# ottos or SAE? Which is better?



## SgtPeppersLHC (Dec 9, 2010)

My otos I see are always on leaves or stems of my anubias or on the wall and I don't have a lot of algae but I also don't feed them a lot so they have to scavenge. As for the SAE, no experience there, but you can try nerite snails maybe too. I don't have any yet but they reproduce in brackish water so they would never get out of control and they live like 1-2 years and I'm told they're supposed to be the best algae eaters for small little guys (1/4"-1/2"). They look pretty cool too, do a Google search on horned nerite snails, I would get a link but I'm on my phone so too lazy  I plan on getting some when I get a new tank.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

IME they both suck. My SAE was a neat fish, but once he got more than 6 months old he stopped eating any BBA, and just ate fish food. Otto's are wimps and randomly die, and don't eat anything anyways. I find amanos do more than either of those fish...if you have algae on the glass, a little pleco might be in order...ancistrus are good, and plant friendly, but shy. I ahd a rubberlip pleco I got at petsmart for like 4 bucks that grew to 4 inches, and didn;t eat any plants, and was fun to watch...they dart around all day long.


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## astex (Aug 13, 2009)

Nerites are the best. I love my SAE, but they do get lazy and prefer beating the fish to the food instead of eating algae. My otos have been fairly healthy, but I have some good lfs around to get them from and can pick out the healthy ones to start with. Otos are great for diatoms though.


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## Cento (Apr 7, 2010)

Thanks for the reply folks, gives me some info to consider... 

As for the snails, I was scared of adding snails for fear that I would have an infestation, but if they can't reproduce in fresh water, then that may be an option.

Thanks again!


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

SAEs get big. That can cause issues with your other fish. They do seem to eat less algae as they age, bur no measurable facts to back that up. They definitely are hard to catch if you decide to remove them. They are very fast and mine apparently smarter than me.

No downside to otos. I'd vote for them.


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

I like my Otos. They aren't the most effective algae eaters, but they're great fun to watch. They're effective against brown algae (so are BN plecos), but don't really do much for anything else.

Nerites are like little algae bulldozers, but they lay eggs EVERYWEHRE (plus snails freak me out).

Amano shrimp are great algae eaters, but most of mine end up escaping from the tank. They make their way up powercords and jump to their deaths. I've also witnessed a few dessicated bodies on top of my floaters.


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## Cento (Apr 7, 2010)

t0p_sh0tta said:


> Amano shrimp are great algae eaters, but most of mine end up escaping from the tank. They make their way up powercords and jump to their deaths...


You know.... I've "lost" about 4 Amano's over the past 8 months or so... I just thought that they "scavenged" the remains of their dead friends, but after hearing a story or two about climbing amanos, I'm a little freaked out that somewhere in my apartment their are dried out bodies of my shrimps....:icon_eek:

Ottos are cool little guys, but I think I'm leaning towards the horned nerite... Do nerites eat brown algae too?


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## Vancat2 (Jun 23, 2010)

Nerites are good, but they do leave those hard little eggs all over everything. (Don't like that)
Otos- no downside, except some folks (not me) have trouble keeping them alive.
SAEs, some people love 'em, some people hate 'em. I love 'em. So they are hard to catch. Who needs to catch them? Just wait until they jump out. 
Amanos are great but expensive.


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## captain_bu (Oct 20, 2007)

SAEs should also be kept in a school for best results. Not everyone is going to want or have room for a school of 6" fish that may or may not eat algae. If you like the way they look and have a large tank get em, if they eat or continue to eat algae for you look at it as a plus.

There is no one animal that will eat all the various types of algae.


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## helgymatt (Dec 7, 2007)

SAE will eat moss like crazy to the point it will not grow. They also chew on other fine leaved plants as well. I'm not sure my ottos do my algae eating, but I'm sure they help. If you don't have any moss or fine plants, SAE will destroy BBA with great success. But, once you remove them, the algae will probably return. They just kinda mow it off and it will eventually grow back. Nerites have been great for me (especially green spot algae on anubias) - but they die off over a couple years. They are cheap and a good source is Arizona Aquatic Gardens - 89 cents for the regulars I believe.


