# Otocinculus?



## locolobo (Mar 21, 2014)

Have been wanting to get a few Otocinculus (see Otos & Cichlids thread) for my planted aquarium. Petco and P'smart are the only pet stores in my area. Petsmart is the only store that has any @ this time and Pco says they don't know when they will get more. My point? The fish are so small ( Less than 1/4 " little wigglers)I can't tell what kind of fish they really are. With the reputation both chains have, can I trust them to grow up to be Otos and not some crossbreed type of algae eater or should I look somewhere else?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

you should try www.aquabid.com ........ there are always some ottos on there.you may pay a little more for them , but you usually get far better quality fish..


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

I agree with Loha


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

same, fish at those big chains are usually imported. That puts a lot of stress on the fish. On aquabid they are captive bred.


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## jennifer (Jun 24, 2014)

Not all the chains use imported fish, many use the fish farms down in Florida. But, even in that case the fish are literally thrown out in large ponds and breed pretty much on their own. With hobby breeders, a little more care is sometimes taken in selecting parents. But then again, not always. Depends on the breeder.

Aquabid has hobby breeders AND commercial breeders (local and international) AND fish stores that are receiving imports and fish from fish farms reselling fish. It can be a crapshoot in itself. However, you can go on there and if someone is selling the fish you are interested in contact them and find out the origin of the fish.

The third option, and the one I would recommend would be to contact the closest aquarium club to you. These clubs are all over the place and usually they have auctions at least a few times a year and with some, up to once a month. Even if you can't make it to their auctions, they might know someone breeding the type of fish you want and be able to put you in contact. You can sometimes arrange pickup or worst case, pay a little more and have them sent through mail or ups or what have you.

The real benefit to the clubs is that there are always a few old salts around who have bred everything and even if they're not breeding the fish you want, they usually know someone, somewhere that is or know people from other aquarium clubs who knows someone. It really is amazing sometimes the connections some of the fishy people have.

I've found that to be the very best way to get healthy fish. It takes longer, for sure. Someone might breed what you want but not have any of those right now. It can be expensive to ship fish, for sure. And sometimes, you find what you want, get it shipped and have a box full of DOA's, and that sucks.

BUT - when you find some good hobby breeders you open up a whole other world. I went searching for some German blue rams some years ago. Found a guy at our local aquarium club who had sold some juvies to a guy in another state a few years prior. He put me in contact with that guy. That guy, just happened to have the rams. We swapped emails chatting a bit, he found out dabbled in bettas also and just happened to have some wild betta juvies and asked if I would like a few of those for free, since he had so many and shipping would be a flat rate no matter how many fish he put in.

Long story short, I killed my rams before they could grow into adults. Dang they're fragile. But I kept and successfully bred my wild bettas for several years. 

Ok, I talk to much, but just another idea for you.


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