Otocinclus Catfish - Best Algae-Eating Nano Fish?

Otocinclus catfish love eating diatom algae, so find out how to keep them fed when they run out.
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▶ Otocinclus Catfish Care Guide: • Otocinclus Catfish Car...
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[@GirlTalksFish]

*What are your favorite tips for keeping and feeding otocinclus catfish?* Comment below to share your experiences and check out my other fish care guides here: kzbin.info/aero/PLlBBJ7xBuqub5Xljq6XpQ1D0Y4hEci2zX

[@brycemartin4130]

If your tank is lacking algae, put some medium size stones in a cup of dechlorinated water outside in a place with sun and let them sit. Eventually, algae will grow on them and you can stick them in your tank for the ottos to graze on.

[@mainelybettas847]

I live in Maine and we can get them here in the LFS’s but I haven’t found any in the last 2 months. None of the stores have been able to get them lately. Thank you for posting this video though ! I really wanted to learn about them.

[@GirlTalksFish]

@@mainelybettas847 My pleasure! Best of luck getting them on store sooner than later.

[@gttkp]

Sorry not related to otos but do you have a current stocking list of your shy guy tank?

[@GirlTalksFish]

@@gttkp Oh good question! I originally stocked it with 6 kuhli loaches, 6 celestial pearl danios, and 1 peacock gudgeon. Now I have 1 betta, 1 peacock gudgeon, 3 otocinclus, 3 hillstream loaches, 3 amano shrimp, 5 kuhli loaches, and 4 green laser Endler's livebearers (which replaced the CPDs). I usually don't like having so many different species in one tank, but since I've been going through some algae troubles, I wanted to experiment with multiple algae eaters and see which species ate what. So far, I've been very impressed with the hillstream loaches. 👍

[@luilocolombia]

I don't know what is it but you bring something different that other channels don't have. I love it.

[@GirlTalksFish]

Awww, thank you so much! That warms my heart. 😊

[@matilda9906]

She sounds like she’s talking to you and not at you

[@rockonmyfriend]

I mean it seems like she loves her swimmy pets at least as much as I do.

[@angelcrow6256]

Agree

[@SimandDriver]

That would be a personality, voice inflections, enunciation, and a nice smile.

[@roxisone]

Oh my goodness! What a adorable mini-me you have there! ❤

[@GirlTalksFish]

Haha, she knows she's cute so I have to be careful she doesn't get an inflated head about it...

[@natchats3099]

I love that you teach your daughter your native tongue !!!! It’s soo important to pass it on to the next generation. I also loveeee you fish video’s and the layout you do it in.

[@Scrizal]

I love how you teach your children to be multilingual..They are so adorable! And thank you for the great infos :)

[@natep6729]

Yeah duh! All minorities in the US, especially latinos and Asians are actually multilingual with the exception of a few.

[@PimpolloMorales]

@@natep6729 thats sadly not true. Many parents were coerced into not teaching their children their native language in an effort to assimilate to American society better

[@MisterCaution]

I have an “unintentional” species tank of about 18 otos (for a couple years so far) after some bred. It was their second time, but previously they lived with several guppy tankmates that ate nearly all of the oto fry within 24 hours before I noticed the babies. Your video was 100% accurate (of course!), although I question the brine idea for breeding suggested to you by the other person. My suggestion is to have a species tank with mature amazon swords and a minimum of two dark tank hides (caves or wood without a center) if you intend to breed. Otos aren’t going to unless they have somewhere to hide that only they can access. A great staple food that I use for these guys is actually feeding the tank everyday with a dose of BacterAE (generally considered to be shrimp powder food). The jars are on the expensive side, but they last forever. I notice cool shoaling behavior in larger groups of 10+, and they usually do this when they can’t see people. They can see (or feel from floor vibrations) me coming from down the hall and scatter, but if I sneak up on them, their natural group behaviors are very different in the species tank. Waves of them swimming from stop to stop.

[@Shrimptoast21]

So correct about the shoaling behavior, I love to sneak up and check out what they’re doing.

[@Chompchompyerded]

You have such cute kids! It's as fun to watch how they behave as it is to watch the fish. You can tell that they just love their mom!

[@mooneatert]

Thanks a lot for using my photo with the creditation! Awesome to see it used like this! Many thanks, Thijs Janzen

[@Iv723an]

Perfect timing! I was just looking into getting a few of these guys.

[@Shrimptoast21]

I agree I can’t have a tank without otos. Definitely a favorite, they are so fun to watch zoom around and I just love when they all hang out together!

