armadillo

Hi everyone

Would you be able to advice on a very small algae eater for a very small (5G) tank with fry (molly). I'd like ones that would not eat my fry.

This question differs slightly with another thread I have posted asking for an algae eater in a tank of adult mollies.

My fry tank is getting brown algae and I'd like a non-chemical weapon against it. (it's not near direct sunlight, it's heavily planted, and it's not lit that often.

Radcliffe

I have been very pleased with Ottos in my Molly tank. They totally ignore the fry and clean well while adding very little bioload themselves.

--R

armadillo

Thanks, Radcliffe. To my rescue again. Here's some more q's:

- Don't they need companionship? Would 2 ottos be enough?
- Isnt' my fry tank too small for them? (7G)

armadillo

Oh, and I read they weren't so good in recently established tanks due to lack of algae. That is totally the case for this tank. Would that be a problem or are they avid algae wafer eaters like my plecos?

griffin

i'll second the otos.

i think they'll be fine as long as you provide algae (either natural or wafers)

they'll also make short work of your brown algae. i think mine completely got rid of my algae in a matter of days!

COBettaCouple

2 otos would be enough for them to be happy. the little algae wafers are good, just be sure to remove them after 12 hours at the most to avoid a nitrite problem.

armadillo

Cool, thanks for all the advice, guys. So 2 otos in such a small tank is not so much of a problem? If it is in time, I can re-house them to a larger tank, no problem. But then my nursery tank is still cat-free.

COBettaCouple

they should be ok.. you have the oto frailty to deal with, but they'll do as well in that tank as any other.

armadillo

Oh, they're not so robust, then? Because there are the last traces of nitrite in that tank.

COBettaCouple

they have a senstivity to water conditions and it's not uncommon to lose some the first 4 weeks. they're fun fish to watch and really hard workers though.

armadillo

Mmmm. Better test water again.

griffin

i've found that they are sensitive initially, but once they survive for a few weeks, they're pretty hardy

armadillo

I've found that they needed at least 20G of water, and I've only just got them today. We'll just have to see. If they do need more space, I'll just move them to my bigger tank. Hope not. They're already doing a pretty good job on the brown algae. That's good, as the molly fry is devouring the algae water I'd dropped in there.

COBettaCouple

Otos shouldn't need 20g unless you have a lot of them, they're pretty small.. they really do clean the algae fast.

griffin

i agree - i'd say each oto would need AT MOST about 2 gallons each. i'm not sure how large a CAE gets, but maybe that's what you're thinking of? i know they get mixed up sometimes at the store.

armadillo

Look at the species care and information on Fishlore: http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_otocinclus.htm. Am I confusing species? Could well be, as I'd first set eyes on an oto yesterday.

Oh, and my molly fry were totally checking them out yesterday, it was really funny. They would just swarm around them and gawk.

P.S. They survived the night (I have read everywhere that they were not so good just after being transported)! Hurray. They actually seem OK, but let's wait and see.

COBettaCouple

I'm not sure why the profile says 20g for them.. maybe for a school of them. they'll be fine in your tank. our platy fry were curious about their otos until the 2 died.. we didn't luck out on the ones we got and they didn't last that initial month.

armadillo

LOL, am imagining someone writing a post about fish requirements for like 153.002 fish or something. Would be so funny. You'd have to get your calculator out to work out the requirements per fish!

Not so funny about your dead otos, though. I hope ours do better. I was sooo careful acclimating them (more careful than I've ever been, and all the fish have been far so far). They really do sound very sensitive to the stress of transport, though. Ah well I can only hope.

Were yours seemingly OK for a while (forageing and stuff)? Or was it obvious from the start they might not make it?

COBettaCouple

They seemed fine during the 3 weeks quarantine and fine when added to the tanks, but just suddenly died.. not sure why really. no damage and ideal water conditions.

armadillo

Oh, reassuring!

COBettaCouple

lol.. hey, i'm there for you. really otos are just like that.. but you get them past a month and they seem to be great.. i think our problem was that we got them from petco - which is not known for healthy fish.

armadillo

Yeah, but I just don't like the sound of dying with no symptoms.

COBettaCouple

i'm no oto expert so maybe they had symptoms i didn't notice.. really, i'd try them again (i think i made some kind of acclimation mistake somehow) but we really only have one tank that had algae - the only one with a FL light. we've changed it back to an incandescent light and cleaned it good, so hopefully we got rid of the algae. we were going to move all the tanks to FL light to lower the heat on the water & that's why we got otos, but i'd rather run some fans and not have algae.

armadillo

Oh, I got them already (yesterday), so I'll just have to wait and see. They are pretty dumb it seems.

tan.b

good luck. otos sound great fun and ig i had the space i'd have some! they are notorious for dying in the first month as they adjust to their new watery surroundings. dont take it personally if they do die. i know you'll do everything right by them. they're just very sensitive.

armadillo

That's kind of my handle on this. I'll start getting really attached after a month. In the meantime, we'll just see.