The Puffer Forum

I've read many places that otos may go well with dwarf puffers. Do any of you have experience with introducing otos to a DP tank? Which Otocinclus species would be better, if there is any difference with regard to how they cope with DPs? I have 6 DPs with 4 amano shrimp in that tank. All the DPs leave the amanos alone (although they get a little interested when the amanos are munching on bloodworms).

What size tank? Some Dps will tolerate other species, others will not. We're the shrimp there before the dps? I only had one pair that tolerated shrimp of any kind and they still took a leg here and there as they matured

+1 to what sized tank. Also helpful would be layout and decor. I introduced 4 amano shrimp to my dp tank about 6 months ago I think only 1 is left. Only reason I know it's in there is occasionally I'll find it hiding out inside the floating cone worm feeder. Not sure how the others passed/disappeared.

Tank size is 112 litres, heavily planted, roots, stones. I posted a photo before, can try to find it. 6 Dps, 4 shrimp. The shrimp were added after the DPs (DPs 3 months ago, shrimp in Easter). Two DPs seem to be mature, the others are "teenagers". One of the smaller has developed eye wrinkles, so I think he's the only male. One of the females (?) is quite territorial. None of them show any interest in the shrimp. Amanos tke care of the algae, so I would probably have to add more for otos to eat. Never had any water quality issues, nitrates are still too low (because of the heavy planting) - I add fertilizer. No diseases, no deaths so far. Newbie...

My tank is shown in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=34710&p=357883#p357883. A bit old picture maybe, but it's not changed that much.

I kept a small shoal of oto's in my 20g long alongside my DPs. They were largely ignored after the initial week or so following introduction. There shouldn't be a problem but, each individual DP will react differently. I've never been able to keep shrimp of any kind alive in that tank, however. Just remember, you need to have a well established CLEAN (water parameters) tank for them to live!

Yes indeed, I know that otos are fragile. My tank was cycled for 5 weeks before introducing the puffers, and it's been 3 months with stable parameters and clean water. I do approx. 50 % weekly water changes.

I'm in doubt here, since I have no backup tank in case it does not work out. I'd love to have some more fish in with the DPs, but I'm not sure I want to take the chance. Any other fish that could possibly work better than otos? Most likely the answer is no, I know that, but it does not hurt to ask

Against good advice, I've had various fish in DP tanks. Guppies and a pleco. My particular DPs ignored them both. That said, it is pretty much setting yourself up for failure. All it takes is one DP to take an exploratory chomp and it is game on. I would stick with oto's. A shoal of oto's is actually pretty enjoyable to watch.

Okay, thanks for responding. Otos are really cute, so that's what I want the most anyways But I will think about this for a looong time before I make a descition.

No problem. Best of luck to you. If your tank is mature and you keep your water decently clean, Oto's are pretty cool fish. Just make sure you have enough of them to be comfortable. They don't do well in ones and twos.

Minipuff wrote:Any other fish that could possibly work better than otos?

I added 3 neon tetras (from a chain store) a few days after getting 2 DPs (from my LFS) after being assured by 2 LFS staff that it was OK, bioload & compatibility-wise.

The puffers ignored the tetras, being more interested in begging for food & chasing each other. However, the tetras started to get bold, and picked on my DPs at feeding time. Otherwise, they left my DPs alone.

I would feed the tetras their flakes first, and while they were eating, fed my DPs bloodworms w/ a turkey baster. But they took such a long time that the tetras wld be done w/ their meal, and muscled in to steal the worms. I started worrying when I threw crushed snails in, and the tetras would drag the carcass away from my DPs and tore into them! I am not telling tales, but I saw the largest tetra b-slapped my DP w/ its tail a couple of times.

Anyway, I decided enough was enough, netted the 3 amigos, and with receipt in hand, returned them to the chain store.