# Oto catfish?



## TheChosenDarkness

Has anyone kept Oto catfish successfully for a month or more?


Reason I am asking is because I have a few of these cute fish and I have heard some horror stories. From anything from them dieing less than 24 hours to 1 month later. Also, there is little to no information about them. Most information I have found is VERY outdated or just doesn't make a lot of sense. Also, the care involved is also, once again, VERY varied. No one can agree on tank size, temperature, pH, etc. The only parameters they agree on is 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and 0 Nitrates. That and a heavily planted tank (most preferably live plants). And the BARE minimum is like 2-3 in a tank. As they like to shoal and/or school together.

Also, the food they eat is varied (depending on the owner). However, I have learned if they won't touch Algae Wafers to try fresh veggies (such as zucchini, spinach, etc.). Mine seem to like lettuce and green beans. I have heard people using canned green beans for their Oto Cats. I am trying a Zucchini disk today (blanched for a little over 2 minutes).

So far, no one has died on me and everyone seems happy. Fat bellies, active, eating lots, and pooping lots (found out they are poop machines :lol.


Any who, I got distracted. I was wondering if anyone has successfully kept Otos (or a single oto) in anything less than 10 gallons? If so, how did you do it? If you keep them in 10 gallons or higher, how do you do it? Anything you have learned by keeping these fish (maybe something that isn't covered on the net)? What temperature do you keep yours at? Are they fine in a non planted tank? Are they fine in a plastic/silk planted tank?


Reasons for the questions, I am thinking of doing a fake planted tank of 10 gallons or higher. Most suggest using live plants. However, I am wondering if fake ones would work. So long as the colors are not to outrageous. More natural pieces and maybe some decorations that are cave like.


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## Fishybitty

I had two in my 10 gallon. One was fine, one died in 24 hours. The live one I had for 1 month. He died about a week ago. I noticed my heater malfunctioned and got to 84 degrees. He was fine until then. I don't know if that is what did it or not. His death was a mystery to me.

Petsmart is having an 8 day sale, select algae eaters $1.00 (have to check their site I don't remember what days)


I love/hate live plants. They can be a pain at times, but they are beautiful. Honestly I will go fake if my life ones die on me.


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## TheChosenDarkness

I got mine from PetDepot and they were about 2 bucks before taxes. I have kept them for over a week now and they seem fine. Right now I have them in my planted tank, but like you I am finding live plants can be a pain. Pretty and they seem to be growing well, but still a pain. Even with the right substrate, environment, etc. So far no plant has died on me and my tank has been planted a while now.

Also, I have found a lot pet stores sale "wild" caught Oto catfish. Hence the large die off. The stress of being caught, shipped, and then put into less favorable conditions (massive community tanks). Usually they are starved to death before they reach someone's home. Maybe I will get lucky and the ones I have will live. I am hoping any way.


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## Chevko

My parents had one that lived maybe two years quite some time back. It wasn't kept in the best of conditions either - water changes were 80%-100% every six months or more. Lived off what little algae was in the tank plus any fish food that wasn't eaten.


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## Skyewillow

We only have one, but it shoals with our pygmy cories. It also claims part of the algae wafers that are tossed in, or the spirulina flakes that I throw in there for our little "Squash". We have 4 live plants and a marimo, and it looks like Squash has it's work cut out for it. We also have a large piece of driftwood (it's a 30gal)


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## Elsewhere

I successfully kept two in a non planted 10 gallon for six months. The only reason I got them was because there was so much brown algae EVERYWHERE in my tank. It was gone in a week! They LOVED boiled zucchini and cucumber and algae wafers. I feel they would still be alive today, if I hadn't something very stupid. You see, I did not know what QTing was until maybe two months ago. I only learned about water changes last October! But I added a third friend and then BAM. Dead fish. My Betta was being isolated for fin rot and i was constantly caring for both tanks, but the new guy killed them fast. Luckily Pigg wasn't in the tank, but I really miss Penny and Simon 

I will soon be getting six new Otos for a 30g, as I really do love them to bits. They are so funny and cute and totally worth it. That whole thing with the don't buy them within 24 hours of the store getting them is a myth. I was a complete noob with my first guys, usually they just starve to death because there isn't enough algae :/


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## Alcemistnv

I have 2 oto cats in a 5 gallon, believe it or not.

