Trouble feeding Otos - algae in tank running out!

[CherrySparkles]

Hi everyone,

Two weeks ago, I brought home 5 otocinclus for my densely java fern-ed (and algae-d) 12 gallon tank. The entire front wall was a sheet of green, and I had deliberately let it get that way in anticipation of bringing them home. They were very lively and healthy looking, as far as I could tell, in the store, though these're my first otos. I'm determined to do everything I can to help them through what I'm hearing is this crucial, initial period! But now they've mowed through almost all of the green algae in the tank and I'm having trouble getting them to eat other foods!

I had put a blanched slice of zucchini in the tank on a veggie clip, and about 36 hours later, three of the fish were on it. At the same time, I noticed it looking a little slimy, and took it out after about 48 hours (which I had read was standard procedure on several sites...) Well the zucchini was stinky, and so was their tank water! Now I've been doing several 20% changes (2 per day) to try to clear the water of the smell and contamination without disrupting the fish too much, but that's the only non-algae food I've gotten them to accept!

I've been wary of putting fresh veggies in the tank since this incident, but have continued to offer Wardley Algae Discs daily, as well as Omega One Super Veggie Green Seaweed on a veggie clip, both of which have been ignored, from what I can see. I'm also trying to grow some algae on rocks in a small disk of dechlorinated water, currently sitting on the window ledge AND with a small CFL lamp aimed at it, but that's not coming along very quickly. I even mega-dosed the water with Flourish, but to no avail, so this isn't a viable solution.

To add to my concern, we lost one oto a few days ago, and his tummy looked incredibly concave. I've read about the intestinal flora of starved otos dying in transport, making feeding impossible, but I can't help but feel responsible for this little guy's death. The remaining four currently look quite plump (knock on wood).

So here are my questions:

(1) How can I offer fresh veggies without having them rot and/or spending my entire day changing them?

(2) Can you suggest other foods to offer that would stimulate the otos to eat them?

Some information about my tank set-up, if it's useful:

Size: 12 gallons
Filter flow rate: 150 gph
Temperature: 76 degrees
Ammonia: 0 (tested daily, at the moment)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0 (au naturel planted, at the moment)
KH/GH: Unknown
Lighting: 13 watts, daylight (I think, it's the standard bulb that came with the hood)
Flora: Densely packed with large Java Ferns (one about 12 inches tall!)

Any help that you can offer is greatly appreciated! These little guys are so charming and I'm hoping to give them the best life possible.

[susankat]

when I give my fish fresh veggies I take it out in 12 to 24 hours depending on the veggie.

[MatsP]

From what I've read, Oto's like quite soft vegetables, so either leave it in there for quite some time, or cook it briefly before adding to the tank.

--
Mats

[twisted_fisher]

Back in the days when i used to raise otos i would always have 10-12 smooth rocks about the size of a tea cup that i would switch out in rotation

the "grow" tank would be a tub with barely enough water to cover the rock with a 100 watt light bulb over it and old tank water

the algae takes a few weeks to get going good on the rocks but if you take the rock from the otos before they eat it all it comes back much faster after it gets its initial toe hold

i changed the water in the rock tub 3x per week with new old tank water

[CherrySparkles]

Thanks so much for your replies!

when I give my fish fresh veggies I take it out in 12 to 24 hours depending on the veggie.

I'll keep that in mind - something seemed really wrong when the zucchini came out slimy. I'll start only leaving them in overnight and see how I do from there.

From what I've read, Oto's like quite soft vegetables, so either leave it in there for quite some time, or cook it briefly before adding to the tank.

--
Mats

That's good to know, thank you! I should have mentioned that I was blanching the zucchini, but I'll make sure I do that with all veg before putting it in the tank, so as to make it palatable.

Do either of you have suggestions for other veggies that seem to attract otos?

[Artem]

Try Hikari Algae Wafers, I feed half a wafer to my four otos every night and they're doing great - one of the females is looking very plump if you know what I mean

[Anthonyck]

I, too, am new to the species. I got a half-dozen initially, for my small tank, which had a bit of algae on the walls and on an anubias plant. They had the tank spotless in one night. Two of the group were lost within two days, but I am certain they were not healthy at the time of purchase.

I have them (4 remaining) in with a pair of mystery snails, a whisker shrimp, three neons, and a blue ram. The group takes care of what they prefer among Hikari algae wafers (snails, shrimp, and neons - but NOT otos), spectrum small pellets (everyone but Otos), and omega one flakes (everyone but Otos). Notice the trend? I even have some new green spot algae that the aren't addressing, oddly enough. I have been putting in raw zucchini, and that seems to be the only food they have any interest in. They spend a lot of time on the bacopa leaves, but those little guys, mostly at night, eat the zucchini, as do the snails and shrimp. Their little bellies look full and they are growing. Upon a recommendation, I am trying yellow squash tonight, and may try kale as well.

