# acclimating Otto's



## MChambers (May 26, 2009)

*Funny*



Shadowcat3 said:


> Been keeping fish a long time and rarely have any problems with them. Ottos however, always give me a fit.......from what I've read, I'm not alone in this. I start out with 10-15 in a healthy tank and in a couple weeks I'm down to 3 or 5 or none!!! They're great little fish, and quite useful, considering their small size, but they seem to be SOOOO sensitive!!...Anybody solved this puzzle??


I've had no trouble with otos. I don't really know how to explain it, except to say that my tanks have quite a few plants and a reasonable amount of algae, I do frequent(at least weekly) 50% water changes, and supplement the algae with slices of zucchini or string beans. My otos don't seem to eat anything else. I've read that they will eat algae discs, but I have not seen that.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

How did you acclimate them?

Here's a video I made of the drip acclimation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u7waGLH-pY&feature=channel_page


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## Shadowcat3 (May 12, 2009)

*same as all my fish*

I float the bag 20-30 minutes to match to tank temperature, then open bag and add a few ounces of water from the tank to the bag every 5-10 minutes till the bag is 3/4 full, then I pour the fish from the bag into a net over a bucket and place them in the tank.......never tried the drip method...maybe I'm not giving them enough time to adjust to my water Checked out you drip vid...painfully simple...from now on I'll go that route, seems safer.....thanks


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Like MChambers, I have always had good luck with Otos. I can't remember to ever have lost one, and I have several ones for like 5 years already.

I don't do much in terms of acclimating them. I float the bag to get the temps even, then I discard the water and via net throw them into the tank.

If the fish have been in the bag for a while, drip acclimating them can actually kill them (under specific circumstances).

One thing I do is I pick out particular specimen at the pet store. There are some that IMO are death candidates. If they have a shrunk belly, and are merely holding on to something, don't buy them. If they are active and feeding (trying to scrub the glass/ornaments) and their bellies are flat they might be alright.

If the pet store employee does not want to catch the ones you want, find a more accommodating one.


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## aschaal03 (Feb 2, 2009)

I have also had good luck with my ottos. Out of 6 I lost 1. Believe it or not I got 5 of the 6 from Petsmart, and the one that died came from a LFS. So maybe Petsmart gets healthy ottos? I dunno. My tank is moderately planted and there is always brown algae. Mine do eat algae wafers that I drop in usually 2-3 nights a week.
I acclimate mine exactly the same as you do. Maybe try a different source for your ottos?


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## Shadowcat3 (May 12, 2009)

Hmm, maybe I've just been unlucky and getting weak fish to begin with.....More care in selection process and a bit more patience in the aclimatization process might yeild better results.


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## tbonedeluxe (Mar 10, 2008)

check out this informative article on the little guys!
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish, Otocinclus.htm


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## Shadowcat3 (May 12, 2009)

Thanks for all the advice folks...I'll give it another shot and see how it goes...Great little fish. I just haven't gotten a healthy batch I guess.


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## darksinister (Apr 12, 2009)

I also got mine from Petsmart and none have died on me so far. I don't really acclimate them either. I just leave the bag in the tank a couple minutes and then net them out and put them in the tank. For my more expensive fish though, I use the drip rate. I'm assuming that you have issue with the stock that you are getting them from, so maybe try a new petsmart.


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