Otocinclus Catfish

Otocinclus are small South American suckermouth catfish, sold under a handful of very similar species names, and they are the standard answer to green algae on plant leaves and glass. The body is a mottled brown-grey with a dark stripe from the snout to the tail and a pale belly, and the fish spends its day fastened to leaves, wood and glass working steadily across the surface. They are grazers, not scavengers, and they need something to graze on.

Aquarium care

• Reaches about 4 cm.
• Peaceful, and not known to trouble tankmates or dwarf shrimp. It is small enough to be eaten by larger fish, so choose its company with that in mind.
• Keep six or more; they are social and settle much better in numbers.
• Needs a mature, established tank with algae and biofilm already present.
• Supplement with blanched courgette, cucumber and quality algae wafers.
• Sensitive to poor water quality; new tanks are the usual reason they fail.

Excellent in a planted community with tetras, rasboras, corydoras and dwarf gouramis. Do not add them to a tank that is still cycling, and do not expect them to survive on the tank's own algae once it is clean.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See the current catfish list.