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

helgymatt said:


> SAE will eat moss like crazy to the point it will not grow.


The reason that I had to let mine go.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I like otos and nerite snails. Bristlenose plecos are also decent algae eaters.
Florida flagfish are great for controlling hair/staghorn algae, IME.


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## SemperFish (Mar 13, 2010)

Is there any fish out there that would eat the nerite snail eggs and leave the snail alone?


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## helgymatt (Dec 7, 2007)

Not likely.


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

between those 2. i would go for oto's. they stay small and do more work than sae's. sae's are nice when they are young. but as they get older and fatter. they get lazy and just chill dont eat algae and wait till you feed your fishes and then come rushing eating all the food.


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## mylittlefish (Oct 5, 2010)

My SAE's are 6 inches long..... they are always eating.


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## Senior Shrimpo (Dec 4, 2010)

I love otos, I was having problems with algae on my crypts and so I put a few otos in and they cleared up all my algae. They're hungry, they stay small, they clean your glass and they have character. SAE's get big.


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## ridethespiral (Aug 5, 2010)

I put 3 golden oto's in my 75g three days ago, and they've been munching so much since. It's like a constant flow of algae going into them and poop coming out of them


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## Cento (Apr 7, 2010)

hmmmm... some very good points here. Now I'm a little undecided again... :confused1:

Okay, here's two part question; do both male and female lay eggs, and is it possible to sex nerite snails? Cause if so, then problem's solved when it comes to the egg litter, no?


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## Julii Cory (Feb 24, 2010)

I like otos but haven't had a good experience keeping them, they die a day or two after I introduce them to the tank. I have bought nine over a period of a year and only one has survived, he's been in the tank for about two months, so I think he made it. I was amazed to find my side glass completely clean one morning, but I think that sometimes he gets lazy and just spends the day resting on a leaf. I bought two more otos today, I hope they make it and join my lone oto. That would be cool.

I have two flying foxes, and they were good at eating the hair algae, I don't have any so now they just go around scraping my plants for whatever they can eat, without causing any damage of course, although they ate a new plant I put in the tank like it was a salad feast. Flying foxes get big, mine are about 5 inches, peaceful guys though.

For green spot algae, I have to do the scrubbing myself, my otos don't eat it.

I have reservations about snails, and SAE's I had read they get large and aggressive as they mature, so I never got them. Others may have a different experience.

Nerite snails are really cool though, and the horned ones are even cooler.

E


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Just get some oto's. Every tank should have some IMO. They'll chow on any brown diatom algae, and are always entertaining. Nerites come highly recommended as algae eaters, and SAE's will clean up a bunch of the garbage that ends up on the substrate. If you overdo it, you can always add sinking pellets to add to the SAE's diet, and the oto's and nerites will be fine.


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## helgymatt (Dec 7, 2007)

The nerite eggs are not really a problem...not enough to be so concerned not to get them. if you clean the glass every now and then and trim up your plants the eggs should be taken care of. I don't think you can sex them. Only get SAE if you have a bad BBA algae problem.


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## Cento (Apr 7, 2010)

helgymatt said:


> ....Only get SAE if you have a bad BBA algae problem...


Well, I DO have a bad BBA problem, but, after learning of the growth size of SAE (its a 10 gal their going in), I went ahead this morning and got 3 little oto's. Cute little buggers. By the way, isn't there some dwarf species of the algae eaters; Chinese or Vietnamese, or something like that? 

Anyhoo, I also decided to try and find a _Horned Nerite_ snails as suggested by *SgtPepperLHC* (yes, I enjoyed the show... :hihi. The store were I bought these little guys didn't have any, so I'm gonna do some calling around tomorrow. 

