tony

I recently bought 3 otos for my 20 gallon tank. The tank is setup with a penguin 150 and a penguin 200. Both filters point the same way, which creates somewhat of a strong current. I have noticed that the otos are having trouble sticking to the glass. It looks to me as if they are being pushed off by the current. What can I do about this? Should i just wait for them to find the spots of the tank that don't have such a strong current?

Thank you

Dino

They should be fine.
The will move abou the tank, finding the spots they are the most comfortable as their moods change.

0morrokh

You could create areas of the tank that are more sheltered with thick plants or decor so there's less current in that area.

tony

There are already places where the current is not very strong because of the decor and plants, so I guess that means I'm fine.

Thank you very much

susitna-flower

Hi tony, the current is one issue, but in case no one pointed it out before, you are a bit overcrowded in a 20 gallon tank.
After adding the otoes, your fish would thrive better if you had them in at least a 40 gallon tank.

Do you have any particular reason for having two powerheads in a freshwater tank? I have never done that myself, I do have one on a 55 gallon tank that has otoes, and a HOB filter, everyone in that tank seem happy. Otoes can be easily stressed, by the current or overcrowding, either way they may not thrive.

tony

thank you susitna-flower. but yes i do realize that I am overcrowded. That is the reason for the excessive filtration. I am doing everything that I can to make the fish happy in the crowded tank, and they do all seem very happy. They are constantly playing tag and such. I know that I should only have about 1 inch of fish per gallon of water, but they really do seem happy. For example I just put the otos in today and they are already schooling together and swimming around like crazy. I am making absolutely sure that the water conditions are stable and that the ammonia/ammonium, nitrites and nitrates stay very low. But as I said before, thank you, and I will consider getting a larger tank.

I also have another question about the otos. I have plenty of algae in my tank for them to eat, but I'm not sure whether it is dead or alive because I used chemicals to try to kill it before i got the otos. So, will the otos be able to survive off of dead algae?

jsalemi

Probably not, but if you had it, more algae will grow. In the meantime, you can get sinking algae wafers that the otos will like (and the corys and rainbow shark will probably nibble on too ).

COBettaCouple

How long ago did you use algae-remover chemicals? I'd clean off any dead algae with a paper towel, if possible, and maybe run some a/c in the filter for a few hours if the chemicals were used recently. The otos could be extra sensitive to things like that.