Saturday, March 25, 2006

Pleco or otos?

So, for the last three weeks I have not been able to devote the several hours neccessary for me to clean my tank. As it is still very new it does have a variety of algae, the most prevalent being orangey diatoms and white, whispy thread algae. It's really not too bad for three weeks growth, but it begs the question: should I get some algae eating fish?

I had decided a while back that I would really like a bushy-nose plecostamus. With all this growth of nice, soft, filmy algae that I'm relatively sure a pleco won't bother with on all the plants, however, I'm starting to think that maybe a trio of otos would be a better choice. The thing is, my tank already looks so busy...the idea of adding so many more fish doesn't seem to be a good one. I know my tank can "handle" a few more, but can I? I just don't know what to choose; a pleco or otos.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Plecos get a lot bigger than otos. Otos top out at about 2 inches. Plecos can get up to six or more.

Anonymous said...

So plecos aren't good for ten gallon, is what I'm saying. Personally, I'm putting four otos in my 10 gallon with a betta.

Unknown said...

Yes, you are right. I was trying to decide whether to get otos or a bushynose pleco for my 29 gallon. Since bushynoses only get to about 6 inches, they are one of the only varieties I would consider for such a small tank, and I couldn't find one at my LFS anyway.

Coincidently, just this last weekend I finally found a 3" bushynose at the LFS and I bought him right away! He's very cute but a little shy, and currently he's under quarantine in the ten gallon.

Otos are a terrific choice for a ten gallon. The only other algae snacking fish that might work is an Algea Eater, which isn't that interesting and can be aggressive.

Anonymous said...

We got 3 otos and they clean up the tank ok. They dont eat it as fast as i thought they would, though.