I'm going to add one snail and see how much maintenance is involved in keeping up with the eggs, and if it ain't to bad, I'll refrain from going out and buying an Assassin snail...:hihi:

Thanks again for all the tips guys!


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## helgymatt (Dec 7, 2007)

I don't think you will have snail eggs with just one snail...it takes two to tango. I put 100 nerites in a 75 gallon tank and barely noticed the eggs.

Also, nothing will eat BBA alage but the Siamese Algae Eaters. Nerites and Ottos will not touch it. Excel and Hydrogen Peroxide will kill it though. Research before doing that method.


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## mkiiisupradude (Nov 15, 2010)

I did not have much BBA in my tank, maybe a couple of quarters size all together, I got otos, 2, one died, and treated with hydrogen peroxide only twice. one of them worked. the oto I have in there now does a descent job but I realy need a few more buddies and I think the tank/plants would be exeptionaly clean. iIt is Constantly working on some GDA on the glass but never seems to get anywhere with it, kind of like a never ending gob stopper for him or something...


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## Sharkfood (May 2, 2010)

> is it possible to sex nerite snails


Most aquatic snails are hermaphrodites. They can reproduce with only their own genetic material.


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

There are several species of fish that look similar when it comes to SAEs. The few that I had several years ago ate nothing but algae. I never ever saw them go after fish food of any kind. Otos are diligent eaters of algae but being small they don't consume nearly as much as _real_ SAE's. If you can find real SAE's get some-do some research and bring photos before you pull the trigger because it's easy to get impostors.


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## Avianwing (Dec 15, 2009)

There is a notion that 

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=24467

and

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=24464

are both good algae eaters. But I have no personal experience. I am trying to get a hand on these fish. Paradoxically most native fish are more difficult to get in India than exotics.


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## sanj (Jan 11, 2004)

RTBS are petty good algae eaters, they have longer intestines than SAEs, but ofcourse most people can only keep one if that.

SAE and close family members like C.reticulata, C.lineatus are in my book one of the best out there, but then they are not for a nano.

Ottos and SAE also have different modes of eating alges they have different mouth shapes. 

Ideally an algae crew would not be one or the other , but a mixture of different species.

Overall though nobody should be expecting these fish/shrimp to solve any big algae issues, they only ever contribute to keeping algae under control.


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## Avianwing (Dec 15, 2009)

sanj said:


> RTBS are petty good algae eaters, they have longer intestines than SAEs, but ofcourse most people can only keep one if that.



Don't they have aggression issues? I had a Rainbow Shark and it killed all my mollies. I love the look of the RTBS but I am afraid it will kill my tetras, gouramis and barbs.


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## sanj (Jan 11, 2004)

Avianwing said:


> Don't they have aggression issues? I had a Rainbow Shark and it killed all my mollies. I love the look of the RTBS but I am afraid it will kill my tetras, gouramis and barbs.



Yes they can do. As I mentioned most people can only keep one if that. The number one question is tank size, couple of hundred litres minimum and next tank mates. 

I keep mine with Crossocheilus species (SAEs and related), but I am fortunate to have a large aquarium and any agression has been subdued and momentary.


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## b 30g (Dec 24, 2010)

how much do you guys usually pay for amano's? somebody said they are expensive, i paid 10 dollars for 10 of them at my lfs


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## sanj (Jan 11, 2004)

b 30g said:


> how much do you guys usually pay for amano's? somebody said they are expensive, i paid 10 dollars for 10 of them at my lfs


 
That is good by UK standards, I dont know about in the US unfortunately.


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## Vancat2 (Jun 23, 2010)

good price. I think at my lfs they are at least $3-5 each. (CT, USA)


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## b 30g (Dec 24, 2010)

sanj said:


> That is good by UK standards, I dont know about in the US unfortunately.


i live in the us. Portland Oregon


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