Warning, you may have rec'd something other than Otos.... I've went thru
several places that didn't really, REALLY know how to ID a true Oto... but
finally when I found a shop that had them, you can tell in a way... the
Otos, have a black stripe that runs from nose to tip of tail... others
dont... not a spotted line, a SOLID line.... some have fattened bellies,
some don't.. but they always have 1" bodies, no bigger...

in over a year with my Otos, I've never had one attach itself... to a fish
that is... and are very active swimmers sometimes...

I just hope you didn't get the wrong kind....

Put some zuchinni in the tank to keep them fed well... even if there is some
algae, they may be looking for better food source... and you may have to
wipe or clean the brown algae because they may not be interested YET......



I am having a problem in my tank for a couple of weeks now, and I've been
trying to get some help on other groups since it is fish-related. I just
read a post here alluding to otos going after the slime coating on other
fish. This is something I wasn't aware of..

First my tiger barbs, now most of my fish, are scratching against plants
and
the heater, etc. I've seen some things that made me think gill flukes
(esp
the tiger barbs' gills look discolored). This is the thing... my dad
yesterday said he saw an oto attach to a fish briefly. I didn't think
much
of it. There is still plenty of algae in my tank, both green spot and
diatomous (sp?) brown and I've never seen them doing anything but eating
this.

Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

bob

ps - no ich spots anywhere