Otos not eating?

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I'm thinking of switching it from gravel to a sand substrate at some point. Not just yet since they've already been through a lot and I have enough tanks that are newly cycled and need more care as they stabilise, but maybe in a couple of months. I feel bad for them when they sit directly on the gravel.
I wouldnt worry too much about changing the substrate over for your oto's. They will spend very little time on the tank floor as they will graze on your wood, plants and glass. They wont shift through substrate like a cory would :)

As for feeding id just drop some veg in once a week and they maybe take to it, but your oto's seem to he getting what they need naturally so i wouldnt worry to much.
 
I wouldnt worry too much about changing the substrate over for your oto's. They will spend very little time on the tank floor as they will graze on your wood, plants and glass. They wont shift through substrate like a cory would :)

As for feeding id just drop some veg in once a week and they maybe take to it, but your oto's seem to he getting what they need naturally so i wouldnt worry to much.
Awesome, thank you! I thought as much, they very rarely sit on the gravel. They're either on plants or on the glass usually :) I still might switch it to sand eventually more for personal aesthetic reasons, and in case I ever want to add pygmy cories, but I'm more likely to add more otos to up the group number again, plus some nano fish like ember tetra who won't care about substrate. Not for a while though, I've spent far too much over the last few months with setting up new tanks and things! This hobby ain't cheap is it!
 
@Russjw and @seangee , may I ask some advice about flow in my oto tank please?

I've been reading about otos on Wet Web Media, a really good source, and they say that otos like cooler temps and well oxygenated water with good flow. Right now I have five otos in a 15 gallon, doing well, and I have a HOB filter on one side. I've just added an internal filter that has pretty good flow for such a small cheap filter, and pushed it down pretty low so there's more flow lower down in the tank. Hoping that will also help prevent dead spots and algae, since it's pushing debris towards the HOB.

Does this sound okay? I have a mini wavemaker in the cupboard too, but would need to find an adaptor for the plug. I'm still quite new to understanding and creating flow in a tank, and it's hard to gauge whether the otos like the addition of the internal filter or not! There is a big stone, wood and plants they can shelter behind to avoid it if they want, or they can go either side of the internal filter which is pointing through the middle of the tank (since that's as far as the cable will reach... heaters and filters should come with longer cables!!)

This is their tank layout now, except now the HOB is in the middle on the right side, and internal filter in the middle, halfway down on the left. I do think it could do with some more flow, and perhaps an airstone too to increase oxygenation? The HOB does disturb the surface, but maybe they'd want more?
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Your set up sounds fine to me. You dont need the wavemaker although i do like an air stone in my tanks.

My Oto's was in my big tank first which has alot more flow than my 29g does and ive seen no change in my Oto's behavior since ive moved them. I have a duel sponge filter with a small internal in my 29g. Otos are more than fine :)
 
Awesome, thank you! I thought as much, they very rarely sit on the gravel. They're either on plants or on the glass usually :) I still might switch it to sand eventually more for personal aesthetic reasons, and in case I ever want to add pygmy cories, but I'm more likely to add more otos to up the group number again, plus some nano fish like ember tetra who won't care about substrate. Not for a while though, I've spent far too much over the last few months with setting up new tanks and things! This hobby ain't cheap is it!
Certainly not cheap your right there.
Nano fish and the pygmy cories sounds a good idea if you change over to sand. Id be careful not to add to many more Oto's tho. 5 is about right for a 15g.
 
Your set up sounds fine to me. You dont need the wavemaker although i do like an air stone in my tanks.

My Oto's was in my big tank first which has alot more flow than my 29g does and ive seen no change in my Oto's behavior since ive moved them. I have a duel sponge filter with a small internal in my 29g. Otos are more than fine :)
That's great, thank you! Right now two of them are suckered to the glass directly below the HOB output and where the internal filter is blowing the water directly at them, so they don't seem to mind the flow at least, and their body shape suggests they're used to reasonable flow.

