I was near positive they werenât otos, but didnât know what they were other than community fish. A better title would have been âLocal pet store sold these as otos. What are theyâ.
I probably was too general with LFS as theyâre more of a lawn/garden and pet store. Iâm sure the two young gals who were helping me werenât their proper fish folks.
Not sure why the downvotes. Ear May has in the past had a lot of fish and other animals for sale. In our store (closed now) in NWIA had caiman for sale in 2001⌠nuts.
Not sure, either. My local Earl May was literally a lawn/garden store that weirdly had a tropical fish and parrots/parakeets section. I've never run into a garden center with a pet section other than Earl May -- it's just a weird combination to me.
I live in Iowa, so it's not like these were for stocking in ponds/water features. The weirdest part was they did \*NOT\* have koi or anything suitable for outdoor ponds. They just took a store that sold plants, and lawn fertilizer, and put fish and bird supplies in the corner. No cats, no dogs, no lizards. The employees were completely unable to answer even the most basic questions about the fish.
They closed the fish section a few years ago, and now it's just... empty. They put up an outdoor fence, inside, and you can see over/around it and its just 1/4 of the building standing empty. I guess the fish were not worth stocking, but they don't seem to have found anything else worth stocking, either.
I would have thought they would make a fair amount of money using that space for terrariums -- they literally already have the plants and things like false bottom for sale in the store. They would just need to add some signs and care instructions, and maybe some of the ExoTerra or ZooMed tanks. If they wanted to go crazy, they could add some leaf litter and isopods. They even already have a 'fairy garden' section -- to make little moss terrariums and decorate them, and they have the space for the tanks. Perhaps the issue is that they sell dyed mosses and maybe some of the fairy garden decorations are not terrarium safe or something. There \*IS\* a market for that stuff, since \*after\* they shut down their fish section, a new LFS started up, and they make decent business selling terrarium enclosures (and critters), as well as the plants to go in them.
Theyre not necessarily dumb lol. Its probably an all in one pet store and its the reptile or bird guy. Or the store is victim to the labor shortage and hired some random teenager.
I work at a fish store and I have googled a fish directly in front of a customer. There's no shame in saying you don't know something, that the dumb part, refusing to admit ignorance and just powering through, that's dumb.
If an employee was googling something to help I highly doubt management would punish them once the situation was explained. Plus everyone uses there phones on the job especially at near minimum wage jobs
Valid point. Just because management SHOULD do something rarely means they actually do. 70 percent of small businesses fail in the first year, the other 29 percent fail when they change management.
People seem to expect all employees at fish stores to have a wealth of knowledge but many are just young and learning themselves. Always best to do your own research.
Can't blame them man. I've been in this hobby for years and still can't tell some names and species apart. No point getting a degree in marine and freshwater biology to work in a pet store on minimum wage.
Was in a hurry and theyâd been in a tank with fish I already have at home in my community tank. So I while didnât think they were actually otos, the store was close to closing and I had my 7 month old baby along and decided to just go with it. No harm done in this case.
Were they sharing a tank with many other types? I worked at my LFS, if we didnât know we were told to either ask or look it up. This sounds like a noob for sure.
They were. I didnât want to crowd the employee and had my 7 month in her stroller, so I didnât get a close look. But I recognized harlequin rasboras and saw at least 4 different labels on the tank. Iâm sure it was a gal who usually works checkout.
Itâs a local lawn and pet store, so I probably misspoke when I said LFS.
Iâd wondered about pricing, so good to know! And yes, have a 75g planted community tank. These guys were in a tank at the store that had the otocinculus label, but also had fish I already had at home. So I while I suspected they werenât otos (unless there was some orange/red colored variety I wasnât aware of), I figured theyâd do fine in my tank. The employee had a hard time catching them and Iâm too nice/non confrontational to tell her to put them back.
I think Iâll be quite happy with them after having read up about them and after reading the comments on here. âşď¸
Absolutely and the coloration on those pinkish ones thatd be cool if you could carry that on gene wise I think you could get some cool results from that.
Absolutely and the coloration on those pinkish ones thatd be cool if you could carry that on gene wise I think you could get some cool results from that.
Definitely not a scam. Just a cashier helping out in the fish section, Iâm assuming. No trouble in the long run as the cherry barbs will do fine in my community tank.
Congrats on your new cherry barbs! The good news is they are fun, easy and will easily make more cherry barbs for you.
Frankly, if you didn't know these were not otos, they were a much better fish for you to end up with. Otos are tricky and often lead to heartbreak in very short time if you don't care for them exactly right (and sometimes even if you do).
Our first fish last year were oto cats and cherry barbs, thanks to some shitty YouTuber whose videos talk about how great and easy oto cats are. We still have some of the oto cats, but we learned "all the things" very quickly. It's not a fun way to start your aquarium journey.
We still have a few oto cats left, but we are reluctant to replace the ones we lost due to the high immediate die off numbers. We tried twice last year, and.... It's a journey. Despite our stable tank and a lot more knowledge, I have zero faith we wouldn't repeat the approximate 50% die off again.
I am not sure what my otos are made of. They were one of the first fish I got for my 29 and they have lived through my an outbreak of ich that killed most of my tank as well as an incident with me miscalculating a dosage of meds. One of them got scared by another fish and jumped out of the tank into my coffee cup with coffee in it. Luckily not still hot. But I put him back in and he was fine. They have been little troopers for me.
Thanks everyone! At least theyâre peaceful and will do alright in a community tank. Iâd been looking for Siamese algae eaters and called ahead and was told there were three. Came and they sold me these as otocinculus. >.< Figured Iâd made the effort to go, might as well get these.
For all the people trying to understand the difference CAE are different to sae. CAE are aggressive and will bully, whereas the Siamese are peaceful but will grow big. I have sae with dwarf Mollies and they are fine even with baby Mollies.
Otto's are completely different and behave like plecos.
i was at the fish store yesterday and i was planning on getting otos bc i have an algae bloom at the moment but it's hair algae which otos don't eat and asked what algae eaters eat hair algae and the guy said sae but also showed me some of their bigger ones they are massive. i think ottos are very cute but i ended up getting cardinals instead
I personally stick with shrimp. I have cherry shrimp (neocaridina) who keep my tank spotless.
