Caper Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 I recently purchased 6 ottos, 3 died within days. The original plan has changed since I only have 3. Anyway, part of the original plan was to put 4 in with my barbs & tetras because I already had 3 in with my goldies. Well in the last couple of weeks I lost 2 of the ottos in my goldies tank Now I am wondering because there is only the 1 in with the goldies would it be better for him to put the other 3 in with him so he won't be alone??? Ottos do better with more than 1 of their kind do they not? (this is a 29 gallon tank) Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 ottos need a good supply of algae to keep them them happy and healthy ,they are always hungry , if not they starve very quickly and die Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Correct, ottos prefer to be in groups. They are also a tropical fish, so this may be why they are dieing in with your goldies!(assuming its a cold tank) Most ottos are wild caught, hence the large numbers of deaths of new stock. I find the one that are gonna die , do it fast but the one that sare gonna survive, survive for ages. I never buy otts from my LFS until they been in the shop for at least a week. Ive only ever lost one. and he kamakazied out of tank for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Vid of collecting ottos from the wild. Check out this vid. It kind of puts int perspective into why imported fish are prone to dieing. The collecters in the third world usually have not a care in the world for the welfare of the fish. To them all they see are $$$$$ in the bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted March 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 snookie wrote: ottos need a good supply of algae to keep them them happy and healthy ,they are always hungry , if not they starve very quickly and die I have had the 3 in the goldies tank for I think around 1 year give or take a few weeks. I've tried them with algae wafers but I think the goldies got to them first but then I can't say for sure because I did put them in at night. I've tried zucchini in with them too never saw them go near it. I don't clean the back of my glass or the sides when I do a tank clean. So, do you think that hunger was an issue???? Putting together what I wrote above??? supasi wrote: so this may be why they are dieing in with your goldies I did read several sites on ottos on the net and said they could survive temps in the high sixties, it's awhile since I read them but I think maybe 68 was the lowest, but I could be wrong. However, the temp in the goldies' tank never went below 72 and that was with the heater set around 68. The heater just died on my goldies tank so I think I will take the lone otto and the other 3 and put them in with my barbs and tetras. Do you think this would be ok? I don't see any real build up on the walls of this tank but I haven't cleaned the back/sides and ornaments in over a month, do you think there would be enough algae??? Sorry so long, would this make the tank overstocked (29 gallon): 6 red eye tetras 1 green tiger barb 3 albino barbs 10/11 tiger barbs I was hoping to eventually put my 3 cory's in this tank. So, what do you all think as far as stocking? Would putting the 4 ottos in do it? Would I still be able to put in the 3 cory's? Thanks all Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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