Is 3 Oto's too many?

[locorosa]

I can't begin to tell you the algae trouble I was having with my 46 gl bow front. Hair algae and dark green EVERYWHERE. I am getting some late day sun on the top of the tank... So, I broke down and reluctantly bought three Oto's. All I can say at this point is WOW!!!!I should have bought these guys weeks ago. My only regret is not taking pictures of the process. They had the tank ship-shape within a couple of days!
My question is: now that the tank is so clean, do I need all three Oto's or should I take one or two in for a trade? I don't mind keeping them either and wonder if I should supplement their food supply with wafers. I am getting conflicting advice from the internet...grrr.

Thanks in advance!

 

[kickeralpine]

those little guys are the best. i had some brown algae and i got 5 of them and in a week the tank looked new. dont think 3 is to many for that size tank they like algae waffers also they will keep your tank clean dont remove any of them 3 is fine.

 

[David14259]

FWIW, I have 3 Otos and an SAE and numerous snails and shrimp in a heavily planted 20G and everyone is fat and happy.

My snails will eat algae wafers or veggies, but I've never seen my Otos or the SAE go for the wafers or vegetables I put in.

If the otos seem to be doing ok and arn't getting skinny, I'd keep em.

 

[GlitcH]

3 Otos in a 46G is not even close to to many IMO.

I always have at least 3 otos in every tank of 20G or larger.
I notice that otos seem happiest when in a group of three or more.

I have a group of 5 in my 92G at the moment and they come out every night and ransack the tank like an anti algae gang.

The way to judge if an oto is happy.........is if he's fat.
If your otos are not fat then you need to suppliment them with some kind of sinking food. Mine prefer wafers.

Otos are one of the most important fish to have IMO.

 

[verucaproduce]

I have one oto in my 29 gallon. He does a good job in there all by himself. I don't think that 3 is too many for your tank, but as the previous poster said, make sure they all have enough to eat.

Good luck!

 

[Zagz]

I'd keep the 3 otos if it were me. They like hanging out together I've noticed. I have 4 in my tank and they all hang out near each other while munching on algae.

 

[fish 'n' fries]

Just to continue the current advice...mine have been much more active now that I have three instead of just one. They seem happier. Mine don't really seem too interested in wafers so I suppliment with zucchini.

 

[locorosa]

Thanks everybody. I was just amazed at how clean the tank got and didn't dream I'd have the potential for the opposite problem...lol.

I heartily recommend them to anyone with an algae problem. The nice thing is I don't have to worry about the late day sunlight anymore.

I will try the zucchini as I think they'd eat that as my Goldfish love that veggie.

 

[aquariumnoob]

i had the same situation in my 10 gal. tons of algae. i actually got otos because i thought they were the cutest fish. (i found out about them when i was reading about dwarf puffers). anyways i have 3 in my 10 gal, all are well fed even though there isnt much algae at all. i havent seen them eat the algae wafer, but i'm assuming that they are at night maybe? i have one that is especially fat, i was worred at first it might be dropsy, but the scales didn't poke out. it started 2 days after i got it, and its been that way for a month or more now. they seem really happy and stick together a lot of the time. algae wafers + more otos for friends=happy fat otos.

 

[DepotFish]

They are schooling fish, I'd have done 5.

 

[sherry]

I have 8 in my 30 gallon, but I do keep Kale on a clip available ot them and the farlowellas.