Mistakes I made ordering Otos from a wholesaler

[vince82]

I got some otocinclus (20) from a wholesaler for 2$ (canadian) each.. Expected ~50% yield (half dying) and......... half died.

They arrived with 1 dead in the bag, water thoroughly green from whatever medicine they placed in it..
Probably was originally blue with methylene and became green in travel? Or is there some green stuff used in the trade?

I quarantined them in a 20L plastic container with a sponge air filter (not cycled) and did 50% water changes (taking water from the main tank and putting it in the quarantine container) for a week, and started counting the deaths. One week in I had 9 death and one dying.

So, what did I do wrong? Here's my guess:
One thing common to ALL of them was they were THIN. Like properly thin. And despite giving them food, most of them did not eat any of the sinking pellet and algae wafers I gave them. They tried to clean the sides of the container and were not interested in the artificial food. Otos are still not bread commercially and so these are probably wild caught? they might not have seen a pellet before in their life as in the wholesale chain they are not usually fed, and they had probably fasted for 2 or 3 weeks.
So I took a little bit of wood from the main tank with a couple anubias petit on it and some algae, and they started eating from that.
Couple days later, some of them had finally started to look not so emaciated so I took the plunge and moved all of them to my main tank, that up to that point only housed 5 Julii corys and a handful of cory fry.
They immediately all latched to the various wood and CLEANED THEM, some wood are in full light and were full of diatom algae, they are now brown again.
It's been 3 days and the otos all colored up nicely, all look plump, and there wasn't any other deat.

So I just took all of the plants from what was my attempt at growing some emersed for selling them, and filled the quarantine container with them. I might get another batch just to test if I was right.
Then today I saw this video from aquarium coop and realized I probably did the right thing.. and I could have pivoted faster and probably saved a few more

 

[vince82]

Now that the quarantine container is probably livable for them, I might let that filter cycle then try to breed them.

 

[Endlersendlers]

Great problem-solving and paying attention to your fish - you did exactly the right thing! I understand most ottos are wild caught and have quite a stressful journey, adding to that not being familiar with the foreign foods we give them, and the 2 to 3 weeks of accidental fasting leads to them losing their gut bacteria, losing the ability to process food the way they used to and many of them starve and die off. It may not have be possible to save the ones you lost without first discovering the right probiotics and them cooperating and eating them.

Last I heard ottos are very difficult to tank breed but there are rumors that some have been successful at it. If you can figure out what they want and get them to breed, which it sounds like you just might, you could find yourself in a very lucrative business. They would survive so much better in the trade.

 

[vince82]

Last I heard ottos are very difficult to tank breed but there are rumors that some have been successful at it. If you can figure out what they want and get them to breed, which it sounds like you just might, you could find yourself in a very lucrative business. They would survive so much better in the trade.

I saw videos of them doing the classic "T" position that corydoras also do, and them having similar trigger (softer, colder water to simulate rain season).
If that is the trick, I guess the rest is just have a tub with a bunch of algae.
I will move the adults in the breeding tub, hopefully let them make eggs, remove the adults, add blue methylene, and wait.
Does not cost much to try.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Otocinclus constantly forage on algae; they won't accept most commercially prepared foods.

Otos often are received from the vendor in a near starved state, which makes them vulnerable to health issues; if they are not introduced to a tank with an abundance of algae (green), they usually will not live for long.

Never dose fish tanks with medications unless you know exactly the disease/parasite you are trying to eradicate.

Otocinclus are difficult (but not impossible) to breed in captivity.

 

[vince82]

Otocinclus constantly forage on algae; they won't accept most commercially prepared foods.

I saw a nice suggestion (towards the second half of that video I posted in OP) to make a slurry with some algae based food and use it to paint a porous rock. let the rock dry, feed the food painted rock to the otos.

Never dose fish tanks with medications unless you know exactly the disease/parasite you are trying to eradicate.

Was referring only to the hatchery tub, to prevent mold on non fertile eggs from affecting fertile eggs

Otocinclus are difficult (but not impossible) to breed in captivity.

Fingers crossed

 

[vince82]

Well, they are now basically doing the same courting rituals the corydoras do, with males following the females and vibrating...
Maybe I might not even need the breeding tub. Oh well let's see what happens.
This is gonna be the catfish tank wether I want it or not, damn XD

 

[Endlersendlers]

I would love to buy some tank bred ottos - can I be your first customer?
Good idea on the algae rocks. Depending on your weather you could also leave some rocks outside in a plastic container in the sun until they grow algae, get a rock rotation going to feed them. Or just leave the tank lights on 12 hours for a few days.

 

[vince82]

I would love to buy some tank bred ottos - can I be your first customer?
Good idea on the algae rocks. Depending on your weather you could also leave some rocks outside in a plastic container in the sun until they grow algae, get a rock rotation going to feed them. Or just leave the tank lights on 12 hours for a few days.

In their tank there are a few pieces of wood directly under lights, but the rocks in the sun idea is not bad

 

[Endlersendlers]

I meant to add in water in sun, but you probably knew that.

 

[vince82]

I meant to add in water in sun, but you probably knew that.

Yes of course. Tomorrow is supposed to be hot, could start with that.

On possibly selling you the bred otos if successful: eeeeeh I'm in Canada, I don't think it's doable

 

[Endlersendlers]

Yea, probably not a good idea. It can be done but it’s a hassle. I wasn’t really thinking of that. We are a pretty spread out group. On the other hand, if you feel generous in sharing the tricks to your success, I wouldn’t be competing in your market. We’d be doing them a favor to take the stress off the wild population.

 

[vince82]

I'll totally share!

 

[Endlersendlers]

Checked out your photos - beautiful tanks!! I haven’t tried serious aquascaping yet…so far I’m just glad to keep guppy grass from melting and the Anubis green. One day.

 

[GaryE]

Otos do great in groups, but many hobbyists run out of food for them. You have to make algae for them, and that's counter intuitive for people who buy them to eliminate algae. You don't want a situation where once their job is done, you let them die, and that too often is their fate.
They need lots of algae and moving water.
Importers try to turn them over fast because they are hard to feed, and if they linger unsold, they get skinny.
If I ever get them again, I would situate the tank where it got too much light (it worked the last time I had them), or I would rotate pieces of wood between an outdoors tub and the tank, intentionally algae coating them. If yopu have multiple tanks, you can move the decor around as it gets rough looking. You need a lot of it.