Quick little algae- eating suckers!
These tiny little species of Otocinclus (Otocinclus spp.), are darting little fish that almost exclusively eat Algae. You'll love to watch them attach themselves to the glass and scrub algae off your glass. Just look at their little bellies!
Otocinclus "Otos" are originally from South America, and are very difficult to breed in captivity. In the wild, they travel together in groups of thousands, and so, must be kept in groups in aquariums.
Your little Otos will be young, without full adult patterning, and between 1" to 1.5" long.
Care Parameters:
- Peaceful algae eating community fish
- Growth to a maximum of 1.5- 2"
- 3-5 year life span
Undemanding Water Parameters:
- PH: 6.5 - 7.5
- Temperature: 72- 79 Degrees
- Hardness: 6- 10 dH
Cassandra's Notes:
These are hands-down the best algae eating fish for nano planted tanks.
They stay small, and can easily be kept in community aquariums in groups of 6-12. For a nano space, the minimum I sell is three together. They really need company of their own kind!
An interesting point of note; Otocinclus algae eaters are one of the only fish I'd keep in a shrimp breeding tank. They are exclusively vegetarian, and won't opportunistically bother baby shrimp... Which is unheard of, even with the smallest, peaceful nano fish!
While in quarantine before being sold, we treat all our live fish with the ‘Med Trio’; Maracyn for Bacterial infections, Paracleanse for internal and external parasites, and Ich-X for fungal infections.