Oto Food

[tstenback]

I am fairly new to the wonderful world of otocinclus and would like to know what to feed them when the algae runs out. They are eating through the algae in my 5 gal betta tank like crazy and i would like to be prepared when they hit the end of the green mass.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

You could get your own supply of algae by placing rocks in buckets of tankwater and leaving them out in the sun.

Other alternatives are certain vegies (I.e. cucumbers), algae wafers, and even shrimp pellets (I believe, but that's speculation [even though my plec enjoys them]).

 

[tstenback]

Great ideas and suggestions tempestuousfury. My cories love the shrimp pellets but wont touch the algae wafers. Anyone else? all suggetions welcome

 

[cutechic]

They should definitely have a variety of food- more than just algae. I feed mine a combination of algae wafers and TetraMin Tropical Tables (The Rich Mix). I'm going to start feeding my otos Hikari pellets, which are specially formulated for bottom feeders and contain the most nutrients that I know of. Cories also eat frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms, if they can get to them (ie. if your other fish let them fall to the bottom, the corys should eat them.) HTH

 

[waterwatereverywhere]

I've started putting in vegetables for my otos. I peeled some leaves off a frozen sprout, boiled it for a minute or two in the microwave in a dish of water, then used a lettuce grip to attach it to the side of the tank. Didn't want to put it on the bottom, as although otos are classed as "bottom feeders", mine don't actually spend much time on the bottom! - they're usually found on the glass or on plant leaves.

They didn't take any notice at first but from the next day they found it and since then there's hardly been a time when at least one of them hasn't been munching away on it! I'm going to try them with courgettes next, and maybe a bit of lettuce. Someone even posted a thread the other day about feeding melon to their tank - I know they had plec but I think they also had otos who enjoyed it. I'd experiment and see what goes down well on the menu!