New Oto Owner

Hi, I am new to the forum, and I just bought my Oto's 2 days ago. I am a little concerned with their behavior. They seem to just swim around and not really stop on any of the algae patches that I can see. I have tried putting algae wafers in but I do not know if they are actually eating them. They are in the tank with seven Tiger Barbs that are very docile. I have live plants that are working on keeping the Nitrates low and the ammonia and nitrites are at zero. They do not have "plump" stomachs but their stomachs are slightly larger than the rest of their body. The tank hovers around 78F and 80F. I know that is a lot of information but I just want to make sure that everything is up to par. I have grown to love these guys in the short time that I have had them and I don't want to lose them. In fact, right now one of them is floating around on the thermometer wire (its cute watching it sway with him). Thanks for any help you give me.

 

I think you're probably fine. mine do that a lot during the day (or just stay in one place) but at night, they're completely different, rushing around all over the place

 

They seem to be getting acclimated to their new homes. Remember, they're pretty shy so they'll tend to hide more until they get more comfortable.

They say that the first few weeks are the most critical with Otos. I guess it's because they are fairly delicate and are sensitive to travel and new surroundings. As long as their little bellies appear to be full, they're eating and acclimating....They should be fine. Mine have huge little bellies (I know, an oxymoron ;D ) on them and skitter from place to place all of the time.

 

I think their just checking everything out but Here is a place with a lot of oto information if your interested. otocinclus
Carol

 

They are probably just fine. Mine swam a lot with the cardinal tetras they share a tank with for the first week or so. After that the algae seemed to magically disappear in stages every night. Their bellys seem to stay slightly rounded in comparison to the rest of their body, so I know they are eating.

One note- both my cardinal tetras an my ottos lose their color at night. I turned on a light in their room in the middle of the night and found my ottos nearly colorless! It freaked me out, but they were just fine

Enjoy your little guys, they are such charming fish!

--R

 

It's not unusual for fish to lose color at night. They expend less energy this way.

 

ours often act 'hyper' like that, especially if another fish gets close with how timid they are. they enjoy the lower light to dark time and you can watch their bellies for signs of how much they eat.