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Anyone had problems introducing otocinclus

Fluxtor

Fluxtor

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I introduced half a dozen oto's at the weekend and I've already lost 2 and fear the remainder may soon follow.as their activity seems to be diminishing. I've tested params this morning and all well within acceptable margins. I do keep koi so am familiar with water testing but I know that does not make me an expert! All the oto's when first introduced where buzzing and super industrious but I noticed a couple of them looking lethargic which have since passed and I'm seeing less of the remaining fish which I'm obviously concerned about.

I've read a bunch of posts and articles elsewhere which suggest that although oto's are considered fairly hardy but they can be susceptible to changes with many people experiencing losses multiple times when adding oto's to their aquariums. I also read it's possible for oto's to starve if there is not enough natural food for them but I do have plenty of algae and I did add some algae wafers and this morning I've sunk a boiled bit of cucumber to see if that helps. I wouldn't think they would starve after only 3-4 days would you?

I do have a pair of Blue Rams in the tank and the male can be a bit feisty and bossy which is annoying as the LFS guy said they would be fine in a community tank. I'm beginning to wonder if I should move the Rams on as the male does seem to be constantly chasing other fish and the female. Maybe it's stress related?

TIA
 
I wouldn’t say that otto’s are hardy, they are rather delicate imho especially for the initial few weeks
I have heard it said by people, that due to the losses of these fish, that they wouldn’t purchase them
I have a few, they are fantastic fish, but can be problematic
 
Ottos can be fragile, they can have a hard time when they are shipped due to not being able to feed.
How long has your tank been running? Ottos like very mature stable conditions.
Were they feeding in the shop & can you ask what they were using? Giving them something they recognise might help.
Having plenty of algae isn't necessarily a help, it might not be the right one they eat. I always added extra veg when I kept them. I bought baby spinach leaves & poured boiling water over them to wilt, then fixed them to the tank side with a food clip. The ottos would come from all over the tank to feed but it took a while for them to learn.
I believe some male rams can be troublesome & aggressive. Mine was a total show off & preferred dancing around at the front of the tank for attention! It was very densely planted though & the female was very quick at getting out of his way.
It's tough when you lose fish, I find it very stressful when adding new stock. 😕
 
The Miniaturist said:
Ottos can be fragile, they can have a hard time when they are shipped due to not being able to feed.
How long has your tank been running? Ottos like very mature stable conditions.
Were they feeding in the shop & can you ask what they were using? Giving them something they recognise might help.
Having plenty of algae isn't necessarily a help, it might not be the right one they eat. I always added extra veg when I kept them. I bought baby spinach leaves & poured boiling water over them to wilt, then fixed them to the tank side with a food clip. The ottos would come from all over the tank to feed but it took a while for them to learn.
I believe some male rams can be troublesome & aggressive. Mine was a total show off & preferred dancing around at the front of the tank for attention! It was very densely planted though & the female was very quick at getting out of his way.
It's tough when you lose fish, I find it very stressful when adding new stock. 😕
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Hi thanks for the response. The tank has been running for about 4 months now so figured it was well cycled and mature enough. I honestly didn't see if they were feeding in the shop and they were scattered over couple of tanks so assumed they'd been there a while.
 
There's a YouTube thing from I think The Aquarium Co-Op on the journey those guys have been on before they get to the fish shops.
It's pretty grim viewing.

That's why I also find it stressful introducing new anything into my tank.

Actually that is one of the reasons to spend so much time and research getting this plant stuff right! We want to give em the best chance.

Do what you can. Good luck you'll...
 
fredi said:
I wouldn’t say that otto’s are hardy, they are rather delicate imho especially for the initial few weeks
I have heard it said by people, that due to the losses of these fish, that they wouldn’t purchase them
I have a few, they are fantastic fish, but can be problematic
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Interesting and thank you. It's a shame as they are fascinating to watch and I hate loosing fish no matter how the losses occur!
 
si walker said:
There's a YouTube thing from I think The Aquarium Co-Op on the journey those guys have been on before they get to the fish shops.
It's pretty grim viewing.

That's why I also find it stressful introducing new anything into my tank.

Actually that is one of the reasons to spend so much time and research getting this plant stuff right! We want to give em the best chance.

Do what you can. Good luck you'll...
Click to expand...
I will take a look at the video, thank you!
 
Always a good idea to add some botanicals like catappa leaves when introducing ottos and similar dwarf loricariids. They’ll feed off the bio film that is produced.

The issue is with these fish is that if they haven’t fed in the shop for some time then they’re too far gone by the time you get them home and won’t feed.
 
I have found ottos can be fragile as well, but that seems to be individual fish specific - some individuals seems to be bomb-proof troupers that do their thing and seem to just enjoy life all the time. The usual advice is they like to group together where this leads to the idea that you should have a good number of them, but I'm not sure that's true. I think they group together when they are stressed or distressed (e.g. in the LFS). Having too many of them might mean there's not enough biofilm to go around, adding to the stress. I have tried various supplemental feeding methods but without much success in that regard... I think they'd rather eat whatever it is they would generally eat in the wild.
 
My experience with them is that when they are recently added to the tank they swim around a lot, but after a while they become invisible. When I rebuilt my tank a good while ago, I was surprised to find many otos still alive, otos that I hadn't seen in so long that I assumed they all died.
 
LMuhlen said:
My experience with them is that when they are recently added to the tank they swim around a lot, but after a while they become invisible. When I rebuilt my tank a good while ago, I was surprised to find many otos still alive, otos that I hadn't seen in so long that I assumed they all died.
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Same with mine, they very occasionally feast on spirulina discs, but much more often are seen to be individually grazing on whatever is on the underwater branches
When I first got them, they would often descend as a group on spirulina and sometimes carnivore pellets (Hikari)
 
si walker said:
Forgot to mention that he gives you some great information on them as well.

Good luck mate!
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Watched it, very informative. Was concerned when he said he only has 6 in his 800g (US) tank and I put 6 in my 70 litre tank.
 
Andy Pierce said:
I have found ottos can be fragile as well, but that seems to be individual fish specific - some individuals seems to be bomb-proof troupers that do their thing and seem to just enjoy life all the time. The usual advice is they like to group together where this leads to the idea that you should have a good number of them, but I'm not sure that's true. I think they group together when they are stressed or distressed (e.g. in the LFS). Having too many of them might mean there's not enough biofilm to go around, adding to the stress. I have tried various supplemental feeding methods but without much success in that regard... I think they'd rather eat whatever it is they would generally eat in the wild.
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Yeah they seem uninterested in cucumber and algae wafers.
 
Reading this, seems like a fish to avoid!
 
Bradders said:
Reading this, seems like a fish to avoid!
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Dwarf loricariids (otos, parotocinclus etc) struggle when newly imported but you have a shop or wholesaler who knows what they’re doing and get them feeding before they go on sale they normally do ok.

You’ll see shops like pier aquatics that add branches covered in bark and lichen to their tanks, the fish barn always place leaves in their tanks for these fish too. These are the places you want to get this kind of fish from as they’ll be off to a good start.
 
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Well, I guess the moral of this little story is they are not such an easy fish to care for!
 
I obviously purchased mine, but having heard horror stories from quite a few people, I am not sure that I would purchase more, bearing in mind the reported survival rate
 
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