Otocinclus Catfish / The Algae Eating Machine

[@killrkittn]

Beautiful tanks and super informative video. Thank you! I just got 6 ottos for my 30 gallon shared with one betta. They're so mesmerizing

[@rhondasmith1607]

I gotta say this video was truly enjoyable to watch. Wonderful info, hard to find that. Your tank is amazing.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

@@rhondasmith1607 thank you!

[@victoriahilson1290]

Definitely adding these fish to my new 20 gallon !!!

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

A must have for any cleanup crew in your tank. Add at least 5 in a tank that size or even 7. They like to have larger numbers if you can . Please like, subscribe and share. Thank you!

[@cdave2006]

i really like your tank with the moving leaves. How do you make them "float" a litle bit like that. Massive pump or something else?

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Not sure what your question is sorry?

[@cdave2006]

@@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto oh sorry, English isn't my mother's tongue. But all your plants seems to move in the water, mine are very still. Yours have the leaves moving naturally. Do you know how ? Shape of the tank? Direction of the stream of the water? Specific arrangements for the water pump? My plants don't have the leaves slowly jiggling like that... It's quit peaceful.

[@cdave2006]

@@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto I am talking about the tank at 17:46 lovely slow movement in the leaves that is quit natural and beautiful

[@Alniemi]

@@cdave2006 Best tip is just to play around with the nozzle a bit and see what you can get. If your filter doesnt have a movable nozzle, you can build some type of baffle to change the flow

[@spice_of_life]

Jungle val will grow to a floating length.

[@dspinoy]

What are those big plants in the background

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Those are a type of Sword.

[@dspinoy]

@@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto happen to know which specific one. I wanted this for my background. I have seiryu stones with nana petites in the front.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Let me see if I can find out? That tank has been rescaled for a while now!

[@dspinoy]

@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto all good, just cant decide what to put behind the rocks. Thanks anyways.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

There are many types of swords that will work.

[@franmorr1966]

I have an 120 gallon aquarium with a lingering silver dollar and clown loaches, yo-yos and Congo tetras. Will the larger fish go after the Oto’s?

[@hotwater8473]

Great spotlight, I am setting up a 16x16x16 planted tank and was trying to get an idea for how many oto’s I should add.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

5-7 should work good!

[@filipkarolczyk1045]

Good movie Bro ! Respect

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Thank you!

[@cloudcolubrids4603]

Great video, I was struggling with algae pretty bad and took many steps like dropping my light to 6hrs a day doing weekly water changes and even used excel with some results but the algae kept coming back pretty bad. I bought 13 otocinclus and 1 siamese algae eater thinking there's no way these tiny fish will remove this algae that was covering all of my plants and rocks....3 weeks later my tank is amazing looking with no algae at all. Now I feed them blanched zucchini because there's no algae left.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Great. Yes the problem is keeping them healthy after he Algae is gone. I have moved to Panda Garr as a better clean up fish and they will eat anything that is left over. Buy a minimum of 5 or just one. Otherwise they will fight. Try that or keep doing what you are doing. Just another option.

[@kathleenmonsegue9700]

Get a phosphate freshwater test kit to see how much phosphate you have in your tank. Also lack of co2, high light from the plant led light can cause hair algae, too much organic waste in the substrate, not enough partial water changes, or not enough plant coverage in the tank, and not having fast growing plants in the planted tank, and unstable tank parameters. There’s so many factors why hair algae is always growing in your tank. I’m struggling with it myself.

[@LaRosi0114]

My little Oto is really picky but she's very healthy. I can't get her to eat zucchini, cucumber, or anything really. But there's algae in there and she eats my plants! I caught her a few days ago and the Amazon Swords are definitely taking a beating in areas. I have shorter plants (don't recall what they are) and she ate all of one of them. 😢

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Are you keeping just one Oto? Otto’s don’t do well without large groups. In the wild they are found in groups of a thousand. You don’t have enough Algae in the tank if they are chewing on plants.

[@LaRosi0114]

@@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto yeah, I had a few but I had gotten them from Petsmart and I'm down to one. Didn't see all the videos until after. I actually watched a recent KZbin video put out by Cory from Aquarium Co Op and he talked about his experience with Otos and why he thinks they die so quickly on folks. From when they are caught to when they end up in your tank, etc. He said that if you have a smaller tank and you end up with one Oto, they can end up doing better by themselves or as one or two. I know it's controversial, but she's actually really happy by herself in terms of her eating and her activity level. You should check out Cory's video. It is not the one from 6-8 years ago where he's holding his cell phone. He actually goes on a trip to catch them from South America.

[@terischneider9728]

Just saw this video. I have one Ottocinclus not realizing I needed the group of them I have a 20 gallon long aquarium that's moderately planted maybe toward the heavy side. I have five small zebra danios. How many ottos can I add without overstocking?

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Five as they stay to themselves! Almost impossible to find right now like do many other things.

[@ranjanty]

The guy at the fish store recommended I only buy one for my 55 gallon tank. I guess I got a healthy one. Going on 4 weeks. I haven't done any water changes since I started the tank and it's doing good.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Typically I find one will survive a few months and then just disappear!

[@jimsrenaski7118]

I have seven tanks ranging from 2, 55ga to my largest which is a 75 gal. Does it make sense to put a group of these in every tank? One of my tanks has nothing but discus. another has a an assortment (that's a big bow front. I also have three quarantine tanks with tetras and Corydoras. Any suggestions?

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

I think if you are focusing strictly on Discus Fish that would be fine. I have 4 Discus tanks right now but also have a staff that help me with the rest. That is a lot to take on. If you have the time and that is what you want?

[@kathleenmonsegue9700]

Will they eat all of the green filamentous hair algae on my plants besides eating brown diatom algae on the tank walls? Is would get Siamese algae eaters but they get big and eat my dwarf shrimp and their babies.

[@cheryllong995]

Do you know what the lifespan of the ottos is ?

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

I Have found that if they live a year you are very lucky. Keeping Otto’s can be tricky and must be kept in groups of 10 or more. I do not use them in my tanks as they are very sensitive to available algae. They often will only eat Diatom algae and if they have any competition they starve. The better choice I have found since making that video is the Siamese Algae Eater and a Pair of Bristle Nose Plecos. Preferably the Albino species. Good luck.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

If you have other questions you can call me at 800-566-1647 thanks!

[@remhk6672]

They're definitely an algae eating machine. They only eat brown diatoms though. But they do a superb job. But even with them, if you have any other bottom feeders like Cory's, the otos would start preferring that and ignore the algae. Best not to feed them everyday and go without feeding once or twice a week.

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

I have gotten away from these fish as they run out of algae if your tank is well cycled and die. Try Panda Garr 1 or five fish. Anything in between they will fight. 1 will do fine on its own. I have a video on these. Look at my videos for a recent Species profile on these very cool unknown fish. You can find them online. Enjoy Please Subscribe.

[@magosteamj1243]

THANK'S X SHARE !!

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

Thank you!

[@andrescott2794]

How many otocinlus can you keep in a10g tank and Do you still keep Rams I been witch your youtube videos on all the plants and the other fish you keep and can you keep 1 Ram in a10g tank I like the Blue Ram you had in your youtube videos and I give you youtube videos a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and are you ever going to keep Ram anger

[@aquaticconceptsbringingwaterto]

I think three Oto's in a 10 gallon as long as your tank is not heavily stocked and good water changing habits. I still have the same ram in that one 10 gallon but just him with algae eaters and snails. He is doing great. I am shocked he has done as well but water changes may be the key there and no other fish other than Oto's and Cory Cats.