Stocking Question

[Arklatex]

I have an 11.4 gallon tank with a Fluval 106 canister and live plants. The tank has been up and running about 1.5 months. I used media from my 20 gal tank that has been running for a year to jump start the cycle. The current inhabitants are: 7 harlequin rasboras, 1 platy (temporary) and a few pond snails that will be replaced by assassin snails soon. I want to add a clean up crew to this tank but I'm not sure of my stocking level... Can I add a couple otos? Or some other type of algae eater?

 

[Pawtrekker]

Your tank needs to already be well established and have algae growing in it to add an Otto. They won't eat algae wafers but they are algae eating machines. Good luck!

 

[Arklatex]

the tank is not well established but I do have algae on account of the young plants plus med-high light.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Otos can be pretty sensitive to changes in the water chemistry. You should be able to add one or two otos to your stock. I wouldn't add any more than that. They eat quite a bit of algae and since that is all they eat, you don't want them to starve. Oh, and be sure to aclimate them very slowly so they don't go into shock and die. After I floated them in my tank to get the temp of the water equal, I took a spoon and slowly added a little water to the water in their bag. I added a few spoonfuls of water, waited a few minutes, and did it again. I did this several times before actually releasing them into the tank. This helps to acclimate them to your water chemistry. Be careful not to leave them in the bag too long though.

And whatever you do, DON'T net them! They have these tiny barbs or something on their mouth that make them get stuck in the mesh net. I found this out the hard way and believe me, it's a pain to get them unstuck.

 

[Ben the Betta]

I would say add in 3 panda corys, because otos are not as hardy as corys, and they tend to die a few weeks after adding them to the tank. The corys will eat algae

 

[Pawtrekker]

I would say add in 3 panda corys, because otos are not as hardy as corys, and they tend to die a few weeks after adding them to the tank. The corys will eat algae

I have been told this by several other people and the Cories I have never eat algae. Well, maybe they eat a little but not enough to really make a difference in my tank. I had a tree stump decoration that was covered in alge in my 20 gallon tank and my cories just sat and chilled out all day on top of it. I guess they thought it was nice and soft. It was pretty funny. After that, I added two otos and they had that stump completely clean in just a few days! (Much to the disappointment of my Cories) I agree that otos are very fragile fish. Both of mine eventually died too but as far as alge eaters go, not even my BN Plecos have done as good of a jod cleaning up algae in the tank. Maybe I just have weird fish.