Otos & Betta?

kjr928

kjr928

Go fish yourself.
Nov 4, 2005
902
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Garden City, NY
www.trollerkate.com | www.milesquaredesign.com
Real Name
Kate
I have a 5.5 gallon tank w/ 1 male betta & a couple of apple snails. I'm getting desperately bored and recently discovered Otocinclus. My tank is LOADED with algae so they would have their work cut out for them (I guess I overfeed my snails).

I wanted to know if you guys thought a couple of these little fish would work out well in my tank, or if you have any other interesting suggestions.

THANKS!!!
 
Otocinclus would be okay with the Betta. The problem is that Otocinclus like to be in groups of at least 3, but in a 5.5g tank there won't be enough algae to sustain 3 of them.

If you do choose to get some Otocinclus then you should be prepared to supplement their diet with vegetables. It sounds like you're doing that already for you snails, though, so you shouldn't have much problems.

Sam
 
Adding ottos would be chancy. For one thing, the betta may not tolerate them, and may get aggressive. For another thing your tank would be overstocked.
 
i'm pretty sure it would take an army of apple snails in an algae-fied tank to make a noticeable difference.

in my experience, bettas and otos ignore each other famously. my boyfriend and i have kept them together in five separate tanks (some males, some females), all with great success.

however, your betta may be that one little butthead that refuses to share his space with anyone. it happens, though we;ve yet to experience such behavior to a point where the betta can't have certain tankmates, especially otos.

just watch him for the first few days and make sure he doesn't do anything more than harmless flaring. and by harmless i mean he flares and maybe chases the oto away occassionally, but doesn't go and attack to inflict any harm.


and on a side note, i would not in the least consider a 5.5g tank with two relatively small fish and a couple of snails to be even close to overstocked.
 
geekrockgirl85 said:
and on a side note, i would not in the least consider a 5.5g tank with two relatively small fish and a couple of snails to be even close to overstocked.
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To me, 5.5 gallons isn't really big enough for a betta--add several snails and an otto and the tank is overstocked IMO. You may enjoy a more crowded tank geekrockgirl. I know my betta needs nothing less than 10 gallons or he becomes very unhappy and hyperactive (and he would never tolerate a tankmate, not to mention 3!). Also, many people feel that ottos are happier in groups, but a group would not be possible in a 5.5g tank.
 
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Ms.Bubbles said:
To me, 5.5 gallons isn't really big enough for a betta--add several snails and an otto and the tank is overstocked IMO. You may enjoy a more crowded tank geekrockgirl. I know my betta needs nothing less than 10 gallons or he becomes very unhappy and hyperactive (and he would never tolerate a tankmate, not to mention 3!). Also, many people feel that ottos are happier in groups, but a group would not be possible in a 5.5g tank.
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Wow - I don't know where you're getting your bettas from. But I currently own seven bettas, only one of which lives in a tank larger than 5.5g and she's in a well stocked community 20g in which she lives a very happy existence for several years now.

My others are all in large bowls, or in a 5.5g tank in which live two corys and a bamboo shrimp. I would hardly call it overcrowded, nor does my betta show any signs of being pissed off that he is sharing his space.

The bettas in the bowls have lived there for quite a long enough time for me to have noticed if they're not showing their best colors; but these fish are vibrant - building bubble nests and eating profusely. They're the picture of perfect health and have been for longer than I care to count.

I don't mean to flame you, but sometimes I read certain posts and I just simply cannot understand where people come up with their notions...especially the thing about overstocking. Snails don't even count very much towards the bioload of a tank; nor are they looked upon by the fish as anything more than a moving rock or a piece of food. Basically there would be a little more than two small fish in that 5.5g - hardly overstocked...I could even call it slightly understocked compared to most tanks. And I'm a fan of sparse populations. Not to mention that the betta and the oto are two fish that have very little space requirements after all. Neither are hardcore swimmers or marathon runners. They generally like to just float (betta) or attach themselves and meditate (oto.)

I've never noticed otos to need friends either. Most of the ones I have (and I've had them in all of my tanks) pretty much keep to themselves.

All bettas have their own personalities and being an owner of more bettas than I even know what to do with, I really do feel that generalizing their needs and behaviors is not the best way to tackle this given situation. If your betta needs a ten gallon to himself, that's fine - but I have heard of (and experienced) bettas who actually dislike being in anything larger than a bowl. It's all about the individual fish.




That being said, I will reiterate what geekrockgirl said - try out the oto and if mr. betta makes life for him difficult, find the oto a new home. But I have had bettas live with otos in both 2.5g, 5.5g, and 20g tanks. Not once was there anything close to an issue. There it stands.
 
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A) from my experience Betta's and Otto's pretty much ignore each other. Thus can make good tank mates.

B) Your over abundance of algae is something I would look into. Sounds like either you might be feeding way to much....or leaving your lights on for too long. Do you have live plants? If not...there is absolutely no reason to leave the lights on for longer than 2-3 hours a day. Obviously during the time you personally want to view the fish.

I know I made the mistake of setting my timers for 8 hours...thinking my fish wanted a full daytime of light. Algae went crazy.

Even if neither of these are your problem....my suggestion is to figure out the cause of your algae first...and not look to add more to your 5.5g tank.
 
echoofformless said:
I don't mean to flame you, but sometimes I read certain posts and I just simply cannot understand where people come up with their notions...especially the thing about overstocking. (oto.)
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Some people don't feel bad keeping a betta in a little space like a bowl or a tiny tank, but I'm not one of those people.

Also, some people do feel that apple snails contribute to the bioload of a tank. And unfortunately, some bettas have been known to eat snails and kill ottos.



Kjr--I have to wonder about what's causing your algae problem. Algae is usually the result of excess nutrients in the water (you mentioned that you overfeed your snails) or excess light (high wattage or on for more than 10-12 hours a day). Maybe addressing the root cause of the algae would be a better solution than adding more fish to the tank.
 
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