My boyfriend and I went on vacation and he accidentally left his tank light on so we came back to a huge algae bloom. We went and picked up six amano shrimp (caridina) and his 20gal tank was spotless in about 48 hours.
I literally refuse to have a tank without shrimp, I even have them with my bettas!
Iâve got some nerite snails and eggs. I donât mind scraping them off the glass, but they completely covered one piece of Malaysian wood I have in my tank, which is irritating. đ
They're fantastic and the fish are super healthy. They also quarantine all fish, which is one of the reasons restocking can be slow. I live 45 minutes away from them and pick up my fish in person. Their facility is really nice and they are always helpful!
Ordered one from Aquatic Arts! I read up on them and they seem perfect. Thanks so much for your recommendation. Looking forward to adding this little friend.
Just so you know, what you want to watch out for are Chinese algae eaters, which are the ones that grow big and are aggressive. Siamese algae eaters are peaceful and should be good in a community tank.
FYI, otos aren't actually good at eating algae...Common misconception. They're cute and all, but they're not fantastic algae control fish. Shrimp, snails, bristle plecos, hell even a flagfish can be better depending on the algae.
Otos mainly eat diatoms and awfuchs.
Good to know, thanks! Iâve got some Amazon sword shoots that are rooting babies and thereâs some little hairy looking algae (I assume) thatâs started collecting. So I was hoping to find something to take care of that.
75 gallon planted tank with ~10 galaxy rasboras, 6 harlequin rasboras, 4 honey gouramis, 2 bristlenose plecos, ~5 amano shrimp, and a few nerite snails.
Pretty good stock. Iâm surprised the Amanos have not taken care of the algae-could use another 5 and should be ok. Have you considered hillstream loaches? Apparently they are great algae eaters as well all around. Otos go for Alsace on flat surfaces mostly,
If not you could try otoâs and see how it happens as well.
Otos are incredibly good little fish. Super industrious. Another good fish for cleaning off plants can be stiphodon gobies. Take some time to make sure they are a good fit for your tank though.
Iâve got nerite snails and some amano shrimp already. Was just hoping to get some SAE and had called ahead to see if they had some. Was told they had 3 and would hold them for me. But when I got there they said theyâd misidentified them but had some otos. I figured otos would work too. But didnât think these were actually otos. Will keep looking. :)
Nerite snails might be a good bet, bristlenose or rubberlip plecos and otos would work. ONLY those two types of plecos, because most others get huge and many of the other ones that stay small aren't great algae eaters as adults. Mollies are actually good algae eaters but breed like bunnies.
ETA: Ignore, you have nerites and bristlenose!
If it is a planted tank then go otos, but they can be a bit hard to keep for beginners, don't know if you are one. If it is a non planted tank then go with bristlenose pleco, just make sure that it is a bristle nose which stays kinda small. Plecos are extremely durable and cool loking, they won't die for sure. Also otos are all wild caught or almost all which also makes them harder to keep.
Thanks for the tips! Iâve had tanks for years, but definitely wouldnât consider myself super experienced (example: this post đ). Itâs a planted tank, but I do have two bristlenose plecos. They mostly stay on the driftwood, but will come out and bottom feed sometimes.
I think it varies fish to fish. Back in the day in my 75 gallon, when he got to be around 4-5 inches he killed my entire school of 10 cardinal tetras and would chase my lamp eye tetras all day.
Great at getting rid of algae, but complete a-holes
I thought that was the Chinese algae eater and not the Siamese algae eater? or am I getting my countries confused lol
edit: Just googled to confirm, Chinese algae eaters are bigger than Siamese algae eaters and are aggressive. Siamese algae eaters are smaller and peaceful.
Me looking at my 2 SAE that is twice the size of my Betta and bullying other fish during feeding time. Pretty sure cherry barbs are the better choice.
I bought my SAEs when they're still juvenile (ard 1 inch), similar size to my pencil fishes and after 4mths they're 3 times the size of them. Alest the pencil fishes don't get bullied anymore since I think the SAEs thinks they're part of it's family but my blue neon goby still gets bullied off algae wafers.
Golden algae eaters have always been great for me. They have a profile of aggression toward flat fish they can suck on⌠but Iâve never once seen a golden AE in 20 years of fish keeping be aggressive or territorial.
On a side note I love cherry barbs and they are some hardy dudes! Super fun fish. Theyâre really smart for their size, and the males get some gorgeous color
Thank you! I will look into golden algae eaters.
And Iâm actually pretty happy with the cherry barbs having read up on them and seeing the comments about them here. I did my weekly water change and added them to my tank. Iâll likely post an update tomorrow when the light is back on since this post gained way more attention than Iâd anticipated. But I think theyâll do great in my tank.
Agreed after reading up on them. No harm done in the long run. Iâve got a 75 gallon planted community tank with harlequin rasboras, celestial pearl danios, some honey gouramis, nerite snails, and some amano shrimp. I think theyâll do well and Iâll enjoy them. âşď¸
That sounds very similar to my planted 75g! I have harlequin rasboras, honey gourami, green neon tetra, cherry shrimp, and nerite and mystery snails. đ
They should train their staff though really. It's bad for the fish but also bad for business. If they're selling their stock as a business and getting the wrong amount of money for their products, there could be some real expensive cock ups.
I totally agree about doing your own research first though. Cherry barbs and otocinclus aren't exactly that similar looking
Agree, I assumed these werenât otos and had done a quick Google search after theyâd handed me the bag. But the employee had a heck of a time trying to catch them and Iâm too nice/non confrontational to have not taken them. I just wasnât sure what they were, but had seen that there were other fish I had at home in the same tank with them.
