Dwarf suckermouth - Otocinclus vittatus

Contributed by: William Coxe»4»

On: July 31, 2006, 11:02 am

Much to be preferred over the "Chinese" Algae Eater. Likes to play in bubble streams and under water falls in my aquarium.

Contributed by: Stormy»3»

On: May 1, 2007, 12:56 pm

I have three of these little guys. They’re so funny. Mine can’t stand still. They dart all over the place. My guppies and neons "school" with them. My ottos also don’t just stay at the bottom. In fact, they stay mostly at the top! My tank used to get algae days after I’d clean it, now I haven’t seen a speck of algae since I got them. Busy little guys.

Contributed by: Irene»3»

On: April 5, 2009, 9:33 am

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise on otocinclus vittatus. I have learned much valuable information from your website. I have raised these fish but sadly with no success. I do not want to give up on the possibility of raising these fish successfully so I am trying to research as much as possible about them as much as possible until I plan to get more. At one time, I had one baby successfully survive for about a week until it disappeared. I assume it was devoured by one of the other fish in the tank. The full grown ones did not survive much longer than a month. A couple of times I saw an otocinclus vittatus move above the water line to suction against dry part of the glass aquarium. I am not sure if this was normal. It seemed strange. One of the fish that did this I believe died as a result of being dried out. Anyhow, thank you for providing thorough information about this interesting fish. I would appreciate any further advice that you may provide me regarding how to raise them.

Sincerely,

Irene

Contributed by: admin»784»

On: April 5, 2009, 4:37 pm

@Irene: There are only a few suggestions; Plants in the tank, also places for free swimming, aerated water, caves, rocks, driftwood. Test pH once a week, so test carbonate hardness. You can learn about all of these things on this website; just use the search box at the top of this page.

Contributed by: Andy»1»

On: February 10, 2010, 5:28 pm

I’ve got four of these in my tank, they’ve been going fine now for months. pH is about 8, but they seem to be thriving. I feed them a little blanched cucumber to keep them well fed, which seems to bring out a bit of a hierarchy amongst the four of them. They are also quite territorial while being fed, the dominant fish tends to hog both the food and shelter during this time.

All up, amazing little fish for a small aquarium! Not as hard to keep alive as I’ve been led to believe.