# Otocinclus vs Ancistrus



## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

Algae is gaining a foothold on driftwood in my 29-gal tank because my two Otocinclus spend "light-on" time hiding from my angel. Would they be bolder if I added two more Otos? Or should I add a single small Ancistrus? In addition to the angel and otos, I have two lemon tetras, two blue rams, and five bronze corys. When the angel is grown (only 2 inches now) I'll have to move some fish to another tank, but for now this community seems to be working...with weekly water changes.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Otos can easily fall prey to Angels, which means yours being careful shows they are smart fish! :-D

Once an Ancistrus (BN pleco) is no longer a baby, it has nothing to worry about from Angels, so they might be bolder. Adding a single young BN pleco now might be a good idea. When you get a larger tank, you might ad some more in the hope of getting a pair. They are easy to breed and their breeding behavior is most interesting to watch, with the male providing intensive brood care


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## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

Thanks for the response. Also considering some apple snails instead of the Ancistrus. Would love to go with Zebra nerites, but they're not consistent with the SA theme of the tank. Any experience with snails for algae control?

BTW, enjoyed your web site--especially the story about the L-shaped tank. Cheers.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Apple snails will work fine with the fish you keep, but they go through life plants like a lawn mower. They also lay clumps of eggs all over the tank, which some people find rather unsightly. Personally I am not a huge fan of them, due to the plant issue. I'd rather ignore that nerites are not South Americans - I keep BN plecos in all my African cichlid tanks :wink:


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## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking that the Spixi snails I'm looking at were non-plant-eaters. However, a little further research suggests otherwise, so I probably will go with the Ancistrus. I'm going to an aquarium society monthly meeting tomorrow, and I hope to pick up an Ancistrus there...might even trade some Serpae tetras that I have for one.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Not sure where in the US you are, but around here it would be unusual to find one ancistrus for sale at an aquarium society monthly meeting. But most aquarium societies run breeder award point (BAP) programs. As part of these programs members bring in bags of fish they spawned to allow other members access to these fish at an affordable price. The bags are auctioned off at the meeting. For most fish the minimum number to turn in for BAP is six. Since ancistrus are easy to spawn, you often see bags of six young ancistrus in those auction. If you see one, don't hesitate to pick it up. Out of six there is a good chance you might get a pair, and any excess ancistrus are easy to sell to fellow club members.

As an aside, I have never heard the fish refered to as 'ancistrus' at an auction. People tend to call them bristle nose plecos or bushy nose plecos


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## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

The speaker for tonight's gathering (an Amazon fish expert from your neck of the woods) is encouraging me to add more Otos because they do better in groups of 6. I'm afraid that will just give my angel a bunch more targets. What do you think?

I live near Pittsburgh, and we have an active BAP, which is likely to be the source for fish at the auction tonight.

I worked with terrestrial and aquatic ecologists for years, so I tend to prefer Latin names, especially for something with as many common names as the BN pleco. ;-)


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

I never noticed any problems with Otos and angels. Having more will lower the chance of any one becoming a target. Ancistrus are a good option, and they are sometimes referred to as ancistrus at our meetings, lol, although more often than not they are called by their common name. By all means, if you get a chance to get a bunch of small ones, at a reasonable price, do grab them.
I do appreciate the need for Latin names, even though they can be difficult at times.


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## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

No Ancistrus or Otocinclus at the meeting. Went to LFS the next day and got 4 Otos for my 29-gal tank and a trio of "Mystery Snails" for my 10-gal tank. One snail died on the way home; the others were doing well until tonight when I noticed on lying on his back with some kind of white discoloration around his shell opening. Oddly enough, this is also the tank that houses my only assassin snail, but this doesn't look like his handiwork.


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