# Join me through the journey of introduction!



## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

We just picked up our 5 Otos today and they are acclimating to the water now. I've left Scarlett in the tank so she can see them and see how the reacts to them in their bag.
In a minute I'm going to remove Scarlett from the tank and add the Otos. I'm going to give them time to get used to the tank and all that's in it. After awhile I'll reintroduce Scarlett to the tank. At that point I will be watching closely. 
Wish me luck and I'll keep you updated (good and bad) on how it goes. Let's hope she doesn't mind these little guys.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I think thats a good idea to let her see them before you actually put them together.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Well, they are being really active! I didn't think they were THAT active. I hope they chill out soon, because I don't know how she'll take them swimming about like that.
On another note, I'm loving watching them swim around, they are so neat!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Alright, I'm acclimating Scarlett to the tank now. She seems them and is trying to swim towards them (with no avail since she is in a cup!)


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

She is now in the tank with them. So far she has noticed them and has gone right up to them, looked, and swam away. Is this normal behavior? Does this mean she will probably be okay with them?


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

She started nipping at the algae wafer I put in for the Otos. What a weird little girl.


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## Vikki81207 (May 27, 2009)

Aww thats so cute. I saw a bunch of little bitty cory cats I wanted earlier. They were so cute and active.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

where they pygmy cories? Those are pretty cute.
I saw some peppered Cories at the pet store today. They were neat!


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## Vikki81207 (May 27, 2009)

No I think they were peppered. I wasn't sure, it just said cory cats. But they were adorable. And they had some like one inch neon tetras that I wanted really bad too.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I haven't seen otos before but I like cories. If I was ever going to keep other fish, I'd like to have cories. Or maybe otos, now! lol


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I've just read up on Otos again. It seems they are hard to care for (which I haven't read until now even after doing research). I guess we'll see. I guess Cories are hardier? I don't know. Four of them are doing great, however, one is a loner and isn't as vibrantly colored as the others. I'm wondering if this little guy is on his way out.  
We really didn't get to choose the Otos, he just grabbed what he could. 
Whenever they are on the side of the tank and get close to the top Scarlett goes near them and keeps looking up. It's as if she thinks they are going up for food and she is up there waiting on me to drop food in for her too. Haha!
I'm very proud of how well she is doing with them. I fed her while they were in there just to let her know she's still going to be fed!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm glad they're doing well together.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Me too. They really liven up the such a big tank with only one little girl. I cannot stop watching them all!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I thought I would post a quick pic of the new Otos. I only got 4 of them because the loner was on the other side of the tank. 
Can you see them?;-)


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yeah, I see them on the side of the tank.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

I heard ottos were easy. Hm IDK


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

It was just one website I went to that said they were harder. I don't know, so far they are doing fine. 
I think I'm going to get a veggie clip and some cucumber (what a lot of people have used) and feed them that along with the wafers. 
Should be interesting!


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## fishyinpa (Dec 25, 2008)

Cool! What i read was that,the way they are caught in the wild makes it difficult to acclimate. If they appear chubby they have been eating well. The skinny ones tend to not make it. The first couple weeks are the key. If they make it that long,they will be around awhile. I read up on them too lol.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I saw many fat Otos in the tank, so I felt comfortable getting them. As I said before though, we didn't get to pick which ones we wanted. (I would have, but the guy working there was being a jerk).


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

AngelicScars said:


> I saw many fat Otos in the tank, so I felt comfortable getting them. As I said before though, we didn't get to pick which ones we wanted. (I would have, but the guy working there was being a jerk).


 
All the pet/fosh stores here let us choose. Except walmart (jerks either way).


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## LeahK (Jun 13, 2009)

fishyinpa said:


> What i read was that,the way they are caught in the wild makes it difficult to acclimate.


Yeah, they use cyanide to paralyze them and catch them. It doesn't always kill them immediately, but many eventually die from cyanide poisoning. 
I love my otos, but I might not have bought them if I'd known this to begin with.
The other thing with otos being difficult is that sometimes you can't convince them to eat anything except algae. So, when there's not enough algae to sustain them, they just starve.
As for mine, they've never so much as glanced at an algae wafer, but they _really_ like zucchini that's been peeled and then microwaved or blanched to soften it. They also love marine algae--the green sheets of nori that you can buy in the lfs for marine fish.
Also, you can grow green or brown algae for them by putting some rocks in a tub full of tank water and sitting it in a sunny spot. Drop in some fish food, and wait for the algae to appear. Then put some of the rocks in your tank. This usually works well for otos that won't accept veggies or wafers.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Thanks for the advice! I have yet to try the wafers really on them yet, I'm going to try tonight and see how that goes. If that doesn't work, then I'll try the veggies. 
I hope one of those work though.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