All it takes is a cycled tank and good care to make sure all the fish are content and healthy. 

The one oto I've had since October and the other was I belive January.

Unlike other schooling fish, otos don't get devastated if they are alone, as I've discovered. 

I don't feed them algae tablets or cucumbers often, mainly because I switch tank sides. One side will develop lots of algae and herefore I will put them on that side as it builds up, and so on and so forth. But when I do feed algae tablets, it's insane xD


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## horsyqueen

I have kept many different types of otos but generally some last longer then others. They are shipped in poor conditions and arrive to stores starved and in poor condition. Thats the reason many don't last long or atleast where I live. 
I have always kept mine in 15L + but I will be getting a few with Rose in a 12L.


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## LittleBettaFish

12L is way too small to house a betta (I'm assuming that's what Rose is) and otocinclus. That's only 3 gallons. 

Believe it or not otocinclus are quite active fish. I had three in a 30 gallon tank and over the course of the day they went everywhere. 

I don't understand the bias some people have about keeping bettas in nothing less than 5 gallons, but they are perfectly happy to cram other species of fish into a smaller space.


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## TheChosenDarkness

Well, the size of tank for Oto catfish is varied (from the research thus far). It can be any where from 5 gallon to 30 gallon minimum tanks. I guess it depends on the volume of Otos bought and kept. Not to mention owner and experience of the person writing the article. Trust me, most information I have found is varied when it comes to these fish. I have done a lot of research in care, feeding, etc. There isn't a whole lot of information and there isn't much agreement on said information.

That being said, what experience I have gained thus far (and over the years), so long as you are careful and do things right.. you can get most fish to live happy and long lives.


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## LittleBettaFish

I've had otocinclus before and between three of them, they managed to completely clean out a 30 gallon tank that was full algae in about a week. I eventually had to sell them on to someone with a larger set-up as I could not provide enough food for them and they failed to transition over to things like wafers and zucchini. 

Otocinclus are also shoaling fish and naturally live in large numbers in the wild. I think it is cruel to go against the nature of these fish even if otos _seem_ to do fine by themselves. They are also quite an energetic fish and mine used to enjoy swimming into the filter current or zipping from one end of the tank to the other. I can't imagine that any 5 gallon tank can provide enough suitable swimming space for a particularly active group. 

Of course you could put 6 otocinclus into a 5 gallon tank, but really what is the point of that? We as fish keepers should be looking at providing the best possible home for our fish, not trying to cram as many fish as we can into the smallest tank possible. I can think of few schooling/shoaling fish that would be recommended on here as suitable for living in a 5 gallon tank, particularly if there was also a betta already inhabiting it.


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## Olympia

I agree 100% with LBF.
A fish can't put it's tail between it's legs like a dog can, many people say their fish are "happy" in substandard conditions because you can't read fish very easily. . . Also, a fish will adapt over time to bad conditions, but that doesn't mean it is right. People can adapt to malnutrition and somehow survive, but that doesn't mean that they should be kept that way because they've already adapted to it. I've seen people claim every shoaling fish imaginable is fine on it's own. . . That's why it is important to look at the natural behavior of the fish as an example, and if in the wild this fish makes a free choice (instinctual, whatever you want to call it) to live in groups with its own kind, then it should be allowed to do so in our tanks.

As hobbyists our goals are to raise the bar, keeping aiming for better. 20 years ago, 3 tetra would have been an acceptable shoal size. These days, most will recommend no less than 6 of a shoaling species, and more is always better. 

I've never kept these fish, but LBF says they are active so I will go by that. . . Choosing fish for your tank isn't an exact science, more about how you feel about crowding a fish up. None of the fish I keep in my smaller tanks are active, they are either slow swimmers or move in very short dashes at best. Fish that like to live the fast life deserve more space, in my opinion.

That said, there are a few shoaling fish that could live reasonably well in a 5 gallon or so tank, though none that I would risk with a betta. 

The reason these fish are famous for dying off, is that in the wild many of them are fished using cyanide, which causes fish to all rush to the surface gasping and makes them easy to scoop up. This damages the fish internally, where it may take a while before you notice. As far as I'm aware this practice is becoming less common, and otos may be bred on fish farms now, so incidents seem to be decreasing.


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