Species identification of Otos
Dear Mr. Fenner,
I have been examining many sites on the internet in hopes of answering some questions I have concerning Otos. In every site, almost every picture was similar, but each had a different species name attached. How can I tell them apart? I have what I believe is a Paraotocinclus, and two Otos. The Otos I'm sure of, however, not in species identification. Where can I get help in differentiation?
<About the best on-line source (bibliographic) here is fishbase.org... my print bibliography on these species of Loricariids can be found here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/otosagb.htm
Bob Fenner>
B. Jurich

Fish, Shrimp, and Thanks
Our fish would like to say thank you to the WetWebMedia crew. (tank you, tanks, tanka)
<To you and your fish - you're very welcome!  Please forgive the delay in response; I've been having computer issues, but it looks to be all sorted out now.>
We have had a lot of fun with our new freshwater tank and several learning experiences. Our first fish was a "Betta in a bowl"  purchased by my two eldest, they saved their allowance to do this and we ended up with two new family members, Blootie a Betta, and Pickles, an African frog. A few months later we knew we wanted an actual aquarium so we soon had Blootie and Pickles housed in a ten gallon with five neon tetras, several plants, free snails which appeared out of nowhere and every thing was fine; we do a 20% water change weekly and add some aquarium salt and dechlorinator.
<Sounds like great fun!  Please remember, when you add salt, only add enough to compensate for water you *remove*, not water that has evaporated, as salt does not evaporate.>
Our tank is held at 78F and we have several plants which we prune every two weeks, we run a Whisper filter with activated carbon, every other week we switch the carbon for Ammocarb, though I am not sure it does anything,
<Only the carbon is needed; test your water regularly for ammonia, with your water change/maintenance scheme, I doubt you see a trace of it.>
we have a shallow smooth gravel substrate. We feed a mixture of flakes, bloodworms, brine shrimp and a pea every night about an hour before lights out.
<Mmmmm, yummy!>
Our first problems started when we obtained two new fishes, Odie and Sink (Otocinclus).  The primary pea consumer was Blootie but after Sink and Odie arrived things changed. Sink metamorphosed into a new fish we called Stink. He chased everybody, the tetras, the frog, the Betta and especially Odie, Odie lived in perpetual fear, Stink would charge the full length of the aquarium to get him.
<WOW.  That does *not* sound like normal Oto behaviour!  Please check out the following links, perhaps you have something different....  First, on Otos: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/otocinclusart.htm  on SAEs (and non-SAEs): http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/saes.htm >
Stink actually latched on to Blootie a couple of times leaving a white mark which has now cleared up.
<Yikes....>
Stink may have been starving when he arrived but that passed, he turned into a very messy fish and was getting visibly fatter and  meaner.
<He's sounding an awful lot like a "Flying Fox" or "Chinese Algae Eater" at this point....  notoriously mean buggars.>
Pretty soon everybody started hanging out somewhere safe from the seriously deranged Stink and this caused problems, nobody was eating the pea, our water started to get cloudy and green algae started to grow on our floating plant. The tetras which previously tested every floating speck to see if it might be food, stopped doing that and spent their time up high, avoiding Sink. Blootie stayed at the top of the tank, ready to run, Stink couldn't eat all the food but he was determined to try. We finally decided Stink had to go and things are back to normal. Our water is clear again, nobody is chasing anyone and everyone seems happy. (We gave Stink to an unsuspecting local fish store, not telling them he was an insane fish.)  
<*Laugh!*>
I have been reading the freshwater links (I have actually been reading everything I can on your site as time allows) and my question has to do with adding a crustacean of some sort. We really do not want a repeat of the Stink trials and we really would like to add a shrimp or something. Given our current happy tank is there anything we could add that would probably be happy.
<Stick with shrimps of the genera Caridina and/or Neocaridina; these primarily algae-eating lovelies include "the" algae-eating (aka "Amano") shrimp (Caridina japonica), cherry shrimp (Neocaridina denticulata), bumblebee shrimp (Neocaridina sp.), red-fronted or "Rudolph" shrimp (er, I think a Neocaridina specie....), red-tailed tiger shrimp (another Neocaridina), to name a few that are occasionally available in the US.  Ghost shrimp would be a safe addition, as well (and cheap, to boot - and commonly available).  Filter feeding shrimp, such as Singapore/bamboo/flower shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis) are commonly available, and also perfectly safe to add to your tank; this last would probably be the most "fun", as they are large, diurnal, and uber-cool.  Stay away from "big-arm" shrimp of the genus Macrobrachium; these are nearly all carnivores that will prey upon your fish.  Same goes for crabs, they'll eat anything that holds still long enough - and some things that don't.>
I have read about the shrimps in the freshwater shrimp section
<Currently and unfortunately very lacking in information - I intend to rectify that with an article or two as soon as I dig up some time, I promise!>
but I am still not satisfied that I won't get it wrong.
<One important point - please dose the tank with iodine if you get shrimp.  This is easy and cheap.  Get a bottle of Kent Marine Iodine from your fish store (geared for saltwater tanks).  Ignore the directions on the bottle completely, as your freshwater shrimp have nowhere *near* the iodine needs of a saltwater tank - add only one drop of the iodine once every week (use a pipette or a medicine dropper from the pharmacy).  Doesn't sound like much, but it makes all the difference in the world.>
In addition to adding a shrimp to our ten gallon, we intend to get another ten gallon aquarium and move the frog (Pickles) in with two fire newts, for which my oldest boy is saving his pennies, is this going to work ?
<Oh, wow, I have absolutely no idea....  I'll pass this along to Gage for his input; hopefully he'll be able to help you on that one better than I can.>
Thank You
<You bet!  Wishing you and your critters well,  -Sabrina>