?

[flip_lx]

Well it seems me and otocinclus catfish were never ment to be. Of the 3 I bought yesterday 2 died off suddenly in the am(found em today after school). Tank is planted 10 gal everything else that stays or has stayed in that tank is fine and dandy. The tank is getting an algae problem on the plants so i bought 3 for a nice number let temps even bucketed them with airstone and let the drip take place for about 2 hours. 2 gone 1 left so what are the alternatives if any to these guys for algae control on plants? (i have a snails and a gae for all the other)

for refernce the tank has safely held my golden algae eater, 6 x-ray tetras(transfered to 29 for room) a peacock eel(transfered to 29 for room) 5 glow-lite tetras, MTS and some invading snail type

 

[Tong]

An army of shrimp. Glass (Ghost) shrimp or cherry shrimp should be fine. A little harder to find are pitbull plecos (they are very similar to otos...might acclimate better). Or if you want a BBA eating fish, the american flagfish is probably the best BBA eater for your size tank.

Sorry to hear the otos aren't working out for you. They are probably one of my favorite fish. And please relocate your GAE when it reaches 3" or so.

 

[Gena575]

Otos are tricky little guys. One of the keys seems to be looking for ones that have fat rounded tummies. There are theories about their capture method causing the fragility of them. Another theory deals with the bacteria in their guts and them basically starving at the LFS.

For alternatives, what about amano shrimp? With glo-lites and pest snails they would do well. Your golden algae eater would need to move out, but the shrimp would do wonders on plant cleaning. Another way might be to start tweaking your lighting time, fert dosing (if you dose) and water change schedule. Even adding a good clump of anacharis can help combat algae as it uses excess nutrients QUICKLY and outcompetes the algae.

 

[flip_lx]

yeah the gae is going to the 29 gallon once there is a food source for him(my lighting fixutre should come today).

all i've seen locally at moderate price are ghost shrimp but im a bit weary after reading about the different types labeled as ghost shrimp, i don't want my fish to be their food. I will try the anacharis idea and work up on my dosing (just got my nitrogen, potassium and flourish order) its been daily flourish excel with some Co2 once a week.

well check out the flagfish idea when i go back to my lfs

 

[Tostada]

I used to have 8 ghost shrimp. 4 of them have somehow disappeared. I noticed one of them being eaten by another one, and my snail ate one. Anyway, of the 4 left, two of them are definitely not real ghost shrimp, as they're about 3" long now. Still, I can't imagine them being able to hurt any of my fish -- even my panda cories or rasboras or ottos. I mean, if they can keep away from my gourami, I doubt those tiny little pinchers are going to get them. The ottos and pandas will just sit there right next to a shrimp twice their size. What's he going to do? Maybe I'm naive, but the little pinchers are just so small, and the huge shrimp can't even keep my swords from taking their peas away.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Did you feed the otos anything, like algae wafers? Sometimes there isn't enough of the algae they eat. Also, when they get to the LFS there isn't usually any algae in the tanks (maybe a little) or in the bags that they are transferred in, so they are usually starving. I like to feed mine right away when I get them to help the live. Also, like stated above, try not to get any really skinny ones...as they are usually really weak and won't survive.

Don't give up!

I don't know any other algae eaters besides small shrimp that would work in a 10g. Do you know what kind of algae you have? Maybe you should try to fix the problem and not just add fish to the tank. What color is it and what does it look like?

 

[Alshain]

With otos I do reccomend a very slow acclimation. Don't just float and realease like the pet stores tell you, mix about 1/4 cup tank water into the bag every 5 minutes after its been floating for 15 minutes. Clip the bag to the side of the tank with a clothspin or something and do this for an hour then net and release them and pour the water out. I've had good success with this, and I acclimate all my fish this way.

As said before, don't give up.

 

[Burks]

Otos are picky little creatures. I think it has to do with how they were captured (cyanide is used I believe) and the fish stores probably don't feed them well enough. Being weakened by capture and poor diet is hard to overcome.

I've been through at least 10 Otos and have three healthy ones to show for it. Hard little workers that can clean tank glass completely covered in green algae within a few days. Love them to death, just wish they were easier to maintain.


Anyways....I second (or is it third?) the Ghost Shrimp. Easy to maintain and cheap to replace. Some people can get them 20 for $1 while others like myself must pay $0.25 each. With any luck you may have some babies as well.