I was told that an overdose, even a tiny one, of Flourish is very toxic to fish. I would underside, if anything. You could even break a rule and let some sunlight hit the tank if it doesn't throw the temp off too much.

I'm new at this myself, so I acquiesce to the more seasoned keepers if I am mistaken with my advice. I will report back regarding the squash or other veggies.

[Anthonyck]

Damn you, auto-correct. Please excuse the iPad translations.

[Anthonyck]

I forgot to add - twice now, I haven't had to get the zucchini slice out of the tank, because it was consumed in its entirety. Otherwise, out it comes if it gets fuzzy.

A few have mentioned a trick involving egg whites plus ground up algae wafers "painted" onto slate or stones, which are dried and then added to the tank. I did this for the first time yesterday for my new rubber nose (different tank), but it had yet to really feed on it. Supposedly this is very successful with Otos as well.

[CherrySparkles]

Thanks so much again for the suggestions, everyone!

Back in the days when i used to raise otos i would always have 10-12 smooth rocks about the size of a tea cup that i would switch out in rotation

the "grow" tank would be a tub with barely enough water to cover the rock with a 100 watt light bulb over it and old tank water

the algae takes a few weeks to get going good on the rocks but if you take the rock from the otos before they eat it all it comes back much faster after it gets its initial toe hold

i changed the water in the rock tub 3x per week with new old tank water

I missed your comment earlier - thanks so much for sharing your method! Since they're being so picky, I was really hoping to get some algae going for them, so I'll try tweaking my "grow bowl" per your suggestions. Fingers crossed

They spend a lot of time on the bacopa leaves, but those little guys, mostly at night, eat the zucchini, as do the snails and shrimp. Their little bellies look full and they are growing. Upon a recommendation, I am trying yellow squash tonight, and may try kale as well.

I was told that an overdose, even a tiny one, of Flourish is very toxic to fish. I would underside, if anything. You could even break a rule and let some sunlight hit the tank if it doesn't throw the temp off too much.

Thanks so much for the suggestions! After reading some of the comments here last night, I blanched another zucchini slice, along with a cucumber slice and a piece of Romaine lettuce that I crumpled up in my hand first. I put that little buffet into the tank and have found at least one oto filling his little tummy with zucchini and exploring the other veg! Now I'm waiting for him to get off of it so that I can take it out pre-rotting... I'll try squash next and possibly other leafy veg!

As to the Flourish, not to worry - the small bowl that I'm overdosing has no fish in it, only rocks on which I'm trying to farm algae. I wouldn't do anything that drastic to a tank with critters in it. For my own information though, is it the regular Flourish that you have to be careful about overdosing (as it's a trace element supplement, from what I understand) or is it Flourish Excel?

A few have mentioned a trick involving egg whites plus ground up algae wafers "painted" onto slate or stones, which are dried and then added to the tank. I did this for the first time yesterday for my new rubber nose (different tank), but it had yet to really feed on it. Supposedly this is very successful with Otos as well.

I've never heard of this, but I'd love to try it!

[CherrySparkles]

Ok, sorry, I'm just so relieved that they're eating that I wanted to share a cute picture of the now zucchini-stuffed oto. (I'm sure you understand the looks and unreturned messages I'd get from friends if I said "ooh look at my fish's fat little tummy!" so where else can I gush about them? ) He's been bouncing around and scrubbing the veg and clip for more than an hour since I noticed!

Can they be fed pretty much any vegetable?

[Sue Foster]

Flourish excel is gluteraldehyde. It kills algae. Hospitals use it as disinfectant.

Put a bucket of old fish tank water out in the sun with a bit of nitrogen. You will have algae soon enough. Nitrogen could be as simple as a few pellets of rabbit food. (Probably a few crumbs of algae wafer would work.) It's mostly finely chopped grasses. Couple of glasses in a sunny window and switch them out from time to time.

I have 2 glasses I use to root house plant cuttings in all the time. There is always a coating of pretty green, soft algae in them.

My otos really like zucchini. They actually starting eating more about the time I added a couple small baby bristlenose to the tank. Almost like they learned what was food by watching the BN pig out. Now they try almost anything.

You have one eating. The others may follow the lead.

I like the picture!
I can sit here and watch my boy pleco bury his face in a slice of zucchini for hours. Currently he is laying on his back with his face covered by it. The slice is wiggling back and forth as he eats. An oto is working the top and another on the side. The little critter's enjoyment is obvious.

