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Number of Ottos & Shrimp in tank

Jaap

Jaap

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2011
Messages
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Location
Nicosia
Hello,

I have a 40L heavily planted, high tech aquarium. How many amano shrimp and how many ottos would it be advisable to have in order to keep some minimal algae I have at bay and to also clear dirt off of the leaves and mosses?

Thanks
 
one amano per 5L, so 8 should be enough,. what other fish do you have there? they will hide if larger spieces is around.

Ottos, get some brown otto, they are more fun to watch than affinis.
 
Jaap said:
Hello,

I have a 40L heavily planted, high tech aquarium. How many amano shrimp and how many ottos would it be advisable to have in order to keep some minimal algae I have at bay and to also clear dirt off of the leaves and mosses?

Thanks
Click to expand...
What otto is this?
60d178bb2a924c4b02174971882fd7a4.jpg
 
I have added 3 guppies 8 days ago and they are doing fine. On Thursday I have added one Amano shrimp and one Otto. Today, 4 days later, the Otto is alive but just hangs out in the tank without doing much and the shrimp is dead. I used to dose Excel 5ml per day in this 40L tank but I have stopped doing so on Wednesday. So The day I bought them and onwards I haven't dosed any Excel. Also I have lowered the CO2 a bit once I saw that the Otto isn't moving much so I thought he might not be as ok as the Guppies with the CO2 levels since the Guppies can breath from the surface of the water, however the Otto never showed signs of distress except the fact that it wasn't moving much.

What can be wrong here? I wouldn't want to kill any more Ottos or Amanos....
 
Guppies don't breathe from the surface. If they are at the surface then it could be nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Adding 4 fish at once in such a small tank could be overloading it so check your stats, do daily water changes while it cycles/starts coping with the bioload. At this stage I wouldn't add any more fish for a while.
I don't even see that much algae in there for the otto, but it will at least like one friend as they are very sociable.
 
sciencefiction said:
Guppies don't breathe from the surface. If they are at the surface then it could be nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Adding 4 fish at once in such a small tank could be overloading it so check your stats, do daily water changes while it cycles/starts coping with the bioload. At this stage I wouldn't add any more fish for a while.
I don't even see that much algae in there for the otto, but it will at least like one friend as they are very sociable.
Click to expand...
I am not sure how this goes but a fully planted tank running for 80 days now shouldn't have had such a problem with nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Am I right or wrong?
 
Jaap said:
I am not sure how this goes but a fully planted tank running for 80 days now shouldn't have had such a problem with nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Am I right or wrong?
Click to expand...

Not really. I presumed the tank is newer, hence the above comment but if the guppies are gasping, there's something going on. You can still cause a spike by adding fish at once, although it should be handled faster in a cycled/planted tank. If the fish are acting fine, then ignore. From my side of the keyboard I am only guessing.
 
Guppies look absolutely fine...the otto isn't moving much though...its just stuck on the glass all time
 
Is there any algae inside that tank for the otto to eat? They get stationery if there's nothing to eat. The tank is relatively new to be able to support ottos, and also small enough too to have much surface area.
If you have zucchini, microwave a slice for about 1.5-2 min and put it inside with something to hold it. See if it would go for it. And they like the company of their own peers so eventually I'd get it a friend or two.

Besides that, I'd just do a few more water changes. There's nothing more you can do bar feed the fish and keep the water stats spot on.
 
sciencefiction said:
Is there any algae inside that tank for the otto to eat? They get stationery if there's nothing to eat. The tank is relatively new to be able to support ottos, and also small enough too to have much surface area.
If you have zucchini, microwave a slice for about 1.5-2 min and put it inside with something to hold it. See if it would go for it. And they like the company of their own peers so eventually I'd get it a friend or two.

Besides that, I'd just do a few more water changes. There's nothing more you can do bar feed the fish and keep the water stats spot on.
Click to expand...
There is some algae but not much...I have algae wafers amd just added one to see if it will go for it...I will get another otto then soon and maybe that will help...
 
Big clown said:
Mine do but not if theres other food sources in the tank
Click to expand...

Yes, some people's otto seem to go for other food. The best I've seen with mine is spirulina sticks. They go for them but only for a few seconds, but at least they show some interest in them unlike with any other food. And that's only if they are not disturbed by other fish as they seem skittish like that.
Blanched zucchini seems to be the best and some cucumber too possibly.
 
I added some blanched cucumber to my tank but the armanos ate it all! The otos didn't get a look in! Saying that the otos are happy eating away on the biofilm on leaves, wood and the glass. :)
 
Will cherry shrimp eat some of the diatom algae that I have and remove the dirt from my mosses?
 
Otos also like to be in a shoal so 10 would be great for them. More shrimp will always help as they are eating off the bio film constantly.
 
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