# Number of Ottos & Shrimp in tank



## Jaap (17 Oct 2014)

Hello,

I have a 40L heavily planted, high tech aquarium. How many amano shrimp and how many ottos would it be advisable to have in order to keep some minimal algae I have at bay and to also clear dirt off of the leaves and mosses?

Thanks


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## JayZH (17 Oct 2014)

one amano per 5L, so 8 should be enough,. what other fish do you have there? they will hide if larger spieces is around.

Ottos, get some brown otto, they are more fun to watch than affinis.


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## Jaap (17 Oct 2014)

Jaap said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have a 40L heavily planted, high tech aquarium. How many amano shrimp and how many ottos would it be advisable to have in order to keep some minimal algae I have at bay and to also clear dirt off of the leaves and mosses?
> 
> Thanks


What otto is this?


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## sciencefiction (19 Oct 2014)

It's a female otto 

Anyway, it looks like otocinclus macrospilus but I can't be sure.


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## Jaap (19 Oct 2014)

I have added 3 guppies 8 days ago and they are doing fine. On Thursday I have added one Amano shrimp and one Otto. Today, 4 days later, the Otto is alive but just hangs out in the tank without doing much and the shrimp is dead. I used to dose Excel 5ml per day in this 40L tank but I have stopped doing so on Wednesday. So The day I bought them and onwards I haven't dosed any Excel. Also I have lowered the CO2 a bit once I saw that the Otto isn't moving much so I thought he might not be as ok as the Guppies with the CO2 levels since the Guppies can breath from the surface of the water, however the Otto never showed signs of distress except the fact that it wasn't moving much.

What can be wrong here? I wouldn't want to kill any more Ottos or Amanos....


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## sciencefiction (19 Oct 2014)

Guppies don't breathe from the surface. If they are at the surface then it could be nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Adding 4 fish at once in such a small tank could be overloading it so check your stats, do daily water changes while it cycles/starts coping with the bioload. At this stage I wouldn't add any more fish for a while.
I don't even see that much algae in there for the otto, but it will at least like one friend as they are very sociable.


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## Jaap (19 Oct 2014)

sciencefiction said:


> Guppies don't breathe from the surface. If they are at the surface then it could be nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Adding 4 fish at once in such a small tank could be overloading it so check your stats, do daily water changes while it cycles/starts coping with the bioload. At this stage I wouldn't add any more fish for a while.
> I don't even see that much algae in there for the otto, but it will at least like one friend as they are very sociable.


I am not sure how this goes but a fully planted tank running for 80 days now shouldn't have had such a problem with nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Am I right or wrong?


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## sciencefiction (19 Oct 2014)

Jaap said:


> I am not sure how this goes but a fully planted tank running for 80 days now shouldn't have had such a problem with nitrite/ammonia poisoning. Am I right or wrong?



Not really. I presumed the tank is newer, hence the above comment but if the guppies are gasping, there's something going on. You can still cause a spike by adding fish at once, although it should be handled faster in a cycled/planted tank. If the fish are acting fine, then ignore. From my side of the keyboard I am only guessing.


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## Jaap (19 Oct 2014)

Guppies look absolutely fine...the otto isn't moving much though...its just stuck on the glass all time


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## sciencefiction (19 Oct 2014)

Is there any algae inside that tank for the otto to eat? They get stationery if there's nothing to eat. The tank is relatively new to be able to support ottos, and also small enough too to have much surface area.
If you have zucchini, microwave a slice for about 1.5-2 min and put it inside with something to hold it.  See if it would go for it. And they like the company of their own peers so eventually I'd get it a friend or two.

Besides that, I'd just do a few more water changes. There's nothing more you can do bar feed the fish and keep the water stats spot on.


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## Jaap (19 Oct 2014)

sciencefiction said:


> Is there any algae inside that tank for the otto to eat? They get stationery if there's nothing to eat. The tank is relatively new to be able to support ottos, and also small enough too to have much surface area.
> If you have zucchini, microwave a slice for about 1.5-2 min and put it inside with something to hold it.  See if it would go for it. And they like the company of their own peers so eventually I'd get it a friend or two.
> 
> Besides that, I'd just do a few more water changes. There's nothing more you can do bar feed the fish and keep the water stats spot on.