After two days of being absolutely fine she has started nipping at them.
They are all fine, but I went ahead and took her out for the night. I want to be able to keep an eye on her longer now. I guess if she keeps it up, I'll have to remove them and take them back. Ugh, I really wanted to have at least one community tank.
One little guy lost most of his back fins. Now, is she trying to kill them or messing with them?
Also, if she won't have anything to do with tankmates, I think I just might put her up with Anna (dividing the 10 gallon) and leave her 10 gallon for an actual community tank with something other then Betta.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

IDEA: Or, I could just put Scarlett in the divided tank with Azazel (where I was planning on putting the new female) and put the new female in the 10 gallon with the Otos. 
She is coming straight from a breeder, so she is probably used to being in a community tank with her sisters. Hmmm, I just might do this.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I'm adding about a zillion different things to this post now, but I'm excited about this!
I just caught one of the Otos munching on the algae wafer I dropped in the tank tonight for them! The others need to follow along or this little guy is going to have the biggest belly of them all!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yeah, you could try another female. They all have different personalities so one of your girls might be fine.


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## Vikki81207 (May 27, 2009)

I think the new female idea will work. Go for it. =D
Can't wait to see your new male and female.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Thanks! 
We lost the Oto that she nipped the fins off of. Poor guy really didn't have a chance after what she did. I'm glad I saw it and got her out when I did. The others are still doing great though!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm sorry about the one you lost. I'm glad the others are fine.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I have 2...And they are amazing little things!!! Very fat too!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I've noticed that they seem to produce a lot of waste. Do they produce more waste then clean the tank? It seems like the tank they are in gets dirty faster then the rest.


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## LeahK (Jun 13, 2009)

Sorry to hear about your oto!
But it's good that there's one eating the algae wafer--usually if one manages to discover that something is food, the others will follow its lead.
Just out of curiosity--was the oto who's fins were nipped the same one that you say was a loner? I just ask because, otos can be pretty speedy when then need to be, so I can't imagine that one would hang out and get bitten if it was healthy, and it sounded like maybe that loner one wasn't doing too well to begin with.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Well, I recently noticed (my hubby is the only that gave me the news about the Oto and removed the little guy before I saw) that the one with most of the fins missing is still in there. I think the one that died was the one that only had one nip in it's fin. I think the loner is still in the tank though.
Hubby said there are 4 in the tank, but I have yet to see the 4th one. I see 3 of them very active in there. I'm worried about the 4th because I want to make sure it's okay or not dead.


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## LeahK (Jun 13, 2009)

AngelicScars said:


> I've noticed that they seem to produce a lot of waste. Do they produce more waste then clean the tank? It seems like the tank they are in gets dirty faster then the rest.


lol. I ninja'd your post.
IME, otos produce way more waste than a normal fish their size. When I first bought mine, I thought, ok, they're tiny fish, so it'll be a small bioload. I put 6 at once in QT, using a cycled filtered pad, and they still managed to cause a mini-cycle. 
The thing is, because they're eating only algae and the microscopic biofilm that we can't even see, they have to eat a LOT of it to stay healthy. So basically they just eat and poop all day long :-D


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## LeahK (Jun 13, 2009)

Sorry to hear one's missing! But they are expert hiders. I lose track of mine for days. So he may still be around.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

All of their waste won't hurt the new female I'm going to get to put in with her will it?


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## LeahK (Jun 13, 2009)

Nah, I don't think so. They're messy for a fish their size, but they're still pretty tiny. If anything, they'll make your nitrates rise more quickly than before, so you may have to do more water changes that you normally would on a tank with just a single betta, but nothing too crazy. 
And, when I added my otos to my main tank, there was no mini-cycle. The bacteria will eventually catch up with the bioload.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Should I do about two 50% water changes a week then?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Who'd have thought such a tiny fish would be so messy!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Yeah no kidding! They are so awesome to watch though. I think if I do decide to get another group of them, three will be my max. ;P


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

We found number 4! We have no idea where he was, but he was just sitting in one of our "hiding places" as if he was there the whole time. Little bugger.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Glad you found him!


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## Vikki81207 (May 27, 2009)

I'm so sorry to hear about you losing one..But glad to hear you found the missing one, yay.


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## LeahK (Jun 13, 2009)

AngelicScars said:


> Should I do about two 50% water changes a week then?


