Otto Catfish

I went out and bought two Otto catfish to replace my dead CAE. Well two
hours later, they are both DEAD. I believe Elaine T mentioned in another
post that they are prone to illness and death. Any other recommendations
for keeping my algae build up in check?

--
Celtic Wanderer
http://home.comcast.net/~Celtic_wanderer

Celtic Wanderer wrote:
I went out and bought two Otto catfish to replace my dead CAE. Well two
hours later, they are both DEAD. I believe Elaine T mentioned in another
post that they are prone to illness and death. Any other recommendations
for keeping my algae build up in check?

Return them to LFS. That's ridiculous unless you didn't attempt to
acclimate them at all.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

"Celtic Wanderer" wrote in message
...
I went out and bought two Otto catfish to replace my dead CAE. Well
two hours later, they are both DEAD. I believe Elaine T mentioned
in another post that they are prone to illness and death. Any other
recommendations for keeping my algae build up in check?



I have tried to stock Otocinclus many times in the last 10 years, and
began adhering to a rule: If I wanted 8 oto cats in the tank, I'd buy
16. No matter what I've tried, I have heavy attrition. The ones that
survive the first week, however, last quite some time.


--
Billy
----
Beta-Tester
WinExtra
Home Socrates
http://www.winextra.com
news://news.winextra.com
About our newsgroups:
http://www.winextra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=36

Should I try two more Ottos or go with a couple of SAE for algae?


"Elaine T" wrote in message
...
Celtic Wanderer wrote:
I went out and bought two Otto catfish to replace my dead CAE. Well two
hours later, they are both DEAD. I believe Elaine T mentioned in another
post that they are prone to illness and death. Any other recommendations
for keeping my algae build up in check?

Return them to LFS. That's ridiculous unless you didn't attempt to
acclimate them at all.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

In article ,
says...
Should I try two more Ottos or go with a couple of SAE for algae?

I must have been lucky. I bought 3 otos and they all lived. But
they're pretty lazy compared to a SAE. I've got one of those in each of
two tanks, and they never stop eating.

--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description

lgb wrote:
In article ,
says...

Should I try two more Ottos or go with a couple of SAE for algae?


I must have been lucky. I bought 3 otos and they all lived. But
they're pretty lazy compared to a SAE. I've got one of those in each of
two tanks, and they never stop eating.

SAE are hadworking, but they're awfully fond of flake food. Mine even
eats blackworms. They also just can't beat Otos for getting soft algae
off of leaves. I usually keep both because I find the Otos are good for
the smaller spots.

If I had to choose one, I guess I'd choose SAE because I always get
black brush algae and they eat it.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

On 2005-04-30, Celtic Wanderer wrote:
Should I try two more Ottos or go with a couple of SAE for algae?

I'll also suggest you go with both. They are into different algae and
the combination can really help.

I've got six ottos and seven SAEs in a 40 gallon tank. Combined with
PMDD and lots of plants, the only algae in sight is spot algae.
SAEs will voraciously devour hair algae, which otts mostly leave alone.
But if you ever end up with brown algae, the ottos will be quite happy!

I also drop in spirulina tablets for my bottom feeders. The otts will
occasionally partake when there's no algae around. And the SAEs are
happier eating flake food anyhow, so that's never a problem.

I've had better luck than most with ottos - not sure why. I have lost
some new additions before, and I recently had one that looked kinda ill
and bloated. However, they seem to mostly live pretty long, happy lives
in my tanks.

There's a few different varieites you might see - the standard and dwarf
varieties are the most common, and both seem about as hardy. I've seen
a third variant that no one seems to know about, called by the LFS "Hong
Kong ottos". Very cool looking ottos! Like a cross between an otto and
Batman! These were a good deal more fragile than the other varieties -
they survived the initial introduction well-enough, but the large tetras
in the tank made them pretty stressed and it wasn't too long before the
four of them were sick and dying.


--
Ross Vandegrift

"The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who
make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians
have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine
man in the bonds of Hell."
--St. Augustine, De Genesi ad Litteram, Book II, xviii, 37

Anyone out there have Zebra Otto Catfish???

In article , Ross
Vandegrift wrote:

On 2005-04-30, Celtic Wanderer wrote:
Should I try two more Ottos or go with a couple of SAE for algae?

I'll also suggest you go with both. They are into different algae and
the combination can really help.

I've got six ottos and seven SAEs in a 40 gallon tank. Combined with
PMDD and lots of plants, the only algae in sight is spot algae.
SAEs will voraciously devour hair algae, which otts mostly leave alone.
But if you ever end up with brown algae, the ottos will be quite happy!


The Ottos I have were labelled "Dwarf suckermouth catfish", and they've
survived very well - I just need a few more of them!

The original poster mentioned that their ottos went belly-up straight
away, which makes me want to ask how often (if at all) they clean the
gravel in the tank? If it's never been cleaned, and there is a layer
of detritus on the bottom, you may have toxic bacteria in there.