Ottos being aggressive?

[Chafire]

Hello All,

On Tuesday I bought four Otto's for my aquarium. They acclimated fine and are all doing great. But since introducing them into the tank I noticed on Thursday night that one of the guppies was missing most of his tail. All the color was missing and it just looked like strings of fiber where his tail should have been(wish I had taken a photo) And being that I have guppies they per say "sleep" at night when the lights are off, and I'm not sure if Ottos are nocturnal did not find anything that really gave a definite yes or no, could they possibly be snacking on the guppies tails?

So I guess I'm wondering if anyone has had Ottos that they suspected of being aggressive because from what I've read they seem to be very peaceful fish.

On a side note I also have two Siamese Algae Eaters in the tank as well. But they have been in the tank for several months now.

Thanks,
~Graham

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[sumpnfishy]

I've never had Siamese Algae Eaters but I've heard they are very aggressive. I have several Ottos and have never had any problems with them and other fish. My guess would be the SAE's or some other issue.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well I have ottos and SAEs so I might be able to help.

To answer your nocturnal question, most bottom feeders are nocturnal because while all the active fish swim around during the day and get their food, the bottom feeders, which include your ottos, get their food at night while everyone else is "sleeping."

To answer your aggresion question, honestly i've never heard about ottos being aggresive, but SAEs can be. All I can think of is that either the bottom feeders are not getting enough food so they are restorting into eating your other fish, or other fish in the tank are just being mean.

Might help if we had a little more specific details on the tank, stock list, the filter, feeding stuff, ect.

 

[BigJim]

I'd blame someone other than the otos. I've heard of otos snacking on the slime coat of bigger fish, but never really being aggressive. My otos are mostly out in the day and rarely every sit on the bottom of the tank, so I have a hard time calling them bottom-feeders.

The worst part of SAES is making sure you're actually getting SAEs. A lot of places sell Chinese algae eaters as SAEs. Chinese algae eaters get big and aggressive and they don't eat much algae.

More information on your tank would help.

 

[Chafire]

Might help if we had a little more specific details on the tank, stock list, the filter, feeding stuff, ect.

10 Gallon tank--25% water change each week.
DIY Co2 system. already have regulator waiting for 5lb tank to arrive to hook up automatic Co2.






Stock List:

• 2-SAE-they are the true SAE's (heres one of them)
• 
• 4-Ottos
• 20-Guppies (I know a bit overstocked)

Lighting:

• 2-15W CFL's.
• On Timer to come ON: 8am-1pm OFF: 1pm-5pm ON: 5pm-10pm, so plants get 10 hours of light. Have a off period to try and stop the growth of algae. (is a 4 hour off period to long?)

Filters:

• 1-15 gallon rated Aqua-Tech filter
• 1-Toms Rapid Mini canister filter---customized this so it would have a faster flow rate.

Feeding:

• Feed TetraMin flakes once a day at night.

Plants:

• Ton of Riccia both floating and submersed to mesh.
• some Dwarf Hairgrass
• patch of java fern (bought with the Otto's las Tuesday)
• Brush algae (SAE's enjoy it)
• Spot algae on the tank walls

 

[Chafire]

Saw something interesting in the LFS today, there was a dead molly in one of the tanks with other various fish which included Siamese Algae Eater's and Otto's and suprisingly enough there where several of the SAE's picking at the carcass as well as an Otto or two doing the same. May be that there is a lack of food for them and they are taking advantage of the carcass but thought it was interesting to see this.

~Graham