There is some algae but not much...I have algae wafers amd just added one to see if it will go for it...I will get another otto then soon and maybe that will help...


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## sciencefiction (19 Oct 2014)

My ottos almost never go for algae wafers, not in the years I've kept them or at least I have never seen them being interested in such food.


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## Andy Thurston (19 Oct 2014)

sciencefiction said:


> My ottos almost never go for algae wafers, not in the years I've kept them or at least I have never seen them being interested in such food.


Mine do but not if theres other food sources in the tank


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## Jaap (19 Oct 2014)

What else can i feed?


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## sciencefiction (19 Oct 2014)

Big clown said:


> Mine do but not if theres other food sources in the tank



Yes, some people's otto seem to go for other food. The best I've seen with mine is spirulina sticks. They go for them but only for a few seconds, but at least they show some interest in them unlike with any other food.  And that's only if they are not disturbed by other fish as they seem skittish like that.
Blanched zucchini seems to be the best and some cucumber too possibly.


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## Bhu (19 Oct 2014)

I added some blanched cucumber to my tank but the armanos ate it all! The otos didn't get a look in! Saying that the otos are happy eating away on the biofilm on leaves, wood and the glass.


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## Jaap (23 Oct 2014)

Will cherry shrimp eat some of the diatom algae that I have and remove the dirt from my mosses?


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## sciencefiction (23 Oct 2014)

They will clean the moss well but are not very good at diatoms, especially on glass. Ottos love diatoms on another hand.


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## Bhu (23 Oct 2014)

Otos also like to be in a shoal so 10 would be great for them. More shrimp will always help as they are eating off the bio film constantly.


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## sciencefiction (23 Oct 2014)

Well, I wouldn't put any near 10 in a 40l tank, even 4 would be too many.


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## Bhu (24 Oct 2014)

sciencefiction said:


> Well, I wouldn't put any near 10 in a 40l tank, even 4 would be too many.


I thought the OP had a 60lt tank? As long as no other fish 10 would be fine and worth their weight in gold for what they do...


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## Jaap (24 Oct 2014)

I currently have 3....lets see how they deal with diatoms....do they eat the diatoms of plants like limnophilia sesiloflora that has more delicate leaves?


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## sciencefiction (24 Oct 2014)

I am not sure about limnophilia sesiloflora. I've never kept it but they are normally quite capable of cleaning thin grassy plants. You are going to have to see.


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## elettrone (24 Oct 2014)

Ottos usually eat slightly boiled zucchini, mine sure do and amano as well but not all zucchini are alike, try different batches.
Yesterday i added two slices of zuccchini in my tank and surprisingly no one even touched them while they usualy dig holes in them...so it might be this batch they don't like.
Btw i have a Rio 180 and i got 15 amano and 6 ottos and they do just fine with the 50ish paracheirodon axelrodi(they are pretty small fishes) and 6 cory pandas.


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## GTL_UK (14 Nov 2014)

They love cucumber


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## X3NiTH (14 Nov 2014)

From what I have seen Cherries will sometimes eat diatoms if there is not much else to eat in the tank, they will graze on it if it's on the glass but I've never seen them chew on it enough to eliminate it completely, snails do a better job but even they will avoid it if there are other food sources in the tank. Cherry shrimp are very good detrivores and breed prolifically so will help to keep things cleaner in the tank in the harder to reach spaces, they also make a good supplemental food source for the fish if they can catch them.


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## sciencefiction (15 Nov 2014)

Cherries will never eliminate algae on the glass even if it's diatoms or green algae which they love. But they'll die trying. I have them in hundreds and they do congregate trying to.

By the way GTL_UK, I am very jealous of  your ottos. After seeing the video I put a cucumber in 3 of my tanks, two with ottos and as usual they just bounce off it without paying attention for too long.  But I've never had that many in one tank so maybe I need more.


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## GTL_UK (15 Nov 2014)

sciencefiction said:


> Cherries will never eliminate algae on the glass even if it's diatoms or green algae which they love. But they'll die trying. I have them in hundreds and they do congregate trying to.
> 
> By the way GTL_UK, I am very jealous of  your ottos. After seeing the video I put a cucumber in 3 of my tanks, two with ottos and as usual they just bounce off it without paying attention for too long.  But I've never had that many in one tank so maybe I need more.


Just give them some time, they need to learn new food ;]


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