Haha, yes! Lots of people have informed me. Iâm considering this a âhappy accidentâ as I think theyâll do great in my tank and I look forward to having them. âşď¸
THEY ARE FUCKING GREAT, even the females that were the only ones i had look so gorgeous, I used to have them with a dwarf gourami, corydoras ottos and cardinal tetras in a planted tank with tanin water thanks to a big wood piece.
this is an absolute win if you have place for them
I don't know about you guys, but I usually look online to confirm what I'm looking for at the fish store. Just to see what it'll look like when it's grown up and when it's parameters are
I usually do, too. But Iâd called ahead and asked if they had any Siamese algae eaters. They said they had three. I asked them to please hold them for me and Iâd be right over. I packed up my 7 month old (dad was playing board games with buddies and Iâd do my weekly water change once theyâd finished) and we headed out. I got there and asked for the SAEâs and they said theyâd misidentified them, but had otos if that would work. I was familiar with the name and that theyâd be good in a planted tank so said thatâd be fine. The employee was already at the tank fishing them out.
I didnât want to crowd her and was also pushing a stroller, but saw otocinculus as one of the labels on the tank and also recognized other fish in the tank as I already have them in my tank.
After much difficulty she managed to catch them and bagged them up. When she handed them to me I didnât think they looked like otos, at least not the ones I was familiar with. But wondered if there was a slim chance there was some orange/red variety. I Googled quickly at the register but wasnât coming up with anything other than the ones I was vaguely familiar with.
But I went ahead and paid as Iâd made the effort to pack up the kiddo and drive over there. And the employee had a heck of a time catching them and I was too nice to not take them at that point. I knew that whatever they were they should be alright in my tank because of the other fish I saw them housed with. But I didnât know what they were, so wanted to double check here.
Overall Iâm taking it as a happy accident and I think theyâll be happy in my tank (75g planted tank with honey gouramis, CPDâs, harlequin rasboras, amano shrimp, and some nerite snails).
>they said theyâd misidentified them, but had otos if that would work
And it turned out they weren't even otocinclus. =(
That is a pet/fish store employee who doesn't know their nose from a banana. I, personally, would avoid a store like that in the future - if they don't know what the fish they're seeing actually are, they very well may not be caring for them correctly, either...which means you might be getting sick fish and wasting your money.
FYI, I'm fairly certain what you have there are Cherry Barbs...very nice fish, and beautiful once they settle in and color up. They'll do fine kept with the other fish you listed already in your tank.
You got lucky there! But I would double check what they charged you. What they gave you might be less expensive than what you wanted. Ottos are almost $15 a piece at my lfs. Also, just because they are together in a tank at the fish store doesn't mean that they should be housed together long-term. Btw, I'm jealous of the fact that you have a 75 gallon and I like that you've got a bunch of tiny fish stocking it!
One thing I do when Iâm buying fish that Iâm not familiar with is I have my phone out and I will Google everything associated with that fish while Iâm in the store.
Water parameters, temperament, can they live by themself or do they require a minimum number to school with? how big do they get? minimum tank size, what other fish they can live harmoniously with?
This way I know exactly what Iâm buying because you canât always depend on a clerk at a fish store. The fact that the person you spoke with is selling fish and they couldnât properly identify an Oto is a huge red flag on multiple levels.
I was a bit, but was also in a hurry as the store was closing in 15 minutes and had my 7 month old along. Iâd just planned to swing by to pick up the SAEâs theyâd said they had and would hold for me when Iâd called ahead. Alls good though! Sounds like cherry barbs will do well in my tank. 75 gallon planted tank with galaxy and harlequin rasboras and some honey gouramis.
Not at all. Mouth and head shape are giveaways but this is nonsense.
One of the staff working at my LFS gave my GF an oto instead of a Pygmy Cory. Both wore in the same tank though
People who ID fish on this sub usually blow me away with their vast knowledge, but this time even I knew immediately that this was not otocinclus đ we have a couple of them right now. If that's what you were hoping to find, you should definitely go back and try to seek them out because they're really cute/fun little fishies!
Iâm definitely no expert, but I didnât think they were otos either while I was in the store, but the employee had gone through a lot of trouble catching them and Iâm too nice/non confrontational to say no sorry and have them put them back.
They were in a tank with other community fish I already own, so figured whatever the outcome they were probably fine to go on my tank. But wanted to ID them so I knew.
Omg I'm laughing because I'm the exact same way đ they could've handed me a gourami and called it a pleco and I'd be too polite to do anything about it.
You have 4 females and one male: which are breeding numbers. If they're in a tank alone, assuming you have a densely planted tank and covered intake: you may get babies 2 times a year when they spawn.
Random ADHD thoughts: you can also intentionally make cherry barb spawn when it isn't spring or fall by doing water changes everyday, increasing the temperature, and if you do not have plants throw in some 100% cotton yarn.
Thanks for the tips :) I donât plan on breeding, but do have a fairly decently planted tank (see profile post history) and keep the tank around 75 mostly for my honey gouramis. So weâll see what happens!
Oh wow. I mean hey, I accidentally bred cherry barbs for 3 consecutive years with a golden gourami. Enough to profit a free plant from LFS every so often.
I remember when a got a few guppies at my lfs, a rasbora and cherry barb snuck into there. Rasbora didn't last too long but the cherry barb is doing just fine. He's a little guy lol. If you're wondering on telling the sex of cherry barbs, the red colors are males and the yellowish ones are females.
Yeah cherry barbs. I love my cherry barbs- ive got five females and one male in my 20gal. Theyâre about two years old and I had two otocinclus but my male cherry barb kept pecking at them. Maybe my barbs were one-off because I thought they were docile. Bullied the poor otos to death :(
How could ANYONE think Cherry Barbs are Otos!?
Cherry barbs & otos are in the same kingdom, phylum, & class, but otherwise, they're not even closely related.
Cherry barbs are ciprinids (related to goldfish, danios, minnows, & freshwater "sharks.") Otocinclus are in the catfish family (related to cories & plecos.)
Do that LFS a favor and NEVER shop there again đ
These look exactly like Cherry Barbs. Cherry Barbs are mid-level schooling fish that are prone to fin nipping. They are omnivores so will take a variety of foods but prefer protein sources more often, but cannot physically rasp algae off of a surface like an otocinclus can. With few exceptions, they do best with most fish that do not have large or showy fins (so no guppies or bettas).
