Otos in my sump instead of display?

[threnjen]

I'm interested in getting some Otos to help out in my tank. Interesting thing is, I run an algae scrubber in my sump (it's a screen where algae is grown deliberately in sump instead of in the display). So I have lots of tasty food down there in my sump. Would be pretty cool to have someone clean it up for me instead of having to scrape the algae scrubber.

I think the oto would have things down there to make them happy food-wise, but I'm not so certain about the available space. The sump is a 29g but only about half is available for the otos to live in, and it's filled to about 14-15 inches rather than the 18in tall that the tank is.

Is it big enough that 3 or 4 could live in there in the sump? They wouldn't have any "tank mates" down there.

 

[GodFan]

I'm interested in getting some Otos to help out in my tank. Interesting thing is, I run an algae scrubber in my sump (it's a screen where algae is grown deliberately in sump instead of in the display). So I have lots of tasty food down there in my sump. Would be pretty cool to have someone clean it up for me instead of having to scrape the algae scrubber.

I think the oto would have things down there to make them happy food-wise, but I'm not so certain about the available space. The sump is a 29g but only about half is available for the otos to live in, and it's filled to about 14-15 inches rather than the 18in tall that the tank is.

Is it big enough that 3 or 4 could live in there in the sump? They wouldn't have any "tank mates" down there.

What are the dimensions of the free swimming space?

 

[threnjen]

It's 14w x 12d x 15h of water.
I can probably answer my own question, as the internet is fairly clear that they need a 30g. It's folly that I'm off hoping that there is a better "magic answer" that will be what I want to hear.

 

[GodFan]

It's 14w x 12d x 15h of water.
I can probably answer my own question, as the internet is fairly clear that they need a 30g. It's folly that I'm off hoping that there is a better "magic answer" that will be what I want to hear.

Actually I think they would be ok in there. The main reason larger tanks are usually prefered is because of their food needs. Your algae scrubber should be perfect for feeding them. Its a bit small for swimking area butbit should be ok still. Honestly most of us are not willing/able to provide them the space they would do best in. They school by the hundreds in the wild.

 

[threnjen]

hmm interesting! I am going to keep them on the table then.
I think they seem fun but I actually don't have enough algae in my display to service them, and it seems like they could be of some use down there to my ecosystem.

I do see that most species only get to be 2" so I would be surprised if the swimming space is a huge issue. I don't get the impression they spend a lot of time swimming around very quickly and spend most of their time glommed on to objects.

Do they have any opinion of substrate? The sump is bare but I could certainly put in some gravel.

Thank you for your feedback!

 

[GodFan]

hmm interesting! I am going to keep them on the table then.
I think they seem fun but I actually don't have enough algae in my display to service them, and it seems like they could be of some use down there to my ecosystem.

I do see that most species only get to be 2" so I would be surprised if the swimming space is a huge issue. I don't get the impression they spend a lot of time swimming around very quickly and spend most of their time glommed on to objects.

Do they have any opinion of substrate? The sump is bare but I could certainly put in some gravel.

Thank you for your feedback!

They spend alot of time gloomed onto stuff. I saw one humoungous school that was very active one time but it may have just been for a moment.

Substrate for them shouldnt matter to much. I imagine they would prefer sand since they lie around on the bottom sometimes but no biggie. Bare would be fine as well. Also some large rocks that could build biofilm would be cool. I highly highly recomend a small piece of driftwood.

 

[Mebbid]

They would possibly be okay. You could however try snails. They would love your sump and would have waaay fewer issues than some oto cats would.

 

[threnjen]

I assume you mean a different type of snail than a mystery snail. Nerites? My mystery snails are fun but mine certainly don't eat algae and poop a lot more than they eat.

I actually saw a pond snail in the sump the other day and deliberately didn't kill it, to my husband's great annoyance. He fastidiously picks them out of our display.

Mebbid as far as issues do you just mean how fragile otos can be, or do you suspect specific issues with them living in the sump?

If I do go with otos, I'll put down a small layer of sand.

I should post a picture of the sump space.

 

[Mebbid]

Definitely nerites. You could probably keep some RCS down there as well as long as some of the food gets sucked down there. There aren't really any fish or inverts that eat "poo" but many will help keep things clean.

 

[threnjen]

Thanks for the recommendation Mebbid!
I actually swung be Petco (it was on the way home from somewhere or I never would...) to see if they had any nerites, but no luck. The employee actually told me they just buy them from my LFS so that was a bit surprising. I'll have to pop over there tomorrow.

If I *do* eventually go for some otos (after more research), even just to put them in my main display not necessarily the sump, I'm curious what you guys would do as far as a quarantine. After a huge disease problem I won't put in fish again without a quarantine, but I'm concerned since otos do so much better in an established environment. I would be very worried sticking them in an environment that is basically sterile without biofilm, algae etc.

I am kind of formulating my own answer as I typed that. My algae scrubber screen would fit into the QT tank, so I could always move it over there for the duration of the QT.

 

[Mebbid]

I would just grow some algae on some rocks to plunk in there.