Ellenquacker72
Aquarium Advice Freak
There is brown rust colored stuff on a lot of my tank... Is this brown algea? If it is, will it go away eventually? Should I get a snail?
Diatoms?
- Thread starter Ellenquacker72
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rich311k
Aquarium Advice Addict
If it comes off easily in a cloud of dust then it is diatoms. It will clear up by itself.
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Ellenquacker72
Aquarium Advice Freak
Verey good, thanks! That's what I thought 
Could I get a couple ottos to clear this up if I also added algea wafers? If I had 3 ottos and 3 Pygmy cories, would they school? I've heard they get along.
Could I get a couple ottos to clear this up if I also added algea wafers? If I had 3 ottos and 3 Pygmy cories, would they school? I've heard they get along.
-Mac-
Aquarium Advice Activist
No, my otos and corys are snobs. They hang with each other only. They won't fight, but they will not school / shoal together. Also, corys don't eat algae, they are scavengers eating food from the bottom of the tank. The otos love diatoms and will make short work of it and then move on to any new algae as it grows in the tank. My otos also enjoy taking a few nibbles of the sinking wafers I put in for the corys.
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Ellenquacker72
Aquarium Advice Freak
Yeah, didn't think so. Ive heard some stories of them schooling, so I just thought I'd ask because it would be cool to have some scavengers and algea eaters together so wouldn't need 6 of each.
-Mac-
Aquarium Advice Activist
I'm not one to throw the common beliefs out the window, however my corys are group of three, and extremely active, which is why they're a trio rather than a proper school of six. I couldn't imagine having school of six in my tank; me, the bettas and the neons, would all go mad.
Also, your mileage may vary in regards to algae wafers for the otos. Some love the stuff and others ignore it forever. Still others just have to 'get used to it' as a source of food and never look back; going so far as ignoring algae in the tank in favour of the wafers, apparently.
Folks will discourage you from buying fish to 'fix the algae problem' and, I think fairly, suggest you alter your feeding and photoperiod to decrease it, instead. Have fun, buy what fits, but also know, otos are notoriously tender fish and die for no good reason. So if you don't' want to add them because you want a cute group of little fish zipping around, reconsider. The diatoms will go away on their own eventually.
Also, your mileage may vary in regards to algae wafers for the otos. Some love the stuff and others ignore it forever. Still others just have to 'get used to it' as a source of food and never look back; going so far as ignoring algae in the tank in favour of the wafers, apparently.
Folks will discourage you from buying fish to 'fix the algae problem' and, I think fairly, suggest you alter your feeding and photoperiod to decrease it, instead. Have fun, buy what fits, but also know, otos are notoriously tender fish and die for no good reason. So if you don't' want to add them because you want a cute group of little fish zipping around, reconsider. The diatoms will go away on their own eventually.
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OP
Ellenquacker72
Aquarium Advice Freak
No I totally think theyre awesome for being ottos! Not just to fix the problem. I'd ruled them out as a possibility since thered been no signs of algae even though I'd fallen in love with them. So this new growth is acctually a good thing! Yay! And I hear some of them like zucchini and romaine lettuce? That stuff is so much easier to get a hold of where I am, where I can bike 5 minuts to get it instead of a 45 min drive. Hehe. I've also heard that normally if ottos live past a month there're more likely to survive? But that many of them die in the first little bit. Is this true?
Im acctually glad they don't zip around, that would defeat the purpose,and I think I'll have enough movement as it is!
Ideally I'd like to have the Venezuelan Pygmy cories cleaning up the bottom, ottos doin they're thing around the edges and on the plants, honey gourami as the center piece, and platies back there lookin beautiful. All in a 20g. That would be awesome.
Im acctually glad they don't zip around, that would defeat the purpose,and I think I'll have enough movement as it is!
Ideally I'd like to have the Venezuelan Pygmy cories cleaning up the bottom, ottos doin they're thing around the edges and on the plants, honey gourami as the center piece, and platies back there lookin beautiful. All in a 20g. That would be awesome.
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