Enough Room For Otos?

[adamd9]

I have a 20 gallon tall currently stocked with 8 Bloodfin tetras and 5 JuliI Cory catfish. My filter is an AC 70. Do I have enough tank space to add some Otocinclus catfish? If so, how many would be recommended (I’m guessing the norm 6+)

Thanks for your help!
Here is a pic of my tank if this helps, 2 Amazon swords (have grown since the pic) and 1 Anubias nana.

 

[Elkwatcher]

They should do alright, 6 is a good start! Oto's like a heavily planted tank, some crypts, java fern, hygrophila would do well. You will have to supplement with blanched zucchinI (in the micorwave for 40 secs to 1 minute depending on how big the piece is ) Easy to keep on hand if you wrap pieces in saran and freeze too!

Caresheet for otos

 

[86 ssinit]

How old is your tank? Ottos are a tough fish to keep. They are all wild caught. So the best way to keep ottos is with a well established tank. They eat algae and micro film. Most won't eat the zucchinI at first. Mine still don’t. But do eat algae wafers now.

 

[nolongeractiveonthissite]

with the Otos added, your tank will be 114% stocked. (check if the size of your tank is correct). Although it's a little overstocked, it's not really that bad cause if it were too much, aqadvisor would show a warning. So you'll probably be fine.

 

[adamd9]

How old is your tank? Ottos are a tough fish to keep. They are all wild caught. So the best way to keep ottos is with a well established tank. They eat algae and micro film. Most won't eat the zucchinI at first. Mine still don’t. But do eat algae wafers now.

The tank is 5 months old. I’ve had brown algae for the past 3 months that I need to remove from glass and plants weekly. You can see this in this picture. So I’m hoping there’s enough algae to get them started.

 

[86 ssinit]

5 months and algae that's great. When buying look for fat ones. Not bloated but fat. Ask how long the store had them and what they feed them. Did you read the article from the first post? Good info there. I know everyone recommends 6 but I would say 3. It’s a 20gal tank so not enough algae to constantly feed 6. If5hey won’t eat wafers or zucchinI they will die. But 3 will have enough to live and being that there is food for them they may start eating the added food. Just my opinion. I have 4 in a 90 for 2 years now and 3 in a 125. All are fat and doing great. They also like driftwood