My Otos keep dying

[Upstate TBarbs]

Started with fish in my tank at the beginning of October. I had 6 Otocinclus. I lost one in the first couple weeks. In the past 2 weeks, I have pulled out 4 more bodies, and have no idea as to where the last Oto is.

I keep them with panda corydoras and tiger barbs, and I have never seen the tiger barbs bother them at all.

There is algae for them to eat in the tank, and I also provide algae wafers, and a fresh slice of cucumber every couple days.

Tank is a 54 gallon corner unit
Temp is 78F
PH is about 7.2
Ammonia is 0 PPM
NitrIte is 0 PPM
I try to keep the Nitr8s below 30 PPM

I know Otos can be difficult to keep, and other things I have read seem to say they have a 50/50 chance in an aquarium. Not sure if this is because most of them are wild caught or not.

Any tricks I should try if I decide to get more? Or is there another algae eater that will not get huge?

I also have a couple snails in the tank, but I have not seen them since the day I put them in.

 

[ApistoShane]

To be honest, I hear this all the time! Otocinclus are often purchased to be members of a cleanup crew. I don’t think that they belong in that description as they have very specific needs. In the wild, otocinclus feed on pockets of detritus caught on floating/rooted vegetation, or they eat microcrustaceans that grow on the leaf litter. In our aquariums, they tend to starve or not receive the nutritional variations that they need. I have had a group of 3 otocinclus for the past year with no issues, and I have more in tanks that I maintain. The key to keeping Otos is to keep them in tanks where there is a lot of excess mulm and bacterias growing, all of which they can feed on. Since I keep many apistogramma that enjoy drifting through leaf litter for organisms, I keep otos in the same tank. I never see a thin Oto in there... now they are pushing 2.5 inches. I also think that the important thing is to purchase otocinclus that look active. Most people ask the attendant to catch them, and doesn’t watch which fish are being caught, so they catch the can slow, lethargic fish... I want the fish that are the most active as they will most likely have he least amount of problems once I get them home!

 

[nirbhao]

Most otos are wild caught, so probably not. We kept otos successfully until a CO2 issue, and we pretty much only caught glimpses of them eating off the bottom of leaves.

Snails eat algae like office workers eat bagels: there are always lots of crumbs, and no one touches the everything. Nerites are the best for algae control, but they're not as good as removing it as humans.

Not all plecos get huge. I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that bristlenoses stay a reasonable size. They need driftwood to eat, though.

 

[smallfry53]

Snails eat algae like office workers eat bagels: there are always lots of crumbs, and no one touches the everything. Nerites are the best for algae control, but they're not as good as removing it as humans.

Not all plecos get huge. I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that bristlenoses stay a reasonable size. They need driftwood to eat, though.

First off I love your bagel analogy, but the reason I like nerites is while I am better at cleaning the glass, they are better at cleaning algae off plants without damaging them.

 

[coralbandit]

I have read that their is a bacteria special to the oto in its gut due to its choice in foods in the wild.In the time after they are caught and sold they are not only starved but so is the bacteria in their gut.It is said often it is too late for many of them to re cover.
I kept 6-7 otos in my 180 for several years and I am sure they spawned. I recently added 3 to a planted tank and now only have 1 ? Some have said they all should be treated in QT after purchase with a few treatments for parasites and worms as standard practice .??

 

[Potluck]

I have a 4 year old bn his name is Mr whiskers lol he's only about 3" long, I have a lot of wood in my tank and honestly he stays on the Texas holey rock more than the drift wood, I don't know why this is as they are supposed to feed off drift wood, otos are pretty hard to keep from what I have read as that is why I stopped going to my lfs because they told me they can live in my water parameters and I only need 1, they need a school of (from what I've read) 6+ and I know what the lfs I used to go to told me is not true, I mean they are awesome people I just really want a place that's going to tell me how it is no matter if it's good or bad.
Can't see him very well my phone camera always darkens everything up and I dint know why.
Calico https://imgur.com/a/CTm94