f_i_e_a

My oto died!! And it got eaten by my goldfish!! And my goldfish couldn't swallow it so it got stuck! It was so sad. I had to take a pair of tweezers and pull the dead oto out of my goldfish's mouth. I can't imagine how it even got in there because otos have spines that stick out and my goldfish is barely 3". I don't know if it died first or my goldfish just decided that it wanted to try something new. Argh!! I know goldfish are coldwater and otos are tropical, but I haven't seen the water temp in any of my tanks go lower than 73-74F ,Southern California kinda thing. I couldn't find anymore otos in my area when I bought that one little guy so I couldn't get him a school, maybe thats why he died...but it looked like he was doing so well and my tank has plenty of algae for him. Well, while I'm mourning, could I get some help picking out a new algae eater. I'd rather not get a common pleco because they get so big and they kind or scare me. I have a 55 gal but I'd like to keep the algae eater under 5-6". I'd love to hear some suggestions.

Chief_waterchanger

Bristlenoses or clown plecos. Or a good algae eatter is your fish. If you feed them 5 days a week rather than 7 days they will get a variety of food without costing you extra. They need vegetation in their diet and you need rid of the extra vegetation in your tank. It is a win/win situation.

f_i_e_a

Thanks, I'll look around for those. But I've heard/read that clown plecos need wood and vegetables more than algae. Have you had experience with them? As for my fish eating algae, I don't know if thats even possible. Its the brown kind of algae that grows on the sides of the tank so it might be hard for my fish to eat it, even if they wanted to.

Chief_waterchanger

It sounds like diatoms not algae. Yes "they" call it brown algae, but it is actually one of the silicate lifeforms with no chlorophyl. As opposed to algae, that are carbon based with chlorophyl. So no your fish won't eat them. (There are a few fish that do, but it is better to assume that most fish won't eat them.) Yeah, if you don't have access to driftwood and vegetables I would suggest basic bristlenose. (Even though it is best to put slices of zucchini or cucumber or squash with weights to hold it to the bottom of the tank for bristlenose around once a week, it is not required.)

f_i_e_a

Sounds good. Most of the stuff I'm worried about is the brown diatoms, I have a little green on the decorations (second hand tank) but there is very little. I have yet to see a bristlenose in any of my LFS, but I'll look out for them, or ask the guy at the store. :] Thanks!

BettaBuddy ~ Miley

OMG! First im sorry he died! Second im sorry you had to pull a dead fish out of another fishes mouth!!

Makes me sick thinking about dead fish.

Miley ♥