otocinclus in a clown tank?

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greenbaron
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otocinclus in a clown tank?

Post by greenbaron » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:03 am

I have read of the oto's excelling in the algae control department. Anyone have any experience with a few of them in a clown tank?

starsplitter7
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Post by starsplitter7 » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:04 am

I love otos, but they need to be in a group. I keep a herd of ten. They eat together, sleep together and travel together.

They can be very difficult to acclimate, but if you have a group they acclimate better. I usually drip acclimate them over a period on an hour or more. They need excellent water quality. They eat algae and algae wafers. They clean algae off plants without damaging plants. I would put them in a Q-tank for a few weeks to help them with their acclimation. Give them little shelters too. Mine like to be in a coconut hut. Even in the Q-tank, I would give them shelters.

They have great little personalities. I really enjoy them.

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Emma Turner
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Post by Emma Turner » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:23 am

What size are your clown loaches? If they are large (say 6"+) you might find that the delicate Otocinclus are accidentally barged out of the way a lot of the time. I think you'd be better off with one of the Crossocheilus species for helping to keep algae in check.

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greenbaron
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Post by greenbaron » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:52 am

This is the siamese flying fox? I am unfamiliar with them, how well suited are they to 81.5F temps? Ideally, I'd like a fish that does well alone... I was also thinking of a red tailed shark (have kept a single before w/ clowns), and I even have emailed Franks about the Garra that he carries: "Forget Plecostomus, Hypostomus, Ancistris, even Flying Foxes. Garra are perhaps one of the best algae eating fishes out there."
I recently have been improving my processes for keeping the tank up, and once things stabilized nicely I added some plants. The first couple of plants came with snails, and those snails were doing a nice job keeping the plants' leaves clear of algae. These were tiny, tiny snails. My clowns are big. I thought the snails would pass well under their radar. Not so, and now I have some algae growing on some of the plants... so I need to add something but want it to be something with the least possible impact on the present fish load. Just thinking at this point...

Diana
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Post by Diana » Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:47 am

Crosscheilus siamensis is a decent algae eater that prefers the stringier sorts of algae, and does fine at the warmer temps. It does not eat the stuck-on sorts of algae.
For this sort of algae, in a warmer tank I would look at one of these:
Ancicstrus sp. "Bristlenose Pleco"
Farlowella
Sturisoma

All three of these get bigger than the Otos, can be kept singly, and do a very good (Bristlenose) to adequate (the other two) job on the flat, stuck on sorts of algae.

Beware of using the common name for the various 'Flying Fox' complex: There are quite a few fish that are closely related. Some eat a little algae, but would not really be thought of as good for algae control, and some do not really eat much at all.

For any of the algae eaters you can supplement their diet with fresh or lightly cooked vegetables such as zucchini (courgette), green beans, peas, green pepper, hard squash (cooked), yam and many other vegetables.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

starsplitter7
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Post by starsplitter7 » Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:43 pm

I also keep Bristlenoses and Farlowella.

Catfish are my favorites after loaches. :) Bristlenoses are great, won't get bullied by the clowns. I keep 5 of these. I know males are supposed to fight, but I have four together without issue. But they do fine alone too. My two albinos are much less shy than my brown ones, but it may just be due to how easy they are to spot.

I also have four Farlowella. I find them very difficult to keep. Mine do like to hang out in a group. I usually find them together, but I don't think they need company. I have had one long enough that I believe it will survive. A second I have had 4 months and I am inclined to think it may survive. The other two have been with me for 1 month, so I am not sure. I lose about 60% of them -- and I think that is better averages than most people. I have included bogwood for them, because I am pretty sure they eat it. I also feed when lights go out because they do not compete for food. My oldest one does compete, and I am sure this accounts for its long-term survival. Thy would do better in a quiet tank.

For more catfish info:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=330

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... cle_id=261

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jones57742
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Post by jones57742 » Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:33 pm

I have several zebra Oto's with my Yoyo's, Polka Dot's and striata's (finally found some in Austin) and the Oto's seem to really enjoy themselves.

As Tanja indicated Bristlenose Pleco's are first class "cleaner uppers" for algae on the tank walls and the plants as well as bottom cleaning.