[@bigmiguel80]

One of the best care guides/ species profile ever. Keepem coming. Thanks

[@GirlTalksFish]

Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun making this one. :)

[@sarahsalinas7049]

One of the most helpful vids I’ve seen. Thanks!!

[@alison6437]

They're precious little buggers and I'm so glad my algae problem drove me to them. Great little fish

[@DrawerFullofRocks]

This is a great video! So many people have no idea of how to care for otocinclus catfish. This is a pearl of an explanation. I'm waiting to get some more after I escape my tank. The first ones I had lived for almost five year. I was very sad when they died. I believe they died because I didn't understand how to care for them, and was just lucky that they lived as long as they did. Your daughter is absolutely adorable! Future fish grrrrrrllll!

[@lared112]

Awesome video! I'm getting some otos next week and I'm so excited to see them clean up my tank!

[@wendybarrows8422]

Just watching this for the first time. I’m going to be getting some of these little guys today. Very informative video, excellent! Thank you so much.

[@FishEZ]

Good video and timely. I just got 6 Otos myself two weeks ago and they are busy cleaning the brown algae in my planted tank. They were not expensive either. Thanks for the video.

[@ObeyTheSnarf]

I've discovered that my otos love blanched beet greens! It actually clued them into the fact that the plant matter that I drop into the tank is usually edible, and they are now also enthusiastically consuming zucchini and Repashy gel food! I was very concerned that they were not getting enough food, so that's a relief!

[@pulse03_nic51]

I am about to get them and u made a video of them immediately How lucky

[@davidcruz3400]

So helpful! Ill definitely be adding these to my tank you are the best!

[@timw.8225]

Just got 5 Ottos the other day so this video is right on time!! Thanks for the feeding tip and you have one of the best aquarium fish/plant channels on YT !!

[@GirlTalksFish]

Yay, glad I could help!

[@eddvcr598]

I’ve seen a video by a Japanese betta breeder and specialist talking about the many benefits of keeping otocinclus together with your betta. Just as you described, the betta will sometimes flare its fins at the otocinclus, which serves as a good exercise for the betta. Even when the betta pecks at the otocinclus, since they are armor-plated, they could care less. Another benefit he described is how if you have a betta with longer fins, such as the half moon betta, keeping it with otocinclus will dramatically decrease the chance of him chomping on his own fins. The presence of the otocinclus distracts the betta’s attention away from his own fins, and also keeps them from getting destructive from boredom. He said how the otocinclus swims matches well with how the betta swims, and they make good tank mates. Also, he said that the otocinclus will help pick up the food crumbs left to sink by the betta. And of course, he mentioned their amazing ability to fight off algae growth. These catfish are amazing little guys!

[@CrayZJo3Davola]

Love the amount of work you put in your videos. Good stuff

[@jarred4734]

OMG YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER ARE SOOO CUTE!!! Also loved the awesome video about a fish so many people seem to think is so intimidating to keep!

[@GirlTalksFish]

Yay, hopefully it'll inspire more people to give them a shot!

[@denisesomewherearoundhere1798]

I have hair algae. I got 3 otos and I just love them. I don't have any other algae types so can only speak to the hair algae. They are just busy, busy, busy, working assiduously all over the plants and on the gravel. They will hang on the glass for short periods but don't really feed on that, as there really isn't any algae on the glass. They are in a community tank and get along well with all. When they're feeding on the plants they're all over the place and toward the evening they group up and work together on the gravel. I feed Tetra tropical flakes and also Tetra algae wafers, a couple of them every three or four days, which to my surprise is a big hit with everybody, even the serpae and cardinal tetras. Who knew? Anyway, I really enjoy the otos a lot. And am happy to see they have plump bellies.

[@mrsmiggins81]

Thanks for the info! Bought a few of these today and hoping they will do the job

[@SilverScarletSpider]

thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@KipCount]

Just bought some Oto cats and found your video and loved it. New subscriber here. Thanks!

[@_lucid_one]

Great video! I picked up 9 Ottos for my 55gal planted tank (lost one within a day) but the remaining 8 have been busy little fish! My tank is full of Vallisneria with some Amazon Swords, Stellatus Octopus and scattered Monte Carlo and these little ones are constantly on the Vall, resting or eating from their leaves which seems to be the perfect size for them. The angelfish, much larger then they were, were curious about them but soon left them alone. Now I have a small school of Ottos cleaning the brown algae off the Vall, which is more and more green every day!

[@user-mo4wt9gk9y]

What a great little helper you have! :) so cute- thanks for the all the info-needing something for the brown algae!

