Growing Algae For Oto's!

[Sammyb]

Hey, i have recently bought 4 oto's for my 120L fish tank and before i put them in, the glass was LITERALLY covered in algae, it was getting annoying so i bought the oto's as i really liked them and also wanted rid of the glass algae, wake up next morning, for some reason one of my corys have died, i dont know why i had it for about 3 months nothing wrong with water quality, oh well back to the story, basically they have eaten all the algae in one day, so im crapping my self, mums gone out shopping and hopefully will come back with some courgette!

Well i read someone say maybe you could grow your own algae on rocks, on a windowsill or somewhere like that, would this work? and would the algae be the right type for the fish? thanks

 

[Cazgar]

I'm doing that for my Oto's.
They do love the courgette too.
They spend a lot if time in the plants & wood, so there must be algae for them on that.
Not seen them on an algae wafer yet as I put that in last thing at night to try & stop my greedy platys eating it.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I'll second the courgette, it's the only thing that all of my otos will eat. Only one will take algae wafers, the others would have starved without courgette. Be sure to rinse it well to remove any chemical residues as well.

I tried growing algae on rocks and the otos didn't touch it. Otos are very individual when it comes to food so you just have to try everything. You can try cucumber too.

 

[Sammyb]

thanks for the replys,
put the courgette in and straight away 2 of them are on it
hope fuly the othera will find it and eat it up

 

[Cazgar]

I've found with mine, that if I buy the mankiest plants in my Lfs , they love them.
I've added some lilaeopsis today that was looking rather grotty in the shop & they've been all over it

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I've found with mine, that if I buy the mankiest plants in my Lfs , they love them.
I've added some lilaeopsis today that was looking rather grotty in the shop & they've been all over it

Oh that's really interesting. I've been trying to find info on plants that otos can eat and coming up with nothing. Are there any others you'd recommend? Presumably you mean to use ones that are decaying?

 

[Cazgar]

I've only recently changed from plastic to real, but my Oto's,s seem to like grazing on the anubias I already had, & seen them on the cabomba
I also got some hygrophila today which they seem to like as well as the lilaeopsis.
Oh I also got some wood the other day which had some what I think might be java fern on it, they loved that too.
I tend to pick out the stuff that doesn't look too good, not decaying as such, but dirty looking & they seem to love it.
My Lfs is a chain so their plant tanks aren't that well looked after so have a lot of algae growth

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

I've got a feeling that oto's don't eat algae wafers as they contain fish, algae wafers are for omnivores that graze, pretty much any catfish or pleco (oto's are herbivores)

So courgettes are the best things to give them. Thanks for the info.

 

[Akasha72]

Do you put the courgette in raw or do you need to blanche it first?
I changed to a brand new tank yesterday (moved my media from my established tank before anyone jumps to conclussions!) and I'm now worried that my 3 oto's are going hungrey. Heading out to get some courgette today for them

 

[Cazgar]

Blanch it first & weigh it down with a fork.

 

[Akasha72]

thanks Cazgar. Heading out to get some now. I think they're really hungrey

 

[Sammyb]

Ive found my amano shrimp also like it just as much as the oto's

 

[Akasha72]

well the little .... I go and spend £1.60 (that was at lidl, a courgette at the co-op was £2.10!!!) and blanche it and wedge it under a rock and every fish in the tank ignores it!!! Grr

 

[Akasha72]

well I've now moved the courgette and put it in a small bulldog clip and suspended it from the top of the tank in the corner and the oto's are now having a nibble. It would seem mine don't like being on the substrate

 

[Prime Ordeal]

well the little .... I go and spend £1.60 (that was at lidl, a courgette at the co-op was £2.10!!!) and blanche it and wedge it under a rock and every fish in the tank ignores it!!! Grr

Are you sure you bought a courgette? I bought a smallish one from lidl a week ago for 30p (normal price)! This is a courgette: http/www.courgetterecipes.co.uk/how-to-fry-courgettes-the-right-way/

Oh and don't expect them to eat it immediately. Often it takes several hours for it to soften in the water to their liking.