Giant Otto 5 years

[knifegill]

He's a little icy toward the tail. His eye changes color, too. Sometimes it's bright red. He eats whatever sticks to the intake and browses for algae. I bought him five years ago for $8. Perfect fish. I have had 0 problems with him. It's hard for a fish with an armored underside to look fat, but he pulls it off somehow.

 

[Adam-011]

Wow Nice, Good Job! How long is he?

 

[flipstylex]

^ if thats the emperors tip, i must say, he is a giant otto indeed, my guess is 4 inches,

 

[knifegill]

I don't know anything about an Emperor and google just confused me even more.
Easy fish to keep here. Our tap water is soft. I just add a bit of crushed coral and call it good.
He's not four inches. Just about three. Bigger would be cool, but he's a good fish nonetheless.

 

[Allan01230]

Wow that must be some kind of record. I have never been able to keeps those guys alive for a year or so. Good work!

 

[knifegill]

Oh, wow. Is Michigan a hardwater area?

Maybe you had a different species? Several look similar. Mine could be either h. gulare, or h. sp.2. I never did verify it. Heading to Planetcatfish now.

All I do for him is absolutely nothing. That's right, I let the back of the tank stay covered in algae, occasionally cleaning spots so the green stuff can take over where the brown had set up shop. And I do see him exploring pretty frequently, so he's probably eating more than I realize. My pH tends to change a bit now and then, but rarely gets above 7.2. I never use salt, always use Prime, keep the nitrates low.

OH OH! MOST IMPORTANT! He LOVES the sun. When the morning sun hits the tank, he flies to the front pane and sucks like the light is food. Maybe that's the secret. Good luck in future endeavors and wish me luck in keeping him on as long as I can.

 

[packer43064]

What's in your intake?

 

[knifegill]

What's in your intake?

Combination of crushed coral gravel and lava rock. I installed the filter and noticed that empty basket just begging for media.

Here's a couple of top shots and mouth shots:

 

[knifegill]

He began looking extra silvery a few weeks ago and seemed sluggish. Yesterday I came home to find the old guy deceased. I don't know how long he would have made it in the wild, but I hope I did him right in my care. RIP thread coming...