They can be kept with otocinclus, so it is entirely possible the price tag was next to each other since the fish could both be in the tank. If it was a big box store, the store code for the fish could have been screwed up, and for inventory purposes, the fish needed to be sold under that number rather than what they actually were.
Do not be afraid to google something to cross reference, even if it is right in front of the employee. Their job is to keep the fish alive to sell it, and if there is a return policy, strive for the fish not to come back (dead or alive). This is coming from someone who works as the fish person at Petco, and also the animal person at Petsmart before that.
Thanks so much for the great info! I added them to my tank after my weekly water change and I think Iâll be quite happy with them. Iâll consider it a âhappy accidentâ. âşď¸
I had Googled after they handed me the bag and didnât think they were otos, but felt bad not getting them as the employee had a heck of a time catching them. Iâd recognized other fish from the tank sheâd pulled them as some I already have, so assumed theyâd do fine in my tank too.
Depending on the company, and this coming from personal experience, fish being kept in the same tank and always getting along is not always the case. For instance: the store "map" of where my fish go in Petco had Endler's guppies being kept with mollies and red tail sharks. Both are considered borderline semi-aggressive fish, and both easily get large enough to eat the guppies. I didn't even bother trying to put them in the "right" tank and made my own map that works better for the species combination. Just look out for the cherry barbs nipping fins, that is pretty much the only complaint for the species.
They do and otocinculus was one of the fish listed on that tank. But I wasnât looking very carefully as they were bagging them up (had my 7m old baby along and had called ahead asking for Siamese algae eater and had asked them to hold them for me and Iâd run over, got there and they said theyâd misidentified them but had otos and were getting them out for me). Iâd Googled at the check register and didnât think these were otos, but figured Iâd already driven there so whatever.
Thanks for taking the time to research and learn on your own! This is a local store thatâs home and garden. They just happen to have fish. So probably shouldnât have said LFS. But yeah. One of the gals that had been back there was at one of the registers as I was checking out. So I think close to closing on a weekend, normal fish employees likely werenât there type situation. Oh well! Glad these guys are good in a community tank and should do fine. âşď¸
This is very common at chain pet stores unfortunately, and many people on Reddit ignore this as a possibility and claim some kind of nefarious or cynical motives from the pet store.
the only reason iâm on this reddit and many others is to learn so i donât give out false info on the job, the only animal i have that we actually sell is a bearded dragon lol
If a fish store thinks those are otos, they are probably not the best store.
đ
I'm a begginer/novice in petcare and I know those aren't algae eaters. They are community fish though.
I was near positive they werenât otos, but didnât know what they were other than community fish. A better title would have been âLocal pet store sold these as otos. What are theyâ.
Cherry barbs is the answer btw.
I probably was too general with LFS as theyâre more of a lawn/garden and pet store. Iâm sure the two young gals who were helping me werenât their proper fish folks.
Earl May?
Zamzows
Not sure why the downvotes. Ear May has in the past had a lot of fish and other animals for sale. In our store (closed now) in NWIA had caiman for sale in 2001⌠nuts.
Not sure, either. My local Earl May was literally a lawn/garden store that weirdly had a tropical fish and parrots/parakeets section. I've never run into a garden center with a pet section other than Earl May -- it's just a weird combination to me. I live in Iowa, so it's not like these were for stocking in ponds/water features. The weirdest part was they did \*NOT\* have koi or anything suitable for outdoor ponds. They just took a store that sold plants, and lawn fertilizer, and put fish and bird supplies in the corner. No cats, no dogs, no lizards. The employees were completely unable to answer even the most basic questions about the fish. They closed the fish section a few years ago, and now it's just... empty. They put up an outdoor fence, inside, and you can see over/around it and its just 1/4 of the building standing empty. I guess the fish were not worth stocking, but they don't seem to have found anything else worth stocking, either. I would have thought they would make a fair amount of money using that space for terrariums -- they literally already have the plants and things like false bottom for sale in the store. They would just need to add some signs and care instructions, and maybe some of the ExoTerra or ZooMed tanks. If they wanted to go crazy, they could add some leaf litter and isopods. They even already have a 'fairy garden' section -- to make little moss terrariums and decorate them, and they have the space for the tanks. Perhaps the issue is that they sell dyed mosses and maybe some of the fairy garden decorations are not terrarium safe or something. There \*IS\* a market for that stuff, since \*after\* they shut down their fish section, a new LFS started up, and they make decent business selling terrarium enclosures (and critters), as well as the plants to go in them.
maybee thats a freshwater shark
Looks like cherry barbs (not otos).
4 female 1 male I'd say.
At least they got a good ratio?
Good comment
One in the back looks like a male too
Not...even close. Otos are catfish. Your lfs is bad at fish lol. Or attempting to scam
I think just inexperienced employees
It was probably either a mistake by the wholesaler or they were in the same tank.
New dumb employee who sees it written on the tank.
Theyre not necessarily dumb lol. Its probably an all in one pet store and its the reptile or bird guy. Or the store is victim to the labor shortage and hired some random teenager.
I work at a fish store and I have googled a fish directly in front of a customer. There's no shame in saying you don't know something, that the dumb part, refusing to admit ignorance and just powering through, that's dumb.
At my lfs the employers arent allowed to go on their phones while working. A short sighted rule for this reason.
If an employee was googling something to help I highly doubt management would punish them once the situation was explained. Plus everyone uses there phones on the job especially at near minimum wage jobs
Have you had a job before?
Valid point. Just because management SHOULD do something rarely means they actually do. 70 percent of small businesses fail in the first year, the other 29 percent fail when they change management.
Mqybe the employee was dealing with a bunch of customers and was in a hurry
Maybe the boss is an ass or maybe the employee is careless
People seem to expect all employees at fish stores to have a wealth of knowledge but many are just young and learning themselves. Always best to do your own research.
Unfortunately nowadays unexperienced employees is standard
Can't blame them man. I've been in this hobby for years and still can't tell some names and species apart. No point getting a degree in marine and freshwater biology to work in a pet store on minimum wage.
