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will ottos eat my plants??!!

9K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  okiemavis 
#1 ·
i know ottos will eat algaes and occosional veggies but will they do significant damage to my plants if any?
 
#3 ·
hey i appreciate it, thats what i wanted to know, that theres a risk of them chewin on my green
i have amazon swords, java moss, dwarf baby tears, anacharis, and some unknown plant - wouldnt happen to have had a bad experience with any of these?
:hmm: maybe ill take the risk and see what happens if not.
 
#4 ·
I was just giving my experience. I dunno...otos left sort of a bad taste in my mouth. Ate all my cabomba, plus I couldn't keep the little guys alive. Some of them died after a few days, which I guess could be attributed to stress though they were always drip acclimated into mature tanks with pristine water conditions, but others died after a few months. They definitely never starved as they always had fresh veggies and algae to munch on. They'd be fine one day, dead the next. I've had much more success with my clown pleco since then. However, lots of people swear by the Otos and seem to have had no problems with them chewing up plants.
 
#5 ·
I have a pretty well planted tank (including cabomba) and have no problems with the oto's and the plants. My oto's have actually helped my plants significantly by going after the hair algae (which everyone says they won't).

I got some pretty good advice from one of the good LFS the other day. We try to fit a specie of fish into a mold, suggesting that ALL of them will act a certain way. In reality, while this mold may be correct in regards to most of the specie, each fish is an individual and has it's own attitude and temperment. People own completely peaceful sharks and completely territorial and fin nipping neon tetras. Oto's, as a rule, do not eat plants. They are notorious and cherished for their algae eating abilities WITHOUT damaging plants. ANY fish can potentially eat your plants. I wouldn't worry about them eating your plants unless you don't have any algae for them to eat, in which case...why would you want oto's anyways?
 
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