One of my other tanks has a double sponge filter so I don't run an airstone on it, the other has a single sponge and a canister filter. It's right next to the oto tank and the airpump has two outputs, but I can never get it to run two things at once. I tried the other day to get it to run a sponge filter and an airstone, but it only goes to one or the other which is frustrating. I'd rather not add a third airpump (cost and the tanks are in my bedroom!) but I will if the otos would benefit. Or perhaps I need to figure out why the dual outputs don't work.
Certainly not cheap your right there.
Nano fish and the pygmy cories sounds a good idea if you change over to sand. Id be careful not to add to many more Oto's tho. 5 is about right for a 15g.
:)
Thank you :) I used to have seven otos in there and did for months, perhaps that's why they ate the supplemental foods more often! With the planting and the amount of algae, and my being diligent about giving extra food when they need it - it seemed to be fine with seven, and the two I lost weren't hungry, they always had round bellies since I first fed them up after getting them. They were certainly thin when I bought them, it scared me. I think I lost them because I didn't know about hard and soft water for the first nine months I had them, until I came here. They're in softer water now, but the damage was probably already done.

So my tank seems able to cope with seven, and I would love to try to get them to spawn again, if they did indeed spawn before. I seemed to have females with eggs not too long ago, and saw them circling each other on the glass one evening, before vanishing into the plants.
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I'm not really expecting to be able to successfully breed them yet, I'm still new to the hobby. But I'd like to try :) So hoping a larger school and some spawning tricks might work.
 

I have these attached to my air pump which controls the air flow. This will help you run 2 things of your duel air pump and correct your issue :good:
 
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I have these attached to my air pump which controls the air flow. This will help you run 2 things of your duel air pump and correct your issue :good:
Thank you! I get confused by all the plastic doodads that go onto airline tubing. Right now since I couldn't get it to run two at once, there's a small piece of tubing from each output connected to a t valve thing, so a single piece runs from that valve to an air check valve, then to the sponge filter.

So if I use two of these control valves, when I tried to run a sponge filter and an airstone the other day and only the airstone worked, if I turned the control valve on that one, the air would be forced to go to the other one as well?
Sorry for all the random questons!
 
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Thank you! I get confused by all the plastic doodads that go onto airline tubing. Right now since I couldn't get it to run two at once, there's a small piece of tubing from each output connected to a t valve thing, so a single piece runs from that value to an air check value, then to the sponge filter.

So if I use two of these control values, when I tried to run a sponge filter and an airstone the other day and only the airstone worked, if I turned the control value on that one, the air would be forced to go to the other one as well?
Sorry for all the random questons!
I had the same issue and this let me get the right air flow to each.

You only need 1 really but 2 is fine if you wanted. I have a tube going from 1 output straight to the sponge filter and the second tube going through the air value to my air stone.
 
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I had the same issue and this let me get the right air flow to each.

You only need 1 really but 2 is fine if you wanted. I have a tube going from 1 output straight to the sponge filter and the second tube going through the air value to my air stone.
That's great, thank you! It might be that my cheap air pump just isn't strong enough to run two different things at the same time, but I'll pick up a valve and give it a try! I ran two on my old, more powerful pump, but it was before I learned about water check valves, and I turned it off during maintenance, then heard a loud pop before it stopped... you know what happened :blush: so just two cheap air pumps right now. Would be nice to run an airstone into the oto tank from the pump that's running a sponge filter in the next tank.

Additional note - the otos are pretty active this evening, more so than usual at this time, and the water test shows levels are still great at 0/0/5, so perhaps they're enjoying the extra flow.
 
That's great, thank you! It might be that my cheap air pump just isn't strong enough to run two different things at the same time, but I'll pick up a valve and give it a try! I ran two on my old, more powerful pump, but it was before I learned about water check valves, and I turned it off during maintenance, then heard a loud pop before it stopped... you know what happened :blush: so just two cheap air pumps right now. Would be nice to run an airstone into the oto tank from the pump that's running a sponge filter in the next tank.

Additional note - the otos are pretty active this evening, more so than usual at this time, and the water test shows levels are still great at 0/0/5, so perhaps they're enjoying the extra flow.
Good to hear, they sound really happy so your doing a great job. I think the value will sort your issue. My air pump on 29g isnt a top spec one.
 
Thank you so much, that means a lot! Love these little fish so much. I really appreciate all the help you've given me :)
 

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