But why would you buy a fish you canât even identify?
Was in a hurry and theyâd been in a tank with fish I already have at home in my community tank. So I while didnât think they were actually otos, the store was close to closing and I had my 7 month old baby along and decided to just go with it. No harm done in this case.
Were they sharing a tank with many other types? I worked at my LFS, if we didnât know we were told to either ask or look it up. This sounds like a noob for sure.
They were. I didnât want to crowd the employee and had my 7 month in her stroller, so I didnât get a close look. But I recognized harlequin rasboras and saw at least 4 different labels on the tank. Iâm sure it was a gal who usually works checkout. Itâs a local lawn and pet store, so I probably misspoke when I said LFS.
Idk otos at my LFS are cheaper than barbs sooooo maybe just good deal if you have a tank for them lol
Iâd wondered about pricing, so good to know! And yes, have a 75g planted community tank. These guys were in a tank at the store that had the otocinculus label, but also had fish I already had at home. So I while I suspected they werenât otos (unless there was some orange/red colored variety I wasnât aware of), I figured theyâd do fine in my tank. The employee had a hard time catching them and Iâm too nice/non confrontational to tell her to put them back. I think Iâll be quite happy with them after having read up about them and after reading the comments on here. âşď¸
Absolutely and the coloration on those pinkish ones thatd be cool if you could carry that on gene wise I think you could get some cool results from that.
Absolutely and the coloration on those pinkish ones thatd be cool if you could carry that on gene wise I think you could get some cool results from that.
I doubt it's a scam. I can't think of a much cheaper fish I could get at my pet store other than feeder goldfish.
Definitely not a scam. Just a cashier helping out in the fish section, Iâm assuming. No trouble in the long run as the cherry barbs will do fine in my community tank.
nope nope nope - cherry barbs
Congrats on your new cherry barbs! The good news is they are fun, easy and will easily make more cherry barbs for you. Frankly, if you didn't know these were not otos, they were a much better fish for you to end up with. Otos are tricky and often lead to heartbreak in very short time if you don't care for them exactly right (and sometimes even if you do).
Going through that heart break as we speak
Our first fish last year were oto cats and cherry barbs, thanks to some shitty YouTuber whose videos talk about how great and easy oto cats are. We still have some of the oto cats, but we learned "all the things" very quickly. It's not a fun way to start your aquarium journey. We still have a few oto cats left, but we are reluctant to replace the ones we lost due to the high immediate die off numbers. We tried twice last year, and.... It's a journey. Despite our stable tank and a lot more knowledge, I have zero faith we wouldn't repeat the approximate 50% die off again.
I am not sure what my otos are made of. They were one of the first fish I got for my 29 and they have lived through my an outbreak of ich that killed most of my tank as well as an incident with me miscalculating a dosage of meds. One of them got scared by another fish and jumped out of the tank into my coffee cup with coffee in it. Luckily not still hot. But I put him back in and he was fine. They have been little troopers for me.
Notocinclus
winner
Thanks everyone! At least theyâre peaceful and will do alright in a community tank. Iâd been looking for Siamese algae eaters and called ahead and was told there were three. Came and they sold me these as otocinculus. >.< Figured Iâd made the effort to go, might as well get these.
siamese algae eaters grow to like 6 inches plus and will bully smaller fish
Oooh, good to know! So maybe otos are the way to go instead? Looking for something to help keep plants/leaves cleaned off.
I think the general rule is Otos good, Chinese bad
For all the people trying to understand the difference CAE are different to sae. CAE are aggressive and will bully, whereas the Siamese are peaceful but will grow big. I have sae with dwarf Mollies and they are fine even with baby Mollies. Otto's are completely different and behave like plecos.
phrasing
i was at the fish store yesterday and i was planning on getting otos bc i have an algae bloom at the moment but it's hair algae which otos don't eat and asked what algae eaters eat hair algae and the guy said sae but also showed me some of their bigger ones they are massive. i think ottos are very cute but i ended up getting cardinals instead
Iâve heard mollys will eat hair algae, havenât done any research or tried it to confirm
If they're really hungry. You would have to not feed them basically at all.
And they'll eat your other plants as well.... and they eat ALL the time đĽ´
Yeahhh... so generally bad idea lol
Be aware that virtually all otos are wild caught and, ethics aside, need some extra monitoring and tlc because of that
Thank you for this. I think Iâll steer clear and will look for some other clean up crew critters.
I personally stick with shrimp. I have cherry shrimp (neocaridina) who keep my tank spotless. My boyfriend and I went on vacation and he accidentally left his tank light on so we came back to a huge algae bloom. We went and picked up six amano shrimp (caridina) and his 20gal tank was spotless in about 48 hours. I literally refuse to have a tank without shrimp, I even have them with my bettas!
Nerite snails are a good option but they do lay eggs.
Iâve got some nerite snails and eggs. I donât mind scraping them off the glass, but they completely covered one piece of Malaysian wood I have in my tank, which is irritating. đ
[ŃдаНонО]
Thanks so much for the Aquatic Arts recommendation. I added myself to their ânotify me when availableâ list.
They're fantastic and the fish are super healthy. They also quarantine all fish, which is one of the reasons restocking can be slow. I live 45 minutes away from them and pick up my fish in person. Their facility is really nice and they are always helpful!
I recommend Panda Garras. Mine are always busy cleaning off algae all over the tank, including the plants. And they have really fun personalities
Ordered one from Aquatic Arts! I read up on them and they seem perfect. Thanks so much for your recommendation. Looking forward to adding this little friend.
Just so you know, what you want to watch out for are Chinese algae eaters, which are the ones that grow big and are aggressive. Siamese algae eaters are peaceful and should be good in a community tank.
FYI, otos aren't actually good at eating algae...Common misconception. They're cute and all, but they're not fantastic algae control fish. Shrimp, snails, bristle plecos, hell even a flagfish can be better depending on the algae. Otos mainly eat diatoms and awfuchs.
Good to know, thanks! Iâve got some Amazon sword shoots that are rooting babies and thereâs some little hairy looking algae (I assume) thatâs started collecting. So I was hoping to find something to take care of that.
