Otos

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Galligak

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I have an 8 gallon tank that has been set up for a while (like 2-3 months) I just want to know if otos would be okay in there? I'm not sure they'd be okay in there at all! I'm planning on either a dwarf gourami (if it'll be okay in there) or sparkling gouramis (don't know about them either) . If you have any ideas or information about them please tell me. I really don't want them to be a bad purchase. A little more info about my tank: its semi-planted but will be heavily planted once the plants I ordered come in and has a cave like thing in there too.:thanks: Thanks a bunch!
 
No, I don't think so. Oto's should be stocked in groups of atleast 3 and with no more than 1 per 5 gals. I think 15 gals is the bare min. tank size for them.
 
okay, thanks. Back to getting dwarf cories:) Unless there'd be another kind of bottom/aglae eater that would fit in there... Is there?
 
I don't think Cories are algae eaters. Nor, are they scavengers. They need a food supply and will not clean detritus. Have you thought of shrimp?

There are several fish profile sites online. Just type in the name of the fish and follow it with "profile" and you should have enough reading material and statistical information to make good choices.

Good for you for researching your purchases!!!
 
I have some currently and they do great eating the food that is forgotten by the fish above. I also put the / between the two because I do know that they don't eat aglae... I have some shrimp, but they don't do anything but eat the fish food that they stole from the fish, even though I put plenty in there for them. Thanks though for the info!
 
AquaKai said:
okay, thanks. Back to getting dwarf cories:) Unless there'd be another kind of bottom/aglae eater that would fit in there... Is there?

Haha you REALLY love cories!! Hahah i have noticed that most people do though!
 
Yeah... I do:) They are just so funny and active! Plust IMO they are adorable and clean up the extra food very well!
 
I like them too, but they are soo expensive at my lfs.. I wonder why
 
AquaKai said:
I have an 8 gallon tank that has been set up for a while (like 2-3 months) I just want to know if otos would be okay in there? I'm not sure they'd be okay in there at all! I'm planning on either a dwarf gourami (if it'll be okay in there) or sparkling gouramis (don't know about them either) . If you have any ideas or information about them please tell me. I really don't want them to be a bad purchase. A little more info about my tank: its semi-planted but will be heavily planted once the plants I ordered come in and has a cave like thing in there too.:thanks: Thanks a bunch!

No, you can get away with 2 on a 10 gal but that's the minimum
 
okay, thanks. Back to getting dwarf cories:) Unless there'd be another kind of bottom/aglae eater that would fit in there... Is there?

As far as bottom feeders, I think you could keep some hara jerdoni aka mini moth catfish instead of the cories, but like the cories they aren't algae eaters. Snails and shrimp are all I can really think of that effeciently eats algae that will thrive in a tank that size. If you're doing all nano fish I would go with a couple horned nerites. They stay smaller than the non-horned varieties so they would match up with your stock better. If you don't necesarily want everything in there to be small scale, you could do a couple amano shrimp. They are larger than most dwarf shrimp, and are good algae eaters.
 
You can add 3-4 oto cats to a 20 gal, just wait until it's been running for about six months, if it hasn't been already. Some stock BN pleco's in 20's, but I think they get too big. Pitbulls are the only plecos I think really stay small enough for a 20, but they are social and you need to stock more than one, which adds quite a bit of bio-load so may not be an option depending on your current stock and filtration.
 
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