Are Otos an easy species to introduce and keep in a 10 gallon tank?

Question

So right now I have 6 glowlight danios and a some plants. I heard that Otos were a good bottom feeder / algae eater. Anyone have any advice on them? I also hear that they die easily...

I do have glowlight DANIOS. They are about an inch big so Im not really worried about overstocking if I get 2 or 3 otos...

I found the glowlights at a pet store in Portland, Oregon called the Wet Spot. Its nothing like a small neighborhood pet store but more like an aquarium. Wonderful place to visit if you're ever in the area.

Answer 1

Big warning here - they are pooping machines!

I just got two of them a couple months ago (they came out of quarantine last month). They're currently in a 55-gallon tank with two filters, yet every week I still pick up poop when I vacuum.

Make sure you quarantine them for a month or so when you get them, as more often than not they are wild-caught (thus carrying parasites and bacteria). Make sure they show no signs of sickness/bloating/discoloration before adding them to your tank. They prefer higher current, but are perfectly fine in a calmer tank. Need to be kept in at least groups of two, but the larger numbers you can handle, the better off they'd be. Water conditions need to be near perfect at all times - this means NO ammonia, NO nitrite, MINIMAL nitrates (less than 20ppm), steady tropical temps, and steady neutral-ish pH. They will eat food if no algae is found (though even though I have no visible algae anymore, they seem to still like sucking stuff off the glass).

Honestly, if you want just a bottom feeder, look into a small group of cory cats (at least four). They don't eat algae, but they do a much better job as a "cleanup crew". Since you will be slightly overstocked with all the added fish, you will have to be religious about your weekly water changes - do at least 30%. It might help to keep a nitrate test kit on hand to see what your nitrates are after a week - anything higher than 40ppm is harmful (less than 20ppm is best). Though you do have the added bonus of having live plants (they are live, right?) - plants "eat" nitrate.

Answer 2

Otos don't get very large, and you could easily add 2 otos to your 6 glowlights, if you really have glowlights (glowlight danios only get about an inch long). If you actually have GloFish (glowing zebra danios), which are a lot more common, they get 2-3 inches and then you would have an overstocking problem.
Otos are great, they are really friendly and constantly eat algae, but they won't be a great bottom feeder in terms of leftover food (for that I'd look to small cory species like panda cories).
They don't die easily, but if you buy too many for the amount of algae in your aquarium, they will starve. I wouldn't get more than 2 for a 10 gallon, and keep the light on a little longer to make sure they have enough algae to eat. If/when your algae is gone, you will want to buy small algae wafers for them.
FYI, since you have a planted aquarium, otos are the best algae eater for eating the algae off of your plants without actually eating or damaging the plants.
And one question for you, where did you find glowlight danios? They are pretty rare and I haven't seen them anywhere.

Answer 3

You would have to get 2 or 3 of them since they like to be in groups and already having 6 danios in there you would be pushing it. As long as your params are stable then you could try it but I would get a bigger tank then try it.