A lot of people go to the pet store to buy a plecostomus, because they feel they have algae in their tank or because they don’t perform the maintenance, these fish will eat all the crap and food waste from their substrate. First, plecos do not eat poop and they will not clean your tank But they are scavengers. In fact, plecos will produce a lot of waste as they grow. But they don’t realize that small pleco can grow to huge in a matter of months.
If you are having uneaten food issues, purchase cory catfish. They work great for that.
But if you are having an algae issue and are like most casual fish-owners, that own a small tank. Then I would recommend one of the most inexpensive fish to purchase at a pet store, but also will stay small and that is the Otocinclus.
The Otocinclus is a catfish from the Loricariidae family (yes, the same family of plecos) which is native to South Africa and are also called “dwarf suckers” and “otos”. They typically live in 72-82F and love tanks with a lot of plants.
Like plecos, they have bony plates covering their bodies, making an armor and have a suckermouth and they can breathe air.
In fact, just to show how resilient they are, as I was doing a tank change, one Otocinclus jumped out of its net and I lost it. I then saw something on the ground maybe an hour or two later and it was an Otocinclus. I was saddened and thought it was dead but felt a little movement. Put it in the water and after a few seconds, it was alive. I have been watching over it since then and it’s doing fine. So, I was a bit shocked about that.
Unfortunately, these fish are not for breeding as they are difficult when in captivity.
These fish live in shoals/schools and I actually do purchase a few of them because they are useful in controlling my algae population in different tanks and they are very small. They won’t destroy your plants either.
But I only keep them in my community tank and also my breeding and mating tanks. It’s important to know that Otocinclus can are great to keep but they are sensitive to stress and can starve if they can’t find enough food to eat.
But if anything, these are resilient fish and for what they do, how they stay small and the price, they are definitely worth owning.
