# Can I keep Scarlet Badis, CPDs and Otos together?



## Monkfish (25 Mar 2019)

Pretty much what the title says. I really like all 3 and would like to keep them in one tank if possible

Tank is 48litres and will (eventually) be heavily planted.


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## akwarium (25 Mar 2019)

yes should be fine together.


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## Monkfish (25 Mar 2019)

Awesome, thanks


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## zozo (26 Mar 2019)

Mind, Badis is wild catch, very picky eaters and its exclusively a micro predator, it needs a constant supply of live food such as Daphnia.. Than can be difficult to addapt to accepting froozen foods. Not having a steady supply of life food you risk not having Badis for very long. They simply starve to death..


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## Monkfish (26 Mar 2019)

Ok cool thanks for replying with that. Do they have tank bred ones in the UK or are they all wild caught?


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## zozo (26 Mar 2019)

Monkfish said:


> Do they have tank bred ones in the UK or are they all wild caught?



I realy do not know, professionaly they are not bred as far as i know. It's something you need to ask the shop. The ones i can find are according the importer Wild specimen.. And this importer, exports again to several UK lfs. 

It is btw very difficult to find female specimen in the trade. Girls are just dull grey in color.. What also is problematic with sexing, sub dominant males can look like females.


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## akwarium (26 Mar 2019)

my Dario's don't eat frozen food, (I'm also not really trying to get them to eat it) But they are small fish. You don't need loads of live food for them, and it does not have to be very small either. Just regular white worm, blood worm, glass worm, tubifex, dafnia etc is fine.


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## TBRO (26 Mar 2019)

I would agree with the above. My two are very peaceful to Killies they live with and shrimp. They squabble with each other but not to the point were damage occurs. 

Mine will only eat live food. I bet daphnia out of my rain butt and pop them in 2 - 3 times a week. Great fun to watch them hunt. I would think that faster fish (tetras etc) would outcompete them for food. 


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## tam (26 Mar 2019)

Yep, same here my Scarlet Badis will spit out frozen even if I mix it with live. They pretty much ignore anything that's not actively wiggling.

Otos like to be in a group and can move pretty rapidly so 48L might be a bit small depending on dimensions. I had some in a 50cm tank and they'd occasionally dart and hit the tank wall. I'd go for a longer tank if keeping them and really half a dozen plus. They are much happier in my 90cm (3') tank.


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## sciencefiction (26 Mar 2019)

tam said:


> They are much happier in my 90cm (3') tank.



I came to the same conclusions. They're also longer lived in larger tanks and certainly enjoy the space.


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## akwarium (27 Mar 2019)

I ques bigger is always better, especially for fish that should be kept in numbers.


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## Monkfish (27 Mar 2019)

Yeah wish I could get a larger tank, but space in the house does not allow for it.


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## tam (27 Mar 2019)

What's it you like about the Otos? You could look at habrosus corys - similar in social behaviour and appearance with the lateral stripe but half the size and less prone to sudden darting. If it's the algae eating you could combine with a nerite snail or amano shrimp. Just to give you options


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## Monkfish (27 Mar 2019)

Yeah it was the algae eating properties I was interested in. I was hoping to keep CRS eventually, would they be as good as Amano for algae eating?

Never though about snails in there as I have in the past spent weeks trying to get rid of ones that hitch hike on plants haha. If I was to get Nerite snails would I need to keep a lid on my tank?  I was going to see how I get on without a lid, but might have to put a perspex one on anyway due to kids and a cat! haha


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## akwarium (27 Mar 2019)

Monkfish said:


> Yeah wish I could get a larger tank, but space in the house does not allow for it.


I ques most of us wish that 

Otocinclus will eat some algae, but only on surfaces like glass and stone. Those are easy to clean, the algae on/between plants are much more annoying but won't be eaten by the fish.  In a small tank I don't really see the benefits of Otos.


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## TBRO (27 Mar 2019)

I would vote against Otos too. They are very prone to dying a couple of weeks after introduction. Nerite snails can’t usually reproduce in fresh water. They are pretty good on wood and anubias leaves. 

CRS won’t make a huge dent in algae but help clean other detritus and are fascinating 


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## Monkfish (27 Mar 2019)

Just ordered some nerites. Let’s hope they last a while, they aren’t cheap haha


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## tam (27 Mar 2019)

I added five amano a couple of weeks ago and they made quite a dent compared to the nine otos that have been in six months. The scarlet badis will eat baby shrimp so just be careful on the size you add for the CRS. Mine are fine with adult cherries though.


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