Otocinclus Catfish Concern

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hello Fish Lovers,

My concern is for the health of the Otocinclus Catfish. I am setting up a planted/discus tank (95 Gallon) and from what I have been reading about these little fellows is they prefer water between 72-78 degrees (F). But, discus requires much warmer waters of 82 to 86 degrees (F).

I want to purchase a dozen or so of these miracle workers on algae when my tank is established, but what about the differences in water? Is there one type of Otocinclus Catfish that might suit this purpose over another?

Also, looking into a few albino Bristlenose Plecos, same issue with temperature.

Thanks for your help!

DiscusLoverJeff

[zamboniMan]

Ottos do okay though they have shorter lifespans at the higher temperature.

You might look into Siamese algae eaters (SAE) they do a good job and handle the temperature a bit better.

Hope that helps,
Josh

[danny2013]

I have kept my otto's with my discus and they have lived for +/- 2 years now. Water temp is 85. I have yet to have any health problems with them. hope this help's.

Dan

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Thank you all for your advice! I will try a couple and see what happens.

DiscusLoverJeff

[Tito]

SAE? Defitnitely questionable. And even Otos will stick to a Discus if its hungry enough. Most don't live so long - I don't know why. I've kept them off and on - some will die off quickly and one or two will last.

[mathao]

you MUST qt them for about 4 weeks and feed them to get them healthy enough, when they first get imported they are starved and not very healthy, these are wild caught fish every one of them, there has been no record of tank raised ones, so you have to be very careful of handling them and feeding them when they first come in, just don't throw them in a tank and think they will do ok, i tell you this because i have over 30 otto's now, when i first started keeping them they would start to die of and didn't know what was going on so i had to experiment a little, i lost a few of them in the experiments , but now i don't lose any. they will do fine in the higher temps if you slowly acclimate them to it.

here is a website about ottos
http://www.squidoo.com/otocinclus#module8651376