Otocinclus, How Many?

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Offline Thor God Of Thunder

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Otocinclus, how many?
« on: August 07, 2015, 11:29:23 AM »
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Hi guys, my tank is going well and I am now looking to add Otocinclus. My only issue is that some sites say they need to be shoaled, however no site says with how many.

 I got 6 pandas and love how they swim around together they look too cute (apart from that loner who seems to hate his own kind) off btw is it normal for pandas to clean other fish? some of my gold fish love chilling at the bottom while the pandas give em a scrub down....

Anyway, back to the otos how many should I get, 200 L tank 100cm long.

Offline Sue

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Re: Otocinclus, how many?
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2015, 01:36:26 PM »
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I would say 4 is the minimum, and you can go higher than that if you want to. I have 4 in my 180 litre tank and they seem fine with that number - though it is hard for us to say exactly what constitutes 'fine' to a fish.

Do you have some algae growing in your tank? Otos can be picky eaters, needing algae of certain types. I have heard reports that some will eat algae pellets or sushi nori, but others say theirs won't touch them.
When you get your otos, try to find out how long that batch has been in the shop tank. Otos are often on the verge of starvation when they arrive in the shop, and once these fish reach a certain point, they can't start eating again no matter how much food they have. Newly arrived fish are more likely to just die for no apparent reason in your tank than those that have been in the shop a couple of weeks (the weak ones will have already died). And choose specimens with nicely rounded bellies, they have been eating.

Offline fcmf

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Re: Otocinclus, how many?
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2015, 01:44:04 PM »
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Thanks for the question and Sue's helpful reply - I'd been wondering the same thing (purely for future reference as it's not currently an option for me as I'm fully stocked).

Re the loner fish, you might well find that, over time, this all changes.  I've noticed many different configurations over the 9+ mths I've had my tank established: x-ray tetras having a loner one for a while, the two females paired off, two separate mini-shoals of 3; the pygmy cories being very much independent, then pairing off but not necessarily in the same pairs; the harlequins shoaling in a group of 5 with the small sixth one pairing off with the similar-sized cories or copying the scuffles between the tetras or copying the dart-to-the-surface behaviour of the cories even although there's no food there.  It can be "all change", and re-arrangement of aquarium décor can play a major part of this and as to who decides to occupy which part of the tank.  It never gets boring, that's for sure!

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