| An Oto or an algae eater?
Hello! I have a question to ask about my Otocinclus. Actually, a STORY to tell and some opinions to be had.
Mind you, I haven't been able to get a clear picture of any of these new fish - for some reason my camera won't focus correctly.
I recently decided to get three otocinclus. I had heard good things about them, and what not. So I went to one pet store, and obtained one as I had a budget that day and needed to get some supplies. The next trip I made to a different pet store, I bought two otocinclus. It wasn't until I was acclimating them that I realized they didn't look the same. One looked like the oto I got the other day, while the other one looked like a brown version of the golden chinese algae eater I have. After watching them for a while, I noticed that while the one that looked like the oto I bought the other day was very calm, sitting patiently waiting for entrance into his new home while the other one was darting around insanely, dorsal fin straight up the entire time, acting surprisingly like my golden chinese algae eater.
So I had heard that they get confused at times in pet stores when they are young and I went to take him back. And when I told the vendor that he gave me the wrong fish, and that it was a siamese algae eater, he said "no it's not." I said, "Yes, it is." "No it's not." "Yes it is." He said he would exchange it for me, but it was an otocinclus. So he got me another one, and it looked EXACTLY the same! I even sat in my car for a bit just to watch and make sure. And though I hate confrontation, I went back in and told him that it wasn't an Oto. He spent about five minutes trying to convince me that it was an Oto, scrounging through the books in the store to try and prove his points that they look nothing alike, and going into details of description of the way the stripes on the fish look different. I finally asked just to switch the fish, and when I went to the tank, THEY ALL LOOKED THE SAME. None looked like the oto I had at home, and by now I'm exhausted, annoyed, embarrassed to have been talked down to when I had just wanted to exchange a fish which I believed was a mistake, and really wanted to just get home since it was a long day, and found the calmist fish I could find, and left.
By that point I didn't know what to think.
Until I added the fish to my tank.
He seems slimmer than the oto's, much more active, darts about, and his dorsal fin is constantly stiffly pointed up, where as the oto's are very calm and placid, swim calmly from one side to another, and once resting, put their dorsal fins down. The tail fins look different, too, on close inspection.
At this point, I don't know what to think, so I was hoping to get some opinions. I could probably get a few pictures, if not video, later to confirm, but I wanted to get opinions from those who love otos.
It's not that I don't like algae eaters - I don't really have room for my first one (when she gets older, I may have to find her a new home), I can't take on a second one. What do people think? I know it's hard without pictures, but hopefully the information I provided helps! Thanks. | 
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