Otocinclus affinis & my Cherries/Rilis/Blue Pearl

[elwaynetan]

Hello...

I am intending to house a pair of Otocinclus affinis in my shrimp only tank. I read that their requirements in an aquarium is similar to those of a shrimp only tank. Having a planted tank, i guessed it's nice to have a pair in the tank to help out with the maintenance of the aquarium to keep the algae in control while I do my routine maintenance.

But I wanna seek out some opinions here if they are really a good companion with the shrimps of mine. Well, I read that a healthy otto poops like nobody business.. which somehow will affect the water parameters definitely. But I guess with proper and religious maintenance routine, the impact can be minimised?

Well, I guessed I am not really looking into breeding my shrimps yet but keep them as an observation and a learning platform for me to advance further in the future though I just discovered a berried Blue Pearl yesterday night. Haha!

Opinions people.

[Navanod]

Healthy shrimps that are reproducing in a healthy colony will out-poop the otto in no time so it's probably not going to be a concern at all.
Note that ottos mostly only eats brown diatom algae and soft green algae. Green spot algae and other exotic algaes will not be touched.
As such, you'll have to feed the otto some algae wafers from time to time or expect them to fight with the shrimp for food

[badabing]

Sorry to hijack your thread. Is it safe by having an otto in the same tank with baby shrimp ? Because i am afraid that the otto will bully the baby shrimp. Which one is recomended by having an otto or red ramshorn snail in shrimps tank? Thank you.

[elwaynetan]

Sorry to hijack your thread. Is it safe by having an otto in the same tank with baby shrimp ? Because i am afraid that the otto will bully the baby shrimp. Which one is recomended by having an otto or red ramshorn snail in shrimps tank? Thank you.

From what I've read, they're basically very peaceful fish in a tank and will usually mind their own business, though sometimes they exhibit territorial aggression. But other than that, unless the shrimplet is a small corner with the otto, I believed it's not going to be a problem. But anyway, the shrimplets are small! I think they'll be ignored instead. Hahaha!

Both are diligent cleaners in a tank. I guess you have to managed yopur own expectations and see which one you'd prefer the most. But from my understanding, both are not harmful to shrimplets or the adults!

[elwaynetan]

Healthy shrimps that are reproducing in a healthy colony will out-poop the otto in no time so it's probably not going to be a concern at all.
Note that ottos mostly only eats brown diatom algae and soft green algae. Green spot algae and other exotic algaes will not be touched.
As such, you'll have to feed the otto some algae wafers from time to time or expect them to fight with the shrimp for food

Hey! Thanks for the advice!

Sorry but to side track, are you still in the SAF? Haha!

[Navanod]

I don't understand. I'm still an NSmen if thats what you mean

[elwaynetan]

I don't understand. I'm still an NSmen if thats what you mean

Hahaha... Nooo. I thought you are still active or a regular. You sounded like one. Nevermind! Just wondering.

So what's your take on this? Do you recommend? Or best leave the tank as it is and carry on my regime?

[Navanod]

To be honest, I would sooner die than be an SAF regular.
I'm a biologist working in the clinical research fields, although I've stopped doing research long ago and mainly deal with operations now. That may explain the style of writing?

Ottos are always a welcomed addition to shrimp tanks. They would not clean everything off the glass but they take a portion of the algae (and cleaning work) away.
Ottos are very weak when first arrived at the LFS, so buy some extras and expect casualties. Try to have at least 6 in the tank as they are rather social fishes. There will likely not be enough algae to go around for 6, which is why I mentioned that they'll be stealing food from the shrimps.
Don't worry, they are quite gentle and cannot hurt the shrimps. So go ahead and get some and see if your glass clears up.

For the more stubborn green spot algae, only nerite snails and maybe "apple" snails can remove them. Ramhorn and other snails, I'm not sure.
The cons of these snail is that Nerites will lay eggs everywhere (but these will never hatch, they need brackish water) while apple snails will reproduce rather quickly if overfed.

[alvinchan80]

To be honest, I would sooner die than be an SAF regular.
I'm a biologist working in the clinical research fields, although I've stopped doing research long ago and mainly deal with operations now. That may explain the style of writing?

Ottos are always a welcomed addition to shrimp tanks. They would not clean everything off the glass but they take a portion of the algae (and cleaning work) away.
Ottos are very weak when first arrived at the LFS, so buy some extras and expect casualties. Try to have at least 6 in the tank as they are rather social fishes. There will likely not be enough algae to go around for 6, which is why I mentioned that they'll be stealing food from the shrimps.
Don't worry, they are quite gentle and cannot hurt the shrimps. So go ahead and get some and see if your glass clears up.

For the more stubborn green spot algae, only nerite snails and maybe "apple" snails can remove them. Ramhorn and other snails, I'm not sure.
The cons of these snail is that Nerites will lay eggs everywhere (but these will never hatch, they need brackish water) while apple snails will reproduce rather quickly if overfed.

Otto do 'slap' shrimps in their frantic rush for the algae wafer.. I don't think that is very nice when food is supposed to be served for Subject A but suddenly Subject B appear to share the food but slaps Subject A in the midst of it... Hahahaha

[Navanod]

At least the ottos do not take off with the food like yamatos.
I got around this problem by scattering small pieces of food instead of big chunks of wafers. Each otto can only hog 1 piece at a time.

[elwaynetan]

To be honest, I would sooner die than be an SAF regular.
I'm a biologist working in the clinical research fields, although I've stopped doing research long ago and mainly deal with operations now. That may explain the style of writing?

Ottos are always a welcomed addition to shrimp tanks. They would not clean everything off the glass but they take a portion of the algae (and cleaning work) away.
Ottos are very weak when first arrived at the LFS, so buy some extras and expect casualties. Try to have at least 6 in the tank as they are rather social fishes. There will likely not be enough algae to go around for 6, which is why I mentioned that they'll be stealing food from the shrimps.
Don't worry, they are quite gentle and cannot hurt the shrimps. So go ahead and get some and see if your glass clears up.

For the more stubborn green spot algae, only nerite snails and maybe "apple" snails can remove them. Ramhorn and other snails, I'm not sure.
The cons of these snail is that Nerites will lay eggs everywhere (but these will never hatch, they need brackish water) while apple snails will reproduce rather quickly if overfed.

Haha... Chill boss! But thanks for the advice! Sounds like 6 seems good. The food shouldn't be a problem as I acquired algae wafers recently... Likely will break them up nicely when feeding the tank.

Cheers!

[elwaynetan]

Otto do 'slap' shrimps in their frantic rush for the algae wafer.. I don't think that is very nice when food is supposed to be served for Subject A but suddenly Subject B appear to share the food but slaps Subject A in the midst of it... Hahahaha

Ok.. That doesn't sound very nice. Lol! I will follow Navand's method by scattering the food!

[alvinchan80]

Ok.. That doesn't sound very nice. Lol! I will follow Navand's method by scattering the food!

Please remember to take out uneaten food if not finished... So don't scatter too many...

[avex30]

Otto do 'slap' shrimps in their frantic rush for the algae wafer.. I don't think that is very nice when food is supposed to be served for Subject A but suddenly Subject B appear to share the food but slaps Subject A in the midst of it... Hahahaha

otto = reckless drunk fish!

[alvinchan80]

otto = reckless drunk fish!

Can issue summon for drink swimming?

Hahahaha