[@johnnyhill7342]

Great job on the Otocinclus Catfish video! I love mine and they cleaned my entire tank in just 3 days - such hard voracious little workers. :O)

[@shavawk572]

Lol this is amazing, I was thinking about buying some of these today but wasn't sure!

[@GirlTalksFish]

You totally should! I love this little catfish.

[@bent4332]

Samee

[@marksguitars5617]

glad I stumbled across this video! I recently bought some Zebra otos and just finished preparing zucchini using your method. Thanks Irene!! 😺🐟

[@MrAarthorn]

Thanks for the video, Great guide.

[@beaka63]

Loved this very informative video. Thank you so much!

[@GirlTalksFish]

My pleasure!

[@drmscaper5878]

I love how you explain things!

[@GirlTalksFish]

Thank you so much!

[@1LifeInAnalog]

always, always, great easy to understand videos. thanks.

[@lameemo]

Really enjoy your tank. I had a 55 gallon with Otos, SAEs, Kuhli loaches, and especially 2 Peacock Gudgeons. It was my first big tank and I thought they had died but I found out later on that they had tucked themselves underneath a plate and when I turned the plate upside down it was covered with eggs! They all hatched and were sold on to my local fish store, but your tank reminds me a lot of that first tank I had :)

[@jonharwood1639]

This is insanely helpful! Thank you SO MUCH

[@GirlTalksFish]

Yay, glad to hear it!

[@shesellsfish]

I love ottos. They are so industrious and once they get used to you, so much fun to watch zin zagging around the tank. Your daughter is so adorable! What a cutie. 👍💕👍

[@GirlTalksFish]

Thank you so much! Haha, now my son wants to show up in my videos.

[@DankDaHerbalist]

I swear ur channel does content on fish I literally just pick up here and there lol! Honestly ottos just got 2 in my 20 ga last week! they cleaned my spider wood hair algae so fast they school and unlike my nerite dont lay eggs everywhere! Ottos in my top 10 all time fish and im a cichlid guy!

[@GirlTalksFish]

Yess! Great minds think alike. 😜

[@katherinegalbo9913]

Hi irene, I love watching your videos. They're super informative and right to the point. very well articulated and easy to understand! I just added 3 otos to my tank and am loving them. I was curious what kind of substrate that is in your tank? Looks like black sand?? Thanks!

[@bonwrentaylor2743]

Love how calm, and VISIBLE, your Kuhli loaches are. I've got 6 (at least I should have), and due to their apparent crepuscular/nocturnal nature I'm lucky if I catch a glimpse of one any more than once or twice a week. Always a thrill to see them though and don't regret having them ...!! Oh, have 10 Otto's too in my 50 gallon tank and wouldn't be without those either - amazing little fish ! Thanks for the great Otto video ...

[@indigocrayon520]

My Kuhlis are out and about all the time. I 10 in a 42gallon bow front and have a river rock set up with lots of plants and have caves against the glass so I can see inside. Looking at my aquarium at any given moment I see 1-3 lounging or sifting they really thrive in this set up.

[@cheldsyclimaco4606]

Wow! Loved this! I recently bought me some of these gorgeous fellows and I honestly, fell in love with them! They are always cleaning and cleaning. I barely know anything about them but after watching this video, it definitely inspired me to do more research! And yes, those half-pearl bellies are so fab!! I did have 3 at the start but now, I currently have just one sadly. I do have wafers for him but he doesn’t really eat them, my tetras end up nibbling at it. Definitely will try the zucchini.

[@Zoe-ee6ff]

Thanks for yet another super helpful video, Irene! Also, LOVE the bloopers 😂 Classic kid response to do you want to do A or B? "I want to do A and also do B" 😂

[@jacklaporte472]

Thanks for this and all videos. I soooo badly want these in my tank. I’ve just never pulled the trigger. Thank you again.

[@GirlTalksFish]

Yay, I hope you'll give them a try!

[@JG-vn5fe]

LOVE your voice! Your videos are so informative and your daughter is darling! Great job !! ~ Thank you

[@JustNatax3]

Very informative video, they are so pretty amd totally underrated. But your daughter stole the show haha she's adorable!

[@jamesmclamb3682]

Great video. My 5 gallon heavily planted betta tank all of a sudden started growing excessive algae on the glass. I realized I hadn't seen my zebra nerite snail in quite awhile. :( Anyway, since it's only a snail, I stopped by my local PetSmart just to see if they had any. The only nerite they had was a black racer and he was dead. Nice. The girl there was very helpful and suggested some octocinclus catfish. First thing I asked was how big do they get. She said they were as big as they were going to get and at a sale price of $1.99, I said give me two. After acclimation, I let them go in the tank and within 3 seconds, they were on the glass and haven't stopped eating. They seem very happy and so am I. Great channel and video as usual.

