Feeding Otos

[Luzi]

I've just got 3 otos (£2 each, rip-off or bargain?) and they're in my mature tank munching algae. I won't celebrate until they survive the week, but i love them already

I have algae wafers which my pleco and loaches love, and i'm sure the otos will love too, but they sink to the bottom and stay there. The otos seem to be staying on the plants and walls - they don't go to the bottom. How can i get the wafers into a visible place?

The wafers don't stick to the walls and the current blows them off plant leaves. Help!

 

[mattlee]

they will find food if the algae runs out just like any other fish would when hungry, try some cucumber at the other end of the tank so not all the food is in 1 area

 

[adsturgeon]

I've had my otos for over a couple of months now. And they seem fine they just munch on glass I put some algae wafers in but they have no interest the other fish and cory's have more interest. I tried a cucumber but I didn't see them go near it my pregnant female guppy eat the majority of it. But then again with the wafers I don't know if they touch it at night. Like any animal im sure they have there preferred food.

And I think thats quite a good price, mine cost me 3.95 each I believe.

 

[kiriyama]

HI, I've been considering these as well. It's a shame the way they are reated getting them to the trade shops.
£2.00 each, my LFS used to sell them for 99p or 6 for £5.00, new managment is charging over 3quid each but still tempted as I havn't seen them anywhere in ages, congrats on the new ourchase, any pics?

 

[jacko32]

you would be supprised what they will eat most people think they eat only veg and algea but mine eat all sorts of food like bloodworm, daphnia, shrimp pellets and beafheart aswell as veg and algea waffers

ps you will find they start to hide after a few days you would be best to increase the number to 6-8 they are more active in larger numbers and less shy

 

[Rafael Dilone]

The usual rate for oto's where i live is about 2.00-2.50 in the quality LFS. But some of the chain stores have them for .97 cents. That is incredibly cheap. Then again you have to be extra careful when buying their livestock and quarantine it for sure As for feeding oto's i feed mines pees, small bits of algae waffer's and they eat the bits of algae in my tank.

 

[Luzi]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm slightly more confident now - i was expecting them to drop like flies from starvation/water/bad treatment. I only got them because they looked depressed in the bare LFS tank with no food

Sadly i can't get more because it's only a small tank, but the 3 i have seem to be doing ok (none dead in the past 2 hours ) I'll try some veg tomorrow and leave them with wafers for now. The tetras they're with have absolutely no interest in the wafer, so if it's there tomorrow i'll know they don't like it

They're pretty active and they've explored the whole tank apart from the bottom, where they're supposed to be. Are mine the only wallfish? They're amazing to watch

 

[OldMan47]

I have always failed at artificially feeding otocinclus. They go crazy for the algae on my tank's glass but if I want them to survive long I need to find them fresh algae to eat. Algae wafers are never accepted and waste fish food from the fish that live higher in the tank is completely ignored. The best I have been able to do for artificial feeding is a rock placed in some water by a South facing window that gets covered with algae. That will be accepted much the same as algae on the glass and will keep the guys going for a while until you have another tank that needs their help. I have given up trying to keep otos since I feel really bad when they end up starving in my tank due to my lack of providing enough real algae for them to eat.

 

[kiriyama]

I bought 4 today at £3.25 each.
Sounds pricey but after dripping water into the bag for over an hour they went nuts when I released them into the tank. They have been all over the place, seen them munching some algae from the glass and one grazing on a rock, the others ones started grazing on the shells, the Multies and the Comps were not to happy but no serious agression towards the Otos, cool wee fish, get dizzy watching them

 

[Luzi]

I'm quite worried about them not finding food in the long term, so i put some rocks in water and i'm waiting for algae to grow. I never thought i'd be growing algae

I don't have any cucumber/zuccini to try, but will otos eat blanched carrots? I might try some

They are incredible to watch Mie don't seem to go on the floor, they stick to the walls and plants. Is this normal?

Edit: just looked into the tank and there's one oto who won't make it. He looked weak and his tail got sucked into the filter. I turned it off and he swam away but he's getting swept by the current and can't stick to anything. I may euthanize the poor guy. Definately not starvation - the other two are doing fine.

 

[OldMan47]

I have not seen my otos accept anything but real algae Luzi. That is why I posted the warning. Unlike plecos, they seem to ignore almost anything I use to feed them except real honest to goodness algae. When I had a few, I moved them from tank to tank every few weeks since they would remove every trace of algae in a tank in about a week. It helped some and with me running about 15 tanks at the time I kept them going for a while, but eventually I had to admit they could eat the algae faster than I could grow it.

 

[loraxchick]

agree with OM on this. My otos have never accepted veg or other substitute foods. only honest to goodness algae. growing algae rocks is a good idea to supplement. adding real plants to the tank will help also-there is always algae growing on the leaves regardless of if we can see it or not. and the otos will happily munch all day moving from plant to plant (mine love crypts and anubias. slow growing, broad leafed plants=plenty of algea/biofilm for the otos).
good luck with your otos. they are one of my all time favorite fish
cheers

 

[waterdrop]

I agree that growing algae on rocks is really clever. An easily done solution (nearly everyone can put rocks in a container in the sun) to a difficult problem (otos always needing real algae.) Its also a great observation about broad-leaved plants lorax, I guess we all tend to forget that algae, being single-celled, will be only visible in a microscope at first, so there could be a good bit there that we can't see.

What are your thoughts on determining the minimum group number that might make otos more happy (if that's a consideration as I've read a few times?) It seems like it might be an important decision since feeding them can be difficult - you'd want to optimize the number of otos if possible.

~~waterdrop~~