TR
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In the short run the good guys never win:
In the long run they win some of the times!
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greenbaron
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Post by greenbaron » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:56 am

I have several zebra Oto's with my Yoyo's, Polka Dot's and striata's (finally found some in Austin) and the Oto's seem to really enjoy themselves.
I'd love to see a picture of that! Please?
Tell me, do the zebra's do well in 6.4 - 6.6 pH and 81.5F temps (soft water) conditions? Am having some trouble finding info (and availability) on these guys... how big are yours?
thx

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jones57742
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Post by jones57742 » Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:09 pm

greenbaron wrote:I'd love to see a picture of that! Please?
Will try to figure out how to use the office camera.
greenbaron wrote:Tell me, do the zebra's do well in 6.4 - 6.6 pH and 81.5F temps (soft water) conditions?
I do not know. They seem to enjoy very soft water with a Ph of 7 and a temperature of 78F.

greenbaron wrote:Am having some trouble finding info (and availability) on these guys...
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=353

I stumbled into some on Aquabid but have not seen any since.
The vendor was http://www.corysrus.com/gallery_oc_1.htm.

greenbaron wrote: how big are yours?
Approximately 1.5"

TR
Hookem Horns and Keep Austin Weird
In the short run the good guys never win:
In the long run they win some of the times!
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greenbaron
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Post by greenbaron » Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:39 pm

planetcatfish.com looks like a very useful site, thanks for that. looks like all the oto's are liking it a little cooler than what I'm running in my tank. too bad, that zebra oto was looking really good...

Beowulf
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Post by Beowulf » Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:42 pm

While in the past I have had groups of oto's with my clowns, I agree with other that you might be better off with something like a bushynose pleco and some SAE's.

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greenbaron
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most expensive tropical fish?

Post by greenbaron » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:31 am

Related to this thread, in that I finally decided on a particular kind of bristlenose for clean-up duty in my tank and have been trolling aquabid keeping an eye out for the right one... and I saw this BUY IT NOW for 50 zebra plecos at the unbelieveable price of $24500.00 :shock:
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... 1220732985
Or how about a pair of blue eyed plecos for $8000 :shock:
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... 1220790901
I am not after a zebra or blue eyed pleco fortunately, but it just made me wonder what was the most $$ anybody ever paid for a tropical fish? Ok, I'm way off topic! :wink:

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jones57742
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Re: most expensive tropical fish?

Post by jones57742 » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:18 am

greenbaron wrote:Related to this thread, in that I finally decided on a particular kind of bristlenose for clean-up duty in my tank and have been trolling aquabid keeping an eye out for the right one...
gb:

Occasionally a group of very nice brown, tan, or black BN's with very high dorsal fins and distinctive white or yellow spots will be on AB for like $5/EA in groups of five.


If you want an additional cleanup crew you might consider Malaysian Live Bearer Snails (aka Malaysian Trumpet Snails). These snails will clean up all surfaces within a tank and will borough to a depth of approximately 2" (at least in one inch of 1/4" aggregate over 2" of laterite) and clean up this portion of the substrate.

In a tank with loaches (at least grown Yoyo's, young juvenile Polka Dot's, and young juvenile Striata's) they will somehow survive and reproduce. You may not see any adult snails but when you first turn on the lights you will see many small, white baby snails.

These presence of these snails allows me to slightly overfeed and still maintain pristine water conditions.

TR
Hookem Horns and Keep Austin Weird
In the short run the good guys never win:
In the long run they win some of the times!
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greenbaron
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Post by greenbaron » Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:14 pm

I really like the long fin albino bristlenoses... I think they are a manmade concoction out of Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus, but I just think they are beautiful... it looks as though they stay slightly smaller as albino's too- anybody have anything good to say about them? I think they will go with my tank conditions too 6.6pH, 40ppmGH, 40-50ppmKH, 81.5F, and I've finally got my TDS down to mid-200's, and nitrates down to 5ppm with the new plants helping out ... and I like that they are tank raised and not wild, one less thing to worry about ...
For anyone interested in the zebra oto's which seem hard to find, they did pop up on aquabid recently http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... 1221051614, one day left I think, pretty fish just not going to work in my setup.
Trying to get a pic of my tank with the new plants but man, is it hard. I really have to hand it to all yous guys who take such beautiful pictures of your fish and tanks... I sure haven't got the hang of it yet!

starsplitter7
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Post by starsplitter7 » Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:36 pm

Here are two threads I had about my Albino Veiltail Bristlenose.

This one has pictures.
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... ristlenose

These were my initial questions.
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... ristlenose

I love this fish. Super active, not shy. About 3" now and growing well. The fins are amazing. I don't know how this fish would survive in the wild. But in the tank, it is fantastic.

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