[@delphinelumen]

Instead of blanching vegetables myself, I just use frozen ones, as they are already blanched.

[@GirlTalksFish]

I actually tried to look for frozen squash/zucchini because I remember seeing it before, but couldn't find any. Great shortcut!

[@Shrimptoast21]

Wow I never thought of this

[@boobtoob777]

Excellent and informative video!

[@marksguitars5617]

great video, love Otos, have a nice weekend!

[@Fishcentral]

Great video this was really helpful, I was thinking of getting a few thanks 🤩 Ps: I subscribed 😎😎🐟🐟🐟

[@Joseph-go5xo]

your videos are so lovely!!!

[@denisepollitt1021]

Hi, great video. I have 5 otocinclus and I love them. They cleared my 15 gallon planted guppy tank of algae in less than 2 days. However, since then it's been a constant battle to get food to them because my 7 guppies are such greedy buggers. No matter what I put in there, the guppies get to it first and devour it. Then they swim around very pleased with themselves and their big fat bulging bellies. The struggle is real, lol! Cucumber is about the only thing that the otto's actually get to eat. I've had them a few months now so they must be eating something, but I still worry about them. At the moment I'm putting very fine powdered, high quality, baby shrimp food in. It circulates all round the tank and I just hope they eat it from the leaves and substrate.

[@azikiwe12]

Love the video. Love that you included your kid. Extra loved that you are teaching your kid Chinese dialect. Keep doing what you're doing.

[@skittygilbert4882]

Thank you for sharing 😀

[@friend_of_fish]

Great video! Love my Oto's.

[@bvanwart]

Awesome and educational video!!

[@SCP01986]

They are the best little guys, I love mine! They do amazing work keeping algae down and generally cleaning up the scraps in the tank alongside the amano shrimp.

[@hummingbird3771]

Oh my gosh, I love your adorable daughter's cameos! So cute!!!

[@cats4114]

Last year I bought 6 otocinclus for my 40 gallon bowed tank and we just moved everyone to our 75 gallon and i now have 11 of them. I also have loaches and livebearers so i'm happy babies even survived. i've NEVER been so happy i over feed my tanks :) lol

[@TheLiam14141]

always thought these fish were a bit too boring but I needed some good cleaners for my shrimp tank. After adding these guys I found out real quick that they're adorable when they're swimming around and looking for that next patch of algae

[@ajw7136]

Excellent vid, thank you.

[@tobyheald4825]

Love your presentation.

[@edyoung6573]

Awesome video Thank you!!! I have a 30 Gallon 2 month old fully cycled tank with lots of live plants that are growing and doing awesome, I have 5 Zebra Danios and 3 cory cats. Getting some brown and green algae. Going to pick a 3 of these guys.

[@topg571]

Love your videos!

[@mitchnatalizio]

So helpful!

[@cl00bie]

I originally had a common pleco with my lemon guppies who did a great job in my 10 gallon, but he got to be about 7 inches long and I had to trade him in. Then I tried a clown pleco. He didn't do too well (I think he was damaged from the store). Then I tried a snail, he worked okay, except that the guppies abused him and soon he was gone. Thanks for all this great information. I think I'm going to give these a try.

[@maxverafrank7061]

My Oto's are little gluttons eating whatever the other fish eat despite giving them food specifically for them. Harvested from the wild via ruthless methods and not properly accommodated afterwards, many Oto's are in really bad shape once they get to you. If they fully recover, though, they're a really durable and gregarious little fish.

[@juggrixhzo1134]

Amazing informative video

[@Eric_In_SF]

I got one of these to keep my algae tamed. It’s just a small 2 gallon tank and he’s doing great. An amazing how fast they can clean an entire tank.

[@jmisolis]

Thanks a lot for making this video really useful. I just got a couple of them and it looks like they are doing well so far... I'm planning on getting more... do you know if they can coexist with angel fish!

[@Aquagold.goldysingh1313]

Beautiful fish..so amazing video

[@arunr5529]

Thanks for the great video. With the rapashys, did you find your Otto's took time to recognise it as food the first time you gave it to them? I've just given some to them now but they haven't touched it the last couple of hours

[@K11777]

You are unique, girl! Keep going! ❤️

[@ravenred7908]

Aww your little one made me laugh pulling faces lol 😆

[@l.l133]

Thank you so much for the info I was worried about my ph beacause it’s 8.0-8.2 but you said they would do fine. Thanks!