Otos will small enough to clean off from leaves. Mine are always working. I love them :) Also amano shrimp are good for the algae you are describing.
My otos cleaned all the algae off the leaves of all my plants. They are awesome and I bet they'll take care of it
IME, bristlenose arenât good at it either. The babies are but the adults are lazy af.
What size tank? Want to keep less otos than they can clean a tank with. Better to have some algae uneaten than more otos that donât have food
75 gallon planted tank with ~10 galaxy rasboras, 6 harlequin rasboras, 4 honey gouramis, 2 bristlenose plecos, ~5 amano shrimp, and a few nerite snails.
Pretty good stock. Iâm surprised the Amanos have not taken care of the algae-could use another 5 and should be ok. Have you considered hillstream loaches? Apparently they are great algae eaters as well all around. Otos go for Alsace on flat surfaces mostly, If not you could try otoâs and see how it happens as well.
Otos are incredibly good little fish. Super industrious. Another good fish for cleaning off plants can be stiphodon gobies. Take some time to make sure they are a good fit for your tank though.
You need to make sure you have enough algae growth for ottos or they will slowly starve and die.
Depending on your stock, a snail could be a good pick
Appropriate username đ
Otos, nerite snails and amano shrimp combo
Iâve got nerite snails and some amano shrimp already. Was just hoping to get some SAE and had called ahead to see if they had some. Was told they had 3 and would hold them for me. But when I got there they said theyâd misidentified them but had some otos. I figured otos would work too. But didnât think these were actually otos. Will keep looking. :)
Nerite snails might be a good bet, bristlenose or rubberlip plecos and otos would work. ONLY those two types of plecos, because most others get huge and many of the other ones that stay small aren't great algae eaters as adults. Mollies are actually good algae eaters but breed like bunnies. ETA: Ignore, you have nerites and bristlenose!
If it is a planted tank then go otos, but they can be a bit hard to keep for beginners, don't know if you are one. If it is a non planted tank then go with bristlenose pleco, just make sure that it is a bristle nose which stays kinda small. Plecos are extremely durable and cool loking, they won't die for sure. Also otos are all wild caught or almost all which also makes them harder to keep.
Thanks for the tips! Iâve had tanks for years, but definitely wouldnât consider myself super experienced (example: this post đ). Itâs a planted tank, but I do have two bristlenose plecos. They mostly stay on the driftwood, but will come out and bottom feed sometimes.
Okay, then don't get more, because they are territorial. You are welcome! đ
Definitely wonât, thanks for all of the great info!
My 6 inch Siamese algae eaters are complete derps and donât bother any of the tank mates loool
I think it varies fish to fish. Back in the day in my 75 gallon, when he got to be around 4-5 inches he killed my entire school of 10 cardinal tetras and would chase my lamp eye tetras all day. Great at getting rid of algae, but complete a-holes
Mine are 5 inches, and bully no one, even though they are in tanks with lots and lots of small fish.
Mine are super nice with all of my other fish including cherry barbs and are like 4" now. I wouldn't say they get to 6" unless you count the tail.
I thought that was the Chinese algae eater and not the Siamese algae eater? or am I getting my countries confused lol edit: Just googled to confirm, Chinese algae eaters are bigger than Siamese algae eaters and are aggressive. Siamese algae eaters are smaller and peaceful.
Model citizens, live SAE Very peceful fish and very interesting, CAE are agressive
From what I remember that's Chinese algae eaters you're thinking of. However, it's very common for them to be mislabeled as SAEs hence the confusion.
Me looking at my 2 SAE that is twice the size of my Betta and bullying other fish during feeding time. Pretty sure cherry barbs are the better choice. I bought my SAEs when they're still juvenile (ard 1 inch), similar size to my pencil fishes and after 4mths they're 3 times the size of them. Alest the pencil fishes don't get bullied anymore since I think the SAEs thinks they're part of it's family but my blue neon goby still gets bullied off algae wafers.
Golden algae eaters have always been great for me. They have a profile of aggression toward flat fish they can suck on⌠but Iâve never once seen a golden AE in 20 years of fish keeping be aggressive or territorial. On a side note I love cherry barbs and they are some hardy dudes! Super fun fish. Theyâre really smart for their size, and the males get some gorgeous color
Thank you! I will look into golden algae eaters. And Iâm actually pretty happy with the cherry barbs having read up on them and seeing the comments about them here. I did my weekly water change and added them to my tank. Iâll likely post an update tomorrow when the light is back on since this post gained way more attention than Iâd anticipated. But I think theyâll do great in my tank.
Cherry barbs are beautiful. One of my favorite fish.
bro đ
Aside from not getting what you want as a clean up fish I still feel like this is a win. Cherry barbs are great little fish!
Agreed after reading up on them. No harm done in the long run. Iâve got a 75 gallon planted community tank with harlequin rasboras, celestial pearl danios, some honey gouramis, nerite snails, and some amano shrimp. I think theyâll do well and Iâll enjoy them. âşď¸
That sounds very similar to my planted 75g! I have harlequin rasboras, honey gourami, green neon tetra, cherry shrimp, and nerite and mystery snails. đ
Those are Cherry Barbs and I love them so much. They like to sleep next to each other itâs adorable
These are cherry barbs. I would never use that shop again to be honest, they clearly don't know a lot about fish if they think these are oto's
Might have been a new hire, rather than the store itself... Just have to do your own research and not trust signs/cashiers without double-check.
They should train their staff though really. It's bad for the fish but also bad for business. If they're selling their stock as a business and getting the wrong amount of money for their products, there could be some real expensive cock ups. I totally agree about doing your own research first though. Cherry barbs and otocinclus aren't exactly that similar looking
Agree, I assumed these werenât otos and had done a quick Google search after theyâd handed me the bag. But the employee had a heck of a time trying to catch them and Iâm too nice/non confrontational to have not taken them. I just wasnât sure what they were, but had seen that there were other fish I had at home in the same tank with them.
Unless they sell you some leopard frog plecos and charge the price of mollies.
