# shrimp vs otto



## coool_brain (Jul 4, 2010)

hi everyone,

recently i found that moss tanks needs cleaning elements like shrimps or ottos, because leaves of moss get cover with small dust particles or algae and will have hard time to consume nutrients.

I don't want to put shrimps in my tank (because i have a betta. bettas eat shrimp, if i am right).

So, can otto(ottocinclus vittatus) do the job of shrimp, cleaning up the moss and keeping them fresh and green?


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

For what you are describing, unfortunately the Oto's won't do much good for you either. They're not much one's for being a clean up crew especially in moss. If it weren't for the betta...the shrimp would definately be your choice for that. They can work over some moss.


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## mk4gti (Jun 15, 2010)

Get amano shrimp they are bigger than red cherries or ghost shrimp and the beta will have a tough time harassing them.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*I have a small fishbowl with just shrimp, there is no filtration and no water changes. The moss that is growing in there is doing fine. I also have other plants in there so my nitrogen readings are low, maybe that might contribute to the no algae.*


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## coool_brain (Jul 4, 2010)

okay! thanks for the replies guys.
mk4gti: sorry man. i don't want my betta to harass shrimps, even slightly. peace... 

now somebody tell me how important it is, to keep shrimps in the moss tank.

if its too important, i will get rid off my betta.... no! no! i am not going to kill it. i mean i will give it to the shopkeeper or somebody else..


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*You dont need shrimps with moss. But you need moss with shrimps. Shrimps like eating from the moss since it can easily trap debris whereas the ground and other plants dont provide that "trap". *


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Yeppers...the shrimp and moss are like peas in a pod. You definately don't need moss for shrimp though. They love working it over for all the goodies it traps.


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## mk4gti (Jun 15, 2010)

I just dont think your beta will have the balls to go for a shrimp that big, i have amanos in my tank that are almost 2 inches


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## coool_brain (Jul 4, 2010)

mk4gti: you mean to say that my MALE betta splendens doesn't have balls? I hate you....peace 

okay. jokes apart. i got my answer. since shrimps are not so important for a moss tank. i won't add shrimps and keep my betta.

thanks for help everyone.


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## edward (Nov 9, 2010)

Amano shrimp are what i opted for when i needed some in house cleaning doing. I firstly recruited a team of 4 ottos ... they do a good job! and deffo made a dent in algae and so on. I have a tank of Rams and they didn't bother the Amano, i chose the larger couple from the store i got them. 
You may also want to look into Bamboo shrimp. They are slightly more pricey but bigger again than the Amano. However they are not as pretty looking!

Hope this helps


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

I think the bamboo shrimp are filter feeders and probably won't do much for this type of algae. It is definitely a job for shrimp... my RCS climb all over moss and plants all day picking at them. Real workaholics. If you dont mind a loss, you could get ghost shrimp and see if they survive.. my last betta didn't care about shrimp. This one hunts down shrimp like a little lion on the prowl. Ghost shrimp are cheap.

Another option may be a molly. I had one recently (died due to some illness in the tank that wiped out a lot of my fish), and it seemed to pick at plants, duckweed, and would go nuts for the algae wafers I would drop in for the otos and ghost shrimp.


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