Maybe for the first couple of weeks, just to be safe, but I think one 50% change per week ought to be good. But you can always test your nitrates to make sure. If they're creeping above 20 by mid-week, then yeah, a second change might be necessary.

And, glad to hear you found #4!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Thanks for all the help!


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## Nightfish (Jun 3, 2009)

MrVampire181 said:


> All the pet/fosh stores here let us choose. Except walmart (jerks either way).


 I like having a surprise like that-ya know then I get to "meet" my new pets most of my fish were chosen that way-except one who "dove" in the net with a fish i was getting-so i got 2 because the poor lady had spent like 10 minutes to get the first fish and i didn't want to bother her to get the little guy out


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Okay, these algae wafers are a mess. Is there a cleaner food I can feed them? It said that it doesn't cloud the water, but I'd have to strongly disagree.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Maybe try a different brand?


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I did buy Hikari which I really like that brand. I might have to get another brand though.
I wonder if the zucchini or cucumber is as messy as the wafers.
I did get one of those gravel vacuums today, it helps a lot.


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## LeahK (Jun 13, 2009)

Fresh zucchini isn't messy at all. It'll last for days before it starts to fall apart (not that you'd wanna leave it in there that long).
I usually blanch my zucchini in boiling water for, like, 30 seconds, and then put it in cold water to stop the cooking (and to cool it off before I give it to the fish). I've tried microwaving, but it's so easy to overcook it that way. Once I put an overcooked piece in the tank, and when I went to take it out the next day, it just dissolved into zucchini mush in my hand. --It was gross :doh!:
But very lightly cooked zucchini is good for at least 24 hours. I usually drop mine in at night and take it out in the morning. Spinach and kale are good too, and not messy.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Oh really? I think I need to make a trip to the grocery store tomorrow. 
I don't blame them though, Zucchini is some tasty stuff!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I like it battered and fried! lol


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Oh, and two of them were feasting on a wafer earlier today. I didn't put one in tonight since they have fat bellies and seem to be doing well, plus I didn't want such a dirty tank. Well, of course one of the Otos (I'm assuming the one that figured out the wafers quick) was looking for the wafer tonight. I feel like a jerk, but I would rather get them something less messy.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Alright, I put the zucchini in tonight and I hope they figure out this is yummy food!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Ugh, I think we are going to lose another Oto. Hubby was trying to net them so I could 50% the tank today. One was a little trouble and I think he might have squished him on accident. I see some internal bleeding on his tummy. I feel TERRIBLE about this, and he feels even worse. 
I don't think he'll make it, but I'm hoping on it. I'm thinking I'll keep him in a 1/2 gallon and trying to give him some food tonight. I want to at least let him pass on a full belly, if he wants to eat that is. 
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(


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## Twistersmom (Dec 9, 2008)

You may want to buy one of these. They call it The Biorb & Biube cleaner pump. Petsmart has it for around $10.00. I use it on all my tanks that have small fish, so I can leave them in the tank during water changes and do not have to worry about sucking them up. The guard lets dirt in, but keeps the fish out. The pump is a great water flow starter as well.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm so sorry to hear about your oto.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I have one of those pumps. I just thought adding new water and then the conditioner would hurt them more then me fishing them out to do all of that.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

Sorry about your oto. I hope he can pull through.


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## Twistersmom (Dec 9, 2008)

I have a 5 gal bucket that I use to mix the declorinator and tap water, then add it to the tank. 
None of my fish seem to stressed about it. The bettas really seem to enjoy it.
Sorry about your oto as well, they are not easy fish to catch. I would try leaving them in during the next water change, and see how it goes.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Twistersmom said:


> I have a 5 gal bucket that I use to mix the declorinator and tap water, then add it to the tank.
> None of my fish seem to stressed about it. The bettas really seem to enjoy it.
> Sorry about your oto as well, they are not easy fish to catch. I would try leaving them in during the next water change, and see how it goes.


I think I'm going to be doing that from now on.


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## fishyinpa (Dec 25, 2008)

Aww sorry about the other oto. Unless I do a 100% change the fish stays in the tank. They arent too bothered by it.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Well, they are all still doing okay, and I highly expected to see the one not alive today. 
I guess it's just going to be a wait and see thing for now.


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## LiyahsGrandma (May 29, 2009)

Scarlett is so precious


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Why must Gabriel nip at every veggie clip I put in the tank? I understand the bright clown fish one, but the new one is CLEAR. Anyway, I hope the Otos can get over there and snack on their zucchini.
All of them seem to be doing well still; they all have big bellies so I know they are either getting enough algae and/or zucchini.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I guess she's just curious about the veggie clip. I'm glad the otos are doing well and eating good.


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