# What is this fish??



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

just got a new fish to go in with my betta in the 5g. The alge is just to horible!!!

But im not shure what type of alge eater he is? any ideas?


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2006)

That is an otocinclus...also known as an oto. He/She is very cute!

http://www.otocinclus.com

They are shoaling fish, so if possible, I'd get atleast one more. He will be happier! If you run out of algae  you can feed him some algae wafers. Mine love them, as well as shrimp pellets...go figure!


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

I algedy have alge wafers

And he will not run out of food for a long time....

I have a 20g that ill be puting him in when he gets too big. is there any thing elce i should know about?

I donyt think ill get him a friend because i should be geting another betta.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Looks like an O. affinis.


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## book_em_danio (Jun 12, 2006)

otocinclus need at least 1-2 others of their own kind. They also tend to be intolerant of poor water quality and are easily killed if you don't keep up with water changes. I actually killed one doing a water change. The tank has plastic plants. He must have been sucking one, even though I shake the water off before putting in the bucket... Anyhow, he ended up in the bucket. When all the plastic plants are in the bucket I fill with HOT water. Seems I cooked the little guy


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## honmol (Jan 2, 2006)

leafgirl115 said:


> I have a 20g that ill be puting him in when he gets too big. is there any thing elce i should know about?
> 
> I donyt think ill get him a friend because i should be geting another betta.


He won't get too big. The biggest otocinclus I've ever seen was 1.5". That's about as big as they get.

If you want to give him a treat, take a small slice of zucchini, cook it covered in water for 30 seconds in the microwave, and put it into the tank. It should sink but if it doesn't then try to find a way to weigh it down. Otos love zucchini.


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## bettaboy691 (Nov 25, 2006)

its a little of the topic but at my local aquatic shop, the fish in the picture is sold as a chinese algae eater.when i searched on google for "chinese algae eaters" some of the pictures were http://www.aquariumtropicana.co.uk/Images/Fish%20Pictures/indian%20algae%20eater.JPG but other pictures that returned were http://www.azgardens.com/images/Gold-Algae-Eater.gif but these sell as golden/common sucking loach.i'm a little confuse.would someone please tell me what a chinese algae eater is and what a sucking loach is,if they even excist.thanks


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

I wouldn't get any chinese algae eaters....they get agressive when bigger , and harrass other fish


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## bettaboy691 (Nov 25, 2006)

i have two of both fish pictured in my last post and they all are fine with each other.they are both in my community tank along with 1 betta,4 cardinal tetra and 3 platies.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Otos prefer the company of other otos but its not REQUIRED. They do just fine alone. They are, however, notoriously fragile fish, extremely sensitive to water parameters and are known to drop dead for no apparent reason. IME if you can keep it alive for the first month, it should do well.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2007)

that looks like a small indain algea eater..aka chinease alegea eater...aka sucking loach.....lol


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2007)

oh you cdant put him in a 10 gallon he can get 6-8 inches long. I ahve a young one 4 in long and at my LFS they have 3 nfs ones that are 6-8 inches.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

It is not a Chinese algae eater, they are completely different looking fish. It is an otocinclus.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2007)

Definitely an Otocinclus


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

BV77 said:


> I wouldn't get any chinese algae eaters....they get agressive when bigger , and harrass other fish


ya it's funny, I heard that same rap as well, but I ended up getting 3 for my 90g, lost 1 and have 2.  They are mature at about 6-7" and they don't bother any fish or each other. Perhaps mine are well behaved and I got lucky, but I love them, great personalities as well. I was expecting a temperment of a red tail shark but instead they really are just like over grown ottos. They eat colour bits like a champ though


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## Sue Gremlin (Jan 16, 2007)

I absolutely love oto cats. They're a great fish to have!


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## Kyoberr (Dec 6, 2006)

Actually, I can't see the picture for some reason. I can see the picture on other people's threads. That is wierd.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2007)

that looks exaclty like my chinease algea eater...


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## Daniel1 (Aug 30, 2006)

that looks exaclty like an otto..i have 3 of those...they are really cool to watch...but they are very sensitive to water parameters...and they love diatoms....they keep the front glass of my 29 gals planted really clean


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2007)

> that looks exaclty like my chinease algea eater...


Then your CAE must be an Otocinclus, because that picture is of an oto, not a CAE.


Otocinclus
More Otos
CAE
Another CAE


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## Sue Gremlin (Jan 16, 2007)

This is a Chinese algae eater, and is a few inches long and growing. The Oto cat is probably an inch long and won't get larger.


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## Fishnut2 (Jan 18, 2005)

Otocinclus Affinis


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## TREASURECHEST (Mar 31, 2006)

honmol said:


> He won't get too big. The biggest otocinclus I've ever seen was 1.5". That's about as big as they get.
> 
> If you want to give him a treat, take a small slice of zucchini, cook it covered in water for 30 seconds in the microwave, and put it into the tank. It should sink but if it doesn't then try to find a way to weigh it down. Otos love zucchini.


There is a species of Otocinclus know in the hobby as "Giant Otocinclus" and I've seen them 3-4". But the one you have is definitely not the Giant Oto.
Could be arnoldi maybe?


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