[Anthonyck]

If you want to add another item, or the clip becomes a problem or something, loop a rubber band around a piece of smallish slate and tuck the food under the band. Make it a light-weight, not-too-snug one, just in case.

[Anthonyck]

The squash seems to have been a success. Fully bellies:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozadinos/ ... hotostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozadinos/ ... hotostream

...but I can't understand why they aren't into the green spot algae. Here is a pic of that, along with a gratuitous shot of "snailzilla":

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozadinos/ ... hotostream

[MatsP]

Green spot algae is generally not eaten by any fish. Sufficient number of suckermouths may keep it from forming, but the spot algae is usually too hard to remove for any algae-eating fish.

--
Mats

[James0816]

Zucchinni really is a plus for Oto's. I feed it constantly to my little guys. The longer it stays in the tank, of course, the more deteriorated it will become. With snails and shrimp in my tanks as well, it doesn't last long.

Introducing new foods can be a bit of a challenge as well. To get them eating algae wafers, I would put one in the center of a slice of zuc that had sank to the bottom.

Oto's don't have the rasping power that others have so the zuc really should be blanched prior to feeding.

And as for the GSA, Nerites and Limpets are about the only ones I know that will work on it.

[Anthonyck]

Some updates on this....

Green Spot Algae - I had some common plant snails arrive on a plant or two I got from the LFS. I had to move my anubias to the tank that had them, and they ate the GSA in a day. They are great cleaners, but do damage if left unchecked, so I am investigating a remedy there (anyone have L264 for sale?).

I have added some Otots to each of my tanks. The community tank has 9 now, and they eat anything. There are a lot of plants, rocks, and bogwood, so they have a good amount of natural algae, but they also gorge on algae wafers when I throw those in. My first group, after a month or more, finally started eating those as well. One LFS guy suggested they would eat the very young snails also, but I can't confirm that I have seen that yet.

In my largest tank, I get a lot of takers for the baked algae/egg cement on the piece of slate. I had one turn out very well this week and it lasted for several days.

[Vlacek]

Not sure this can be of any use for you but on top of what you guys use to feed otos - Stinging/common nettle leaves are my otos' favorite. Initially I used them to feed shrimps but noticed otos enjoyed them as well. I boil the leaves shortly before putting them into tank.

[crkinney]

Have any of you tried dandylion greens or green peas??
mule

[Vlacek]

dandylion is on my list to try. Have you tried? Should be similar to lettuce (which I haven't tried either). Just thinking if fresh or shortly boiled is better.

[crkinney]

I have not found dandy lions growing here this year it's been very dry .The rain started this week so I will try it soon .I hope it's not toxic.
mule

[andywoolloo]

my otos like zuchinni, mushroom, bell pepper strips (only red, orange, or yellow)cucumber, melon,papaya, mango, romaine lettuce. I have seen them on it all eating.

for prepared foods they liek hikari just about everything, Hikari algae wafers, Hikari sinking tropical,Hikari defrosted frozen (bloodworms, tubifex, shrimp)

They also get NLS chiclid granules, the teeny ones, and Hikari discus bio gold, Omega one sinking shrimp pellets, I ve even seen them on sinking earthworm sticks. They basically eat what the tank gets.

Altho if you 're worried, for newbies to acclimate , sorry probably already mentioned the egg white mixture crushed fish food painted onto a rock thing right?

always got my picky ones started eating.

[Linus_Cello]

Some updates on this....

Green Spot Algae - I had some common plant snails arrive on a plant or two I got from the LFS. I had to move my anubias to the tank that had them, and they ate the GSA in a day. They are great cleaners, but do damage if left unchecked, so I am investigating a remedy there (anyone have L264 for sale?).

If you're suggesting L264s for snail removal, my former L264 (RIP last year when I moved ) didn't touch snails. Instead, it liked to eat amazon sword plants (so much for being carnivorous). Try assasin snails instead-much cheaper and pretty cool invert.

[apistomaster]

I feed my 25 Otocinclus and six Farlowella in my planted 125 gal Tetra tank Spirulina sticks from www.kenfish.com

[racoll]

The most convenient way I found to feed small herbivores such as otos, is to buy a bag of spinach or curly kale and then freeze it.

Just take out a leaf and attach it to a vegetable clip.

They seem to like it best after around 12-24 hours in the water.

[crkinney]

It has been to dry here for dandylions to sprout .It started to rain on monday so they should be up in a couple of days
mule

[Sam]

just cooked but still firm (al dente) sweet potato has been a wonder food for all of my tanks also cooked peas without the thin shell-like skin.