splitit

Hello All,

First of I enjoy this forum so much, just discovered it last night a perfect timing after I bought this little fish. I am not sure if he's an oto catfish (harmless) or the chinese algae eater which will be aggresive as it gets bigger.

I certainly hope it's an oto but if it turns out to be a chinese algae eater, will it kill my male betta fish ?

Please see the photos attached and thanks for your advice.

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prairielilly

Hi splitit, welcome to FishLore

IMO it's an oto.

jgon_

I vote oto too.

harpua2002

Definitely an oto.

MizRamzi

oto 4 ya

splitit

Thank you, guys. I checked every single pictures of these two fish from this great forum before I asked but I just wanted to make sure, it's an oto. I'm glad this is the right fish for my little tank and hopefully it will survive since I read that this fish typically dies during the first week.

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore
Oto's are pretty sensitive and should only be introduced to well established tanks.
They also do better in groups of 3 or more.
Whether or not your betta will acccept him/them depends on the betta.
What size tank do you have and how old is it? Is there any algea for the oto to eat?

It would be helpful if you fulled in your aquarium info

splitit

Thanks, Lucy. The tank is 1 gal. tank with a small filter, gravel and some live plants. There's only 1 male white betta (Gandalf) in there as far as fish. The algae problem started last week and somehow my 2 lazy snails didn't do a good job so I decided to buy the oto and named her "Sushi" I am going to have the water tested tomorrow but so far algae is gone, thanks to Sushi. I think I have maxed out my little tank and I should not add more oto, right ?

Lucy

Your welcome.
Unfortunatly, your not only maxed out, but over stocked. The betta should be in at least 5g's IMO, although plenty of people keep them successfully in 2.5g.
Since you have the oto and snails, I wouldn't go with less than a 5g. preferably a 10g because snails can produce a lot of waste.
Here's some info on betta care

Otos and bettas are both tropical fish and need a heated, filtered cycled tank.
Aside from not having enough room, it's almost impossible to properly heat 1g consistently. Water parameters are hard to keep in check also as the ammonia can build up quickly.
In case you haven't read it here's some info about the Nitrogen cycle
It would be a good idea to get a test kit of your own. Avoid the strips, they're inaccurate. The liquid test kits such as the API master kit (which includes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests) is much more reliable.

I'm sorry I strayed far away from your original question, but it's info that's vital to keeping a healthy tank and fish.

Gandalf sounds beautiful, we'd love to see some pics of him

splitit

Thanks for the info., Lucy. My betta (Gandalf) died yesterday, he developed severe ick on his body and I attempted to rescue him but I failed. I separated my oto from him, changed the water completely, put aquarium salt as I normally do, change the filter and added some anti-ick medication. However, Gandalf had rotten tail from the beginning when I bought from Petsmart which I did not notice, I thought he's a different type of betta with fancy tail. Apparently, it started from there and the ick has killed 2 of my mystery snails as well.

I change 2/3 of my 1 gl. tank every 3 weeks but I was not aware Gandalf had been sick until it completely stopped eating on Thursday night.

My oto is alone but I won't buy anymore fish until I have bigger tank or more importantly know how to take of fish properly.

Lucy

I'm really sorry about Gandalf.
You'll be glad you've done some research. It will help you enjoy the hobby more.
Here's a good place to start:
Beginners

Good luck