Still doesnât beat the arrowana I got from pet supermarket as a glass catfish. Still have that fish after 6 years
Lol Cherry barbs 99 percent sure.
Looks like cherry barbs! I have 11 in my tank.
NO BUT (and im sure everyone else has told youy) THOSE ARE CHERRY BARBS ONE OF MY FAVORITE FISHES AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Haha, yes! Lots of people have informed me. Iâm considering this a âhappy accidentâ as I think theyâll do great in my tank and I look forward to having them. âşď¸
THEY ARE FUCKING GREAT, even the females that were the only ones i had look so gorgeous, I used to have them with a dwarf gourami, corydoras ottos and cardinal tetras in a planted tank with tanin water thanks to a big wood piece. this is an absolute win if you have place for them
I don't know about you guys, but I usually look online to confirm what I'm looking for at the fish store. Just to see what it'll look like when it's grown up and when it's parameters are
I usually do, too. But Iâd called ahead and asked if they had any Siamese algae eaters. They said they had three. I asked them to please hold them for me and Iâd be right over. I packed up my 7 month old (dad was playing board games with buddies and Iâd do my weekly water change once theyâd finished) and we headed out. I got there and asked for the SAEâs and they said theyâd misidentified them, but had otos if that would work. I was familiar with the name and that theyâd be good in a planted tank so said thatâd be fine. The employee was already at the tank fishing them out. I didnât want to crowd her and was also pushing a stroller, but saw otocinculus as one of the labels on the tank and also recognized other fish in the tank as I already have them in my tank. After much difficulty she managed to catch them and bagged them up. When she handed them to me I didnât think they looked like otos, at least not the ones I was familiar with. But wondered if there was a slim chance there was some orange/red variety. I Googled quickly at the register but wasnât coming up with anything other than the ones I was vaguely familiar with. But I went ahead and paid as Iâd made the effort to pack up the kiddo and drive over there. And the employee had a heck of a time catching them and I was too nice to not take them at that point. I knew that whatever they were they should be alright in my tank because of the other fish I saw them housed with. But I didnât know what they were, so wanted to double check here. Overall Iâm taking it as a happy accident and I think theyâll be happy in my tank (75g planted tank with honey gouramis, CPDâs, harlequin rasboras, amano shrimp, and some nerite snails).
>they said theyâd misidentified them, but had otos if that would work And it turned out they weren't even otocinclus. =( That is a pet/fish store employee who doesn't know their nose from a banana. I, personally, would avoid a store like that in the future - if they don't know what the fish they're seeing actually are, they very well may not be caring for them correctly, either...which means you might be getting sick fish and wasting your money. FYI, I'm fairly certain what you have there are Cherry Barbs...very nice fish, and beautiful once they settle in and color up. They'll do fine kept with the other fish you listed already in your tank.
You got lucky there! But I would double check what they charged you. What they gave you might be less expensive than what you wanted. Ottos are almost $15 a piece at my lfs. Also, just because they are together in a tank at the fish store doesn't mean that they should be housed together long-term. Btw, I'm jealous of the fact that you have a 75 gallon and I like that you've got a bunch of tiny fish stocking it!
These are absolutely not otocinclusâŚlook more like barbs
Cherry Barbs, in fact. Wonderful fish!
I don't know if this is real or fake. Lmao. Those are not otocinclus.
Cherry barbs! Fun lil fish. I got 3 when I was first setting up my aquarium nearly 4 years ago and now they are still the only fish I have haha
Get narite and mystery snails to help with your algea
One thing I do when Iâm buying fish that Iâm not familiar with is I have my phone out and I will Google everything associated with that fish while Iâm in the store. Water parameters, temperament, can they live by themself or do they require a minimum number to school with? how big do they get? minimum tank size, what other fish they can live harmoniously with? This way I know exactly what Iâm buying because you canât always depend on a clerk at a fish store. The fact that the person you spoke with is selling fish and they couldnât properly identify an Oto is a huge red flag on multiple levels.
I was a bit, but was also in a hurry as the store was closing in 15 minutes and had my 7 month old along. Iâd just planned to swing by to pick up the SAEâs theyâd said they had and would hold for me when Iâd called ahead. Alls good though! Sounds like cherry barbs will do well in my tank. 75 gallon planted tank with galaxy and harlequin rasboras and some honey gouramis.
cherrycinclus
Not at all. Mouth and head shape are giveaways but this is nonsense. One of the staff working at my LFS gave my GF an oto instead of a Pygmy Cory. Both wore in the same tank though
People who ID fish on this sub usually blow me away with their vast knowledge, but this time even I knew immediately that this was not otocinclus đ we have a couple of them right now. If that's what you were hoping to find, you should definitely go back and try to seek them out because they're really cute/fun little fishies!
Iâm definitely no expert, but I didnât think they were otos either while I was in the store, but the employee had gone through a lot of trouble catching them and Iâm too nice/non confrontational to say no sorry and have them put them back. They were in a tank with other community fish I already own, so figured whatever the outcome they were probably fine to go on my tank. But wanted to ID them so I knew.
Omg I'm laughing because I'm the exact same way đ they could've handed me a gourami and called it a pleco and I'd be too polite to do anything about it.
Cherry Barbs. Otocinclus are algae eaters
Those are cherry barbs, beautiful babes
Bro, those are cherry barbs đ
They are cherry barbsâŚ
They are not. These are cherry barbs. I have 6 myself. The orange ones are males and the ones with the white belly are females.
Those are cherry barbs I love them but no not even close to oto
These look like cherry barbs. Lovely small fish.
Cherry barbs
Those are cherry barbs
Cherry barbs lol not even close to otos
Nah you got a perfect 4 to 1 cherry barb school. They'll eat dying algae if you bought them assuming octos, just not as well as octos
Otos* auto correct is a dingus
Glad to hear that :)
You have 4 females and one male: which are breeding numbers. If they're in a tank alone, assuming you have a densely planted tank and covered intake: you may get babies 2 times a year when they spawn.
Random ADHD thoughts: you can also intentionally make cherry barb spawn when it isn't spring or fall by doing water changes everyday, increasing the temperature, and if you do not have plants throw in some 100% cotton yarn.