[@simonsaquatics6869]

love my Otos! thanks

[@gezaerdelyi4476]

I've just got 2 otos they are super cute and everything was clean the 2nd day

[@calebcologna8681]

Oh my goodness the stinger at the end was so precious

[@GirlTalksFish]

Yesss, someone watched it! I think I like putting Easter eggs in the outro of my videos to see if anyone actually watches to the end. 😂

[@calebcologna8681]

@@GirlTalksFish I just loved that you're raising her bilingual, much respect!

[@GirlTalksFish]

@@calebcologna8681 Haha, thanks! I'm trying with my horrible American accent. :P

[@thomaswilliams9582]

Thank you! Got my first tank (17 gal) and it’s cycled and ready to go! I’m starting off with 6 neon tetras, and I want to get Oto’s soon after! I really want to introduce a betta to round it out but I’m afraid of the Betta not doing well in a community 😔

[@matilda9906]

It’s definitely worth a try, but I wouldn’t do it without having a backup tank already set up. The odds that the beta wouldn’t like the others is so high, a backup would be needed for immediate removal of the beta is aggressive. I’ve heard of people co habbing betas but it doesn’t always work out.

[@Alniemi]

Awesome! my second tank is almost the same! Ive got neon tetras, a few nerites, and now im contemplating do i get Amano shrimp or a few otos!

[@SC-mq1eh]

oto cats panda corys and some type of shrimp will def be part of my next clean up crew

[@rosehill9537]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you for putting the metric and Celsius in. Saves me looking it up😀🥰😍

[@GirlTalksFish]

My pleasure! I'm trying to get better about it.

[@MonkeyboyDenmark]

Thank you so much for the golden tip regarding Repashy Superfoods Soilent Green. :-D I have 5 picky otocinclus fish in a Fluval Edge 46L shrimp tank (12 US gal.)

[@XzroClan]

I love how you tell the story on how you got them

[@GirlTalksFish]

Awww I'm glad to hear it. I try to include a little of my back story to explain why I'm even making a video like this in the first place.

[@michaelfox6820]

Thanks for posting this. I am setting up a new 20 gallon long aquarium, and am trying to decide which fish I want to have as bottom feeders/algae eaters. This one is now high on my list.

[@christophersmith8028]

Another cool bottom feeder(not algae though) is the Pygmy corydora. Because of how small they are you could go with easily 8 or 10 in your 20 gallon and would have a blast watching them zoom around together on the bottom. I have 5 in my ten gallon and plan on getting a couple more, and they’re easily my favorite to watch. Cheers, and have fun with your tank!

[@christophersmith8028]

Another cool bottom feeder(not algae though) is the Pygmy corydora. Because of how small they are you could go with easily 10 or 12 in your 20 gallon and would have a blast watching them zoom around together on the bottom. I have 5 in my ten gallon and plan on getting a couple more, and they’re easily my favorite to watch. Cheers, and have fun with your tank!

[@jjxtwo1]

Bacter AE is great at making biofilm. We have a couple dozen Otocinclus and they really seem to enjoy eating the biofilm. We do supplement with blanched zucchini and they still work on the algae too.

[@user-pb4gy9qj7f]

Your otos are the cutest

[@Will40th]

Omg they are the best they cleaned my new tank that was full of brown allegue

[@PukanuV]

I love your channel! It's so great seeing woman represent! I mean, I do appreciate all the guy channels out there, and I've learned a lot from them, but I just get a really great feeling when I other women into fish keeping like me! I've learned a lot from your channel, so thank you! (I just bought some ottos because they are soo cute!)

[@yanjijay6752]

Pretty moonlight try looking for some my tank is literally full of algea but algea is good for growing betta fries or frys in general.

[@radisho8747]

Omg, I live your videos!!!

[@GirlTalksFish]

Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun making this video.

[@brfinger]

Fun little note: Otocinclus will shoal/school with dwarf chain loaches. They seem to compliment each other extremely well.

[@sehrtoericht3904]

i can recommend spirulina and mulberry and iron almond leaves for this kind of fish!

[@bethparsons7434]

Love your channel! I’m new to fish keeping and have a 20 gallon male Betta tank. I’m getting algae on my plants and rocks so wanted to get some of these fish. Should I quarantine first?

[@Tropicalfishcrazechannel]

Really good for algae tank

[@jimdavis9034]

OMG your daughter is SO adorable!!!

[@triple10tanks10]

One of my all time favorite fish

[@GirlTalksFish]

Mine too 😍

[@wowcoolehh2345]

Great video. I love ottos