How many Otocinclus should go in a 10 gallon tank?

Question

I have two 10 gallon tanks, at the moment one holds minnows from a pond in a pasture behind my house, the other 3 adult guppies and 9 of their babies (I'm planning on getting 1 more male because im not expecting them all to survive, especially the newest) Later on I'm going to throw those minnows back to the pond (probally tomorrow, I cant keep a tank empty for long at all! lol and the minnows arent pretty and attractive at all) and get a male and female betta, breed them, get rid of the male after he mates, get rid of the female after the eggs hatch, and get rid of the female fry so i can have more than one male in a tank together, a nice trick I learned from MM *beams* (I'm so happy for that trick! THANKS!) and I read that Otocinclus go nice with about all fishes and are very friendly and out of the way. At the moment I have one and she use to have another until that one died and I'm getting more. So, how many for the betta, how many for the 12+ guppies? I need them to clean up good!

Also, my fish poop alot! and often leave a good amount of left over food :D my one Otocinclus is fat and cant eat it all, so give me some help!

I'm not getting them until next weekend, so you have all the time in the world to give me an answer! Ask me a question, I'll add it to my details, and you edit your answer!

Answer 1

Ottos are very peaceful fish. They work well in just about any small community tank. They'll never bother the other fish. They're not good with big killer fish. They've got umbrella like spikes they can pop out if they're being eaten by a bigger fish. I've had to perform surgery a few times on big fish (convicts, terrors and oscars) that tried to eat ottos & got them stuck in their throats.

I'd say around 3 per tank give or take one. They stay about the same size as an adult male guppy.

They're not much in the way of cleanup crew though. They mostly eat green algae & they don't eat much meaty foods. You mentioned poop.... they don't eat poop. No fish does. If you're overfeeding, you're going to have problems.

You really should do some reading about how to feed fish properly. If you have guppies, they are more than willing to eat food that has fallen to the bottom if you're feeding them the right ammount. I used to condition guppies with sinking shrimp pellets and they had no problem cleaning the floor of the tank.

Answer 2

I think you may want to review either your question, or directions on breeding bettas - you need to remove the female after mating, and the male takes care of the eggs and fry until they're free-swimming. You have the order of who should be taken out when reversed. And to keep the male fry together, you'll need a tank on the order of 55 gallons or more, not a 10.

Otos are sensitive to water quality, and do best in groups, so I would try keeping them in groups of 3. But you'll have to do your part on the water quality, because if you keep males and females in the guppies, they'll breed and overstock the tank in no time. And you're overfeeding the fish if there's left over food at the bottom of the tank. This is only going to create more of a water quality problem if you add the wastes of additional fish.

If you're going to try and spawn the bettas, I wouldn't add any otos to their tank. Males will defend the nest and territory, and to spawn, you should have a low water level so he doesn't has as far to go to pick up eggs or fry to put them back into the bubblenest. There wouldn't be room for otos where they could avoid the male.

Answer 3

4

Answer 4

Even if the otos prefer to be in groups, I would still get 1. They only eat algae. If you get too many, they would starve. 1-2 should be enough to take care of tank algae. Since you have high ph, you can get some fish like guppies. Otos are algae eaters. You can fit a few more regular fish.

Answer 5

I wouldn't recommend otos unless you have a planted tank with algae. Even then, most sources say 1 oto per 10 gallons, and they like groups of 3, so you may not want to get any unless you have a lot of algae in the tank (the amount of algae is why it's recommended to only have 1 oto per 10 gallons). If you don't have a lot of algae, but still are getting them make sure you supplement their diet with cucumber and other veggies or they will starve to death.

Answer 6

Duh...the male Betta cares for the babies!!! As for minows they are just bait. I'm not sure exactly what your question is or what you want cleaned up. And you get rid of a lot of fish, not ecologically sound. How about you go out and but one of those aqariums with the plastic fish in it.

Answer 7

i would say maybe 7-10 in each tank