Article oto cats-otocinclus aren't as easy to keep as you may think

Otocinclus aren't always easy to keep...the stresses of capture and shipping are very hard on these little catfishes, so it's common for whole shipments of them to arrive at retailers in a starved and generally unhealthy condition.

Healthy specimens are active, have nicely rounded bellies, and exhibit no obvious signs of injury or disease.

Your system needs to provide enough of the right algae since they feed predominately on green film algae (not the nasty hairy stuff).

In smaller systems, newly established systems, or systems with lower light levels, there may not be enough green algae on hand to sustain these fish for long. Hence, they may starve to death over a period of months.

It is possible to supplement there diet with sinking algae tablets or pellets, provided your system doesn't contain faster moving herbivores or omnivores.

Otocinclus catfishes hail from relatively fast-moving, highly oxygenated waters, so efforts must be made to replicate these conditions in the aquarium. Furthermore, otos are sensitive to the presence of dissolved pollutants, so clean the gravel vigorously as you keep up on those water changes!

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