Otocinclus... solo, pair, group? So confused.

[Karen B.]

Greetings 

Every single serious aquarist know to do his/her research on a particular species before buying it.

But... is it me or you can find pretty much every opinion and it’s opposite? I want to give the best care possible to my fish but I end up so confused.

I have hair algea in my 10 gallons and green algea mostly only on my anubias on my 15 and 20 gallons. For some reason, my nerite snail don’t like to go on top of the leaves.

My lights are on a timer, 8 hours a day.

I dislike the look of algea and would like to get otocinclus - everywhere they recommend a group of 5-6 or else the fish get stressed. I don’t think my tanks are big enough or could support them. 
Cory is the only one that seems to recommend 2 oto, even only 1 for a small tank. Has anyone experienced only 1 or 2 oto in their tank?

@Cory Could you reassure me that I wouldn’t make a mistake to get only 2 otos for each of my tanks?

Thank you!
 

[Cory]

There is every opinion cause none of them are correct. Even mine, is only my opinion based on my experiences. You have one side saying, they are a schooling fish and should be 6 or more. My response is, how is 6 a comfortable number? They school in thousands. No number we can keep in an aquarium is even close to ideal. Watch the video below to see how many they get in just 1 swipe of a net.

So if we can't keep them in schools of thousands, what is the metric? For me it's keeping them well fed. I believe the less you have, the easier that is to do. Some argue that they need "friends" you could make this same argument for dogs. Lots of dogs hate other dogs. Lots of dogs like other dogs. Dogs are pack animals, many people keep them as 1, or 2, or 3 etc. Rarely do people keep an entire pack of dogs.

Do you think it's easier to keep 12 dogs active, fed, healthy, and avoid fighting? Or do you think it's easier to do that with 1 dog. I'd say 2 dogs is harder than 1, but easier than 12. Same for 3 etc. People put a lot of personal feelings into fish. They site things with no evidence. I have never seen a study on their social behavior at the group numbers of 1 to 50, to see where the sweet spot is. Not factoring being able to keep them fed etc.

 

One last example, humans can be spotted in thousands at a concert etc. That doesn't mean we only like groups. Some of us like a group of say 2-5 in a house, some like to live solo. There is basically no evidence I've seen that actually makes me think keeping the "right number" is more important than how someone takes care of the animal. I find it much easier to meet the needs of fewer animals.

[lefty o]

in a 10gal, i'd bet 2-3 will be a happy number. of course, its just my opinion.

[Biotope Biologist]

Otocinclus are social in nature, but putting them into the aquarium where they no longer face natural predators you will see their behavior change. When you see them in an established tank they exhibit a variety of behaviors. Some become territorial over the best algae spot and chase off other otos, others group up and never leave the group. Some weirdly decide they are not bottom feeders anymore and swim around the water column. 

 

I would worry more about food than attempting a social group. Your otos and nerite snails will be happy having a supplemental diet of wafers. Although be careful with portions if you give them to much wafers they will ignore the algae. Why bother working for food when it's just handed to you right?

[Karen B.]

@CoryThank you so much for such a detailed reply. This is why I support Aquarium co op as much as I can. You actually take times to answer us. 
 

@Biotope Biologist Thank you very much. It all makes sense!

[CT_]

I used to be really paranoid about getting everything "right".  @Cory's perspective on a lot of things has really liberated me. 

My view now is to research what people think is "right".  Then do whatever I want and be willing to accept the consequences for it.

I bought 3 because I was told I could only keep one alive (😄) and I love them and they're fat for some reason that I can't fully understand just by watching them mostly ignore the stuff I give them (I think maybe they eat it at night).    Now I'm going back for 3 more because they hang out as 2 and 1 right now and I want to see what they'll do in a group of 6. 

 

For me the key is to get the number that I want (and can feed).  Especially with otos since you don't have to worry about aggression (I've even heard aggressive fish leave them alone).

 

Edit: If its the kind of algae they eat otos will DESTROY it in short order.  my 3 polished off a 5g quarintene tank in less than 12hr and I let it get covered in diatoms.  That said I'm currently fighting green hair algae and they don't eat that.  I also have one nerite that I treat like a roomba, if he's not where i want him I just pick him up and put him there.

Edited March 24, 2021 by CT_

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@CT_ and @Karen B. I have 7 adult Otos in a 20 gallon tank, I still have algae (and I feed them algae wafers too so I'm sure that's partly my fault). Otos definitely don't eat hair algae as I'm currently playing with parameters to get that dialed back. I must have the laziest 2 Nerites on the planet cause I'M the one controling the hair algae. 

[Karen B.]

@CT_ Thank you for your feedback. I must admit I am not much of a « try and see » as I have a hard time forgiving myself for mistake. S.I.P. Guppy that jumped out of my aquarium 😔Still mad at myself for that! You really made me laugh with your roomba snail!!!

 

@xXInkedPhoenixXI am right behind you on the lazy nerite snails! I got 4 in my 20 gallons and For some reason, most of the time, I find all 4 within 2 inches of each other on my tree branch. That thing is spotless, I tell you 🤪

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Karen B. totally with you. I don't even see a path on the glass they (Nerites) travel. I also think people lie about what Mystery Snails do- all mine do is try to procreate..... 😐

[Frank]

I have 3 otos in 15 gallons. At first, one of them staked a claim of friendship with another. When the third came anywhere close, the one would chase it away.

Now, I'll see them all together, or all separated,  or any two near each other. It seems completely random. 

I don't see them eating any established hair algae. They do clean plants that have thin layers of algae that I can't identify. They seem to like clean plastic. When I gravel vac, they attach to it.  However, when I first got them, they completely wiped out my diatom algae colony.

[Deku-Corydoras]

Apparently 4 out of 5 of my Nerites didn't get the memo on being lazy. They keep my 75 gallon nearly spotless. They blaze across the tank like Usain Bolt running through molasses. The odd one out is the Olive Nerite. The first day I got them, I thought he was dead because he spent the first 2 days not moving. He was sleeping the entire time. I named him Sean after my friend, who had messaged me after sleeping for 14 hours on that day. He's never stopped being a lazy snail.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Deku-Corydoras

[CT_]

I didn't realize nerites had such different work ethics.  I have a time lapse video of mine covering about 4square inches of a rock in a full day leaving a spotless swath and a huge pile of poop.

 

Even in Time lapse he's moving slow

[lefty o]

my nerites seem to truck right along at times.