otos for 55 gallon

[jeremyblevins]

Whats a good number of oto's for a 55 gallon aquarium my tank is overrun with algae at the moment and i'm considering adding them to my tank list

 

[maxima423]

you can put A LOT of otos in there, i think a good number is around 15-20

another good option is maybe shrimp????

 

[jeremyblevins]

i'm not sure about shrimp, but i know i don't want that many otos haha. but the shrimp would like the java moss i'm growing. but i also saw otos on sale at my lfs for 1 a piece

haha

 

[maxima423]

wow thats a really great price for otos

 

[taylorodw]

Get 5 otos, I am pretty sure they'll be able to mow through any diatoms

You can always add more later if your tank isn't algae-free.

What is the algae like?

 

[JohnPaul]

5-10 sounds about right. But realize that they only eat some types of algae, and will not touch other types. So if you are only getting them for algae control, be sure you have a type of algae they will eat first.

 

[jeremyblevins]

i guess it's not really algea it's diatoms

 

[Crepe]

I had five (now 4 ): ) otos in a 20g. They never finished eating the algae in my tank.They roam around all day grazing leaving literally a layer of poo all over the place. I think 10 is a good number for algae control. I suggest a mix of algae eaters: Shrimp for detritus and thread, otos for some fuzz algae, thread, diatoms, dust algae, nerites for gsa, mts for general crap that builds up everyhere.

 

[JohnPaul]

i guess it's not really algea it's diatoms

Ottos love diatoms so they will definitely be a help.