I think I have bought about 15 ottos a couple years ago. The last one
died a couple months ago. I never had any die right away. About half
got eaten by Discus. The others died 1 by 1 over the last couple
years....different planted tanks...different times. I do not know
why........and I was much luckier than others that bought ottos at the
same place. Maybe I took great care in acclimation and maybe these had
been at the LFS for weeks already......

Where are you located? In the UK, they may not have this problem because the
transport is shorter... just a thought...

After the otto experience....other than being sort of cute.....they
really are not worth much as algae eaters. As someone mentioned they do
eat brown algae (Diatomaceous films) but will never eat it all. You
just see a few tracks in it. If you really get a bad case of Diatoms
going in a big tank (like I did in a new 150) ...I mean where its brown
on everything....... get a little tiny 1 1/2 inch long Chinese Algae
Eater (CAE). It will clean it all up in an extremely short time (for
me 2 days). Then catch him and find him a new home. Most (not all)
turn into complete arseholes when they get bigger (4+ inches). A full
grown one is a good friend for Oscars or other such timid
cichlids......They just need a nook somewhere.

I'm not a newbie, learning every day, but not a newbie....I've had Otos and
they do a wonderful job of cleaning and ridding a tank of brown algae... and
what you are describing is not the typical Oto....

Personally, I'll never own a CAE or SAE, either one.. not after having an
Oto... the CAE and SAE are just too risky, they do what you mention, attach
to the side of fish, eat them usually... and I've never had an Oto do that,
in 3 years, Never....

So.......ottos, no.......tiny otto size CAE, yes (for a quick visit).

PS. I think what made the Discus mad was the ottos would land on their
sides and try to hang on.

I just don't see Otos doing that, they may, but not to the extent of staying
there, but maybe because discus have a thick slime that is meant for fry and
it's packed with good stuff, maybe that's why they did it to begin with....

In the end, I only posted this because I'm sure someone, someday will google
for why their little Otos are all dead, and this post will help explain that
it's not their faults, and that Otos are just a sensative fish.....

My otos (12) that I originally got 2 years ago, 2 died the next day, then 2
more... and no more deaths for a year... moved three to another tank, they
all died.... left the remaining 3 in the cichlid tank for another year
before I had a pH crash... now I've looked for them, and am waiting for some
to be available....

"Donald Kerns" wrote in message
...
Pierre-Normand Houle wrote:

"RedForeman ©®" wrote in message
...

... They have a 75g that sits in the back and boy, when
you see a 75g with nearly 100 Otos, bare bottom or not, it's pretty
cool.... bad part was she said they lose nearly 10% every
shipment.... I said, I WISH I ONLY lost 10%... she said you're
probably not acclimating them right.... probably true, even when I
tried to acclimate 10, I got 6 to live... that's 40% loss for
me....
typical loss I've heard is 50%.... that just plain sucks....

Yes, I always loose 50% also. Now I've bought three of them today :
thit way I am sure that, no mather what, I can not loose 50% ;-)

Now, I'll perform a little scientific experiment. I'll refer to them
as "o*os", or maybe "*t*s", like people do with their pl*cos. Maybe
I'll increase the suvival rate to 66% or more.

Here we go again.

Yes, people who talk about otos, are more likely to have otos, and
hense
are much more likely to have otos die.

I predict that a keen observer will note a correlation...

I bought some yesterday for my work tank. Now I've mentioned the poor
blighters on usenet. Think I'll have a dead fish or two this morning
(or later this week)?

Stay tuned for results of this controlled experiment. ;-)

-Donald (the usenet fishkiller)
--
"When you've lost your ability to laugh, you've lost your ability to
think straight." -To Inherit the Wind