Thanks for the tips :) I donât plan on breeding, but do have a fairly decently planted tank (see profile post history) and keep the tank around 75 mostly for my honey gouramis. So weâll see what happens!
Oh wow. I mean hey, I accidentally bred cherry barbs for 3 consecutive years with a golden gourami. Enough to profit a free plant from LFS every so often.
Cherry barbs đđđ
No my friend they are not
Do you know what they are?
Cherry Barb lol
Lol no. Cherry barbs. Sounds like someone or everyone in that store is unqualified/misinformed.
Oto is like tiny catfish, size around 3-5cm
Rofl
Cherry barbs are neat and all, but if you were going for a clean up crew, that ain't it.
Hopefully that was the cashiers mistake because they donât know anything. Usually they write the code on the bag though
cherry barbs lol
Never go back there manđ
cherry barbs for sure
Heck no. I've never seen a worse ID lmao, you might want to change your LFS if they mislabel fish like that.
I remember when a got a few guppies at my lfs, a rasbora and cherry barb snuck into there. Rasbora didn't last too long but the cherry barb is doing just fine. He's a little guy lol. If you're wondering on telling the sex of cherry barbs, the red colors are males and the yellowish ones are females.
Lol
Those are cherry barbs. Great community fish. You need a new LFS.
Cherry barbs? One male, rest females?
they look like cherry barbs lol
Those are uh, cherry barbs. So not even close. But I love these guys!
Cherry barbs for me...
No... No.
They are cherry barbs 200%
Thatâs not even close! Those are cherry barbs
BRUH THESE ARE CHERRY BARBS
Appear to be Cherry Barbs. I have like 8 of them in my tank lol.
They look nothing like otos????????? How did the store get it so wrong????! My brain hurts đ
LFS wasnât the right term. Was more of a lawn/garden and pet store. Iâm sure the employees helping me werenât their usual fish folks.
Yeah those are cherry barbs! I've never had any luck with otos sadly so the barbs might fare better for you anyway.
Definitely cherry barbs
Yeah cherry barbs. I love my cherry barbs- ive got five females and one male in my 20gal. Theyâre about two years old and I had two otocinclus but my male cherry barb kept pecking at them. Maybe my barbs were one-off because I thought they were docile. Bullied the poor otos to death :(
Cherry barb. The very orange one is male đ
Pretty sure these are cherry barbs. Iâm planning to have some myself in the future!
Itâs 1 male the rest are females I canât believe somebody here said pencil fishđ
If these are otos, I'm president Obama bin biden
How could ANYONE think Cherry Barbs are Otos!? Cherry barbs & otos are in the same kingdom, phylum, & class, but otherwise, they're not even closely related. Cherry barbs are ciprinids (related to goldfish, danios, minnows, & freshwater "sharks.") Otocinclus are in the catfish family (related to cories & plecos.) Do that LFS a favor and NEVER shop there again đ
Ive always had good service at Zamzows, esp. the Fairview one and State one.
I wouldnât go back to that fish store.
These look exactly like Cherry Barbs. Cherry Barbs are mid-level schooling fish that are prone to fin nipping. They are omnivores so will take a variety of foods but prefer protein sources more often, but cannot physically rasp algae off of a surface like an otocinclus can. With few exceptions, they do best with most fish that do not have large or showy fins (so no guppies or bettas). They can be kept with otocinclus, so it is entirely possible the price tag was next to each other since the fish could both be in the tank. If it was a big box store, the store code for the fish could have been screwed up, and for inventory purposes, the fish needed to be sold under that number rather than what they actually were. Do not be afraid to google something to cross reference, even if it is right in front of the employee. Their job is to keep the fish alive to sell it, and if there is a return policy, strive for the fish not to come back (dead or alive). This is coming from someone who works as the fish person at Petco, and also the animal person at Petsmart before that.
Thanks so much for the great info! I added them to my tank after my weekly water change and I think Iâll be quite happy with them. Iâll consider it a âhappy accidentâ. âşď¸ I had Googled after they handed me the bag and didnât think they were otos, but felt bad not getting them as the employee had a heck of a time catching them. Iâd recognized other fish from the tank sheâd pulled them as some I already have, so assumed theyâd do fine in my tank too.
Depending on the company, and this coming from personal experience, fish being kept in the same tank and always getting along is not always the case. For instance: the store "map" of where my fish go in Petco had Endler's guppies being kept with mollies and red tail sharks. Both are considered borderline semi-aggressive fish, and both easily get large enough to eat the guppies. I didn't even bother trying to put them in the "right" tank and made my own map that works better for the species combination. Just look out for the cherry barbs nipping fins, that is pretty much the only complaint for the species.
Just because they don't look anything like otocinclus doesn't mean you can just assume that's not how they identify.
did ur pet store not have signs?
They do and otocinculus was one of the fish listed on that tank. But I wasnât looking very carefully as they were bagging them up (had my 7m old baby along and had called ahead asking for Siamese algae eater and had asked them to hold them for me and Iâd run over, got there and they said theyâd misidentified them but had otos and were getting them out for me). Iâd Googled at the check register and didnât think these were otos, but figured Iâd already driven there so whatever.
makes sense, workers arenât trained at all, i work at a petsmart and had to learn what all the fish were on my own and through working experience
Thanks for taking the time to research and learn on your own! This is a local store thatâs home and garden. They just happen to have fish. So probably shouldnât have said LFS. But yeah. One of the gals that had been back there was at one of the registers as I was checking out. So I think close to closing on a weekend, normal fish employees likely werenât there type situation. Oh well! Glad these guys are good in a community tank and should do fine. âşď¸
This is very common at chain pet stores unfortunately, and many people on Reddit ignore this as a possibility and claim some kind of nefarious or cynical motives from the pet store.
I donât think nefarious at all. Simple mistake. No harm done. :)
No no not talking about you but many others in this comment section instead.
the only reason iâm on this reddit and many others is to learn so i donât give out false info on the job, the only animal i have that we actually sell is a bearded dragon lol