Silvertip Tetra’s and Otocinclus

[myo]

Hi all,

I have a school of 10 Silvertip Tetras and have added 8 Otocinclus catfish.

The Silvertips seem to be chasing the Oto’s around. Is this likely to be due to them being new and they’ll leave them alone? Or are the Silvertips going to need to go into another tank?

 

[Aiken Drum]

I keep silvertips and otos, but not in the same tank.

Silvertips are very active and can be a bit nippy, but i see no reason why they cant live together. On the other hand, every group of fish are different and some fish are just jerks.

Only way to know is to give it a try. Its probably just curiosity, see how things go. Otos are mostly nocturnal anyway. Once they settle in they will find somewhere to hide out of the way during the day, and after that you will probably hardly ever see them.

 

[Colin_T]

How long has the tank been set up for?
Do you have algae and driftwood in the tank?

Otocinclus need algae, biofilm and driftwood to survive. If you don't have these in the tank, they usually starve to death. You can encourage algae to grow on the glass by increasing the lighting time by a couple of hours a day. You can have the lights on for up to a maximum of 16 hours a day but they need 8 hours of darkness to rest. You don't normally need the lights on for 16 hours a day.

You can get driftwood form a pet shop.

Biofilm is the slime over the inside of the tank. It's a combination of bacteria, fungus, viruses and other microscopic creatures and the fish graze on this, along with the algae and driftwood The biofilm will develop naturally and you don't have to do anything to encourage it.

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Can you post a picture of the tank?
If you don't have enough plants or hiding places, the tetras might think the Otocinclus are food or a curiosity. More plants will provide them with more hiding places.

 

[myo]

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

The Silvertips seem to have lost all interest in the Oto’s for now. Keeping an eye on them but they both seem happy to keep to themselves.

Please see attached photo of tank.

 

[Colin_T]

The tank looks nice, but there doesn't appear to be any algae for the Otos. You can leave the light on for a bit longer each day to encourage algae to grow. You can have lights on for up to 16 hours a day but they need at least 8 hours of dark to sleep. Usually you only need to increase the lighting times by an hour or two each day to get algae.

You can put smooth rocks outside in a bucket of water and let algae grow on them. Then bring the rocks inside and put them in the tank for the fish to graze on. Each week swap the rock/s over for others that have algae on.

 

[m.j.gomez]

The tank looks nice, but there doesn't appear to be any algae for the Otos. You can leave the light on for a bit longer each day to encourage algae to grow. You can have lights on for up to 16 hours a day but they need at least 8 hours of dark to sleep. Usually you only need to increase the lighting times by an hour or two each day to get algae.

You can put smooth rocks outside in a bucket of water and let algae grow on them. Then bring the rocks inside and put them in the tank for the fish to graze on. Each week swap the rock/s over for others that have algae on.

I totally agree w/Colin_T. Your Otto's will starve if tank doesn't have sufficient algae or biofilm. Besides using rock method as suggested you can also par boil some zucchini, cucumber or other types of green veggies & then blend up in blender. It may be a little messy but it will feed them. Hopefully this helps!!!!!