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If you have good plant growth with very little Algae can Otocinclus get by with Algae wafers, I am using Hikari Algae wafers, if that's all they get, is it sufficient? or should I supplement their diet with some other types of food?

I give mine slices of zucchini that have been boiled for two minutes or so. I cut and cook a whole zucchini at a time and freeze it, then thaw each portion as needed. This along with algae wafers have kept mine happy and healthy for a while.

I highyly suggest supplementing with fresh veggies.

Personally, in addition to what has been stated above, I would add a piece of natural driftwood to your display as well. They will enjoy eating the 'microflora and fauna' or 'aufwuch'sp. that grows on the wood also.

We ship in Otocinclus cocama about once a year and they love the dried seaweed sheets that are used for wrapping sushi. Most supermarkets will have this in the Asian food aisles. It is a bit messy after several hundred Oto's attack it, but the left overs don't seem to foul the tank.

In my experience, not even the least picky otos will bother with algae wafers. They prefer something softer like blanched veggies or various mashed peas/algae wafer pastes. They have much smaller, more delicate mouths than most other members of the suckermouth family and tend not to appreciate the texture of wafers.

Joe

I found they really like leaves of spinach or kale, but only after they had been in the tank for at least 24 hours, and were starting to go soft and yellow. Others have noticed this too.

A frozen bag of spinach leaves would last me a while.

Mine love Repashy Superfoods Soilent Green!

My experience is that from all kinds of algae wafers, otos only participate on local brand ones called minitabs which contain 20% of spirulina. Hikari, JBL, Tetra, SERA algae and pleco tabs simply don't seem to attract them at all. Other than that, I'm currently raising 8 o.vittatus purely on SERA Micron powder food in a small breeder. Sure, some algae grows on the glass as the breeder has been setup for some time before I put oto's eggs in, that is a must at the beginning. I have a so so experience with zuccini recently, it seems to me that they only accept it when it is in certain condition and in 50% they do not even try it. Not sure why. From time to time I also shortly boil common nettle leaves which are easy to get here. They seem to quite like it (also after being in tank for at least 24hrs)

The food I make mine is very similar to the Soilent Green. I make it with spirulina powder, mashed peas and various other veggies like broccoli and zucchini then I mix the paste with boiled agarose to create the gel. As I am typing this, my shoal of about 25 strong is demolishing a piece the size of a small stone. I've also found that newly arrived fish tend to transition better to foods without the agar. It is much more natural for them to graze on the powderized mixture once its been scattered over the wood, rocks and leaves in the aquarium, rather than the solid chunk of veggie food the agar creates.




Joe

Hello to all, Thank you for all the food suggestions, I think I will try Vlacek's idea of stinging nettles, I have a question, I get the nettles boil the leaves and when cold freeze them, how do I get the the said food to the Oto's ?
put it in a tube and try to get it to the bottom of the tank. Can you let me know how you get your food to the right place.
An easy question If you know the answer.
Thank you

Heh, I just put it into the tank Boiled leaves go to the bottom no need to put any weight on it (not like pieces of zuccini or similar stuff). I don't really care where it lands and stays.

Have they checked it out yet? It sometimes takes several hours and it normally only takes one curious one to get the others interested.



Joe

Hi To All,

I have not tried the nettles yet, I have a big problem. My tank has been ticking along nicely for months, On Sunday I did my usual 40% water change, and yesterday ( Wednesday ) the Oto's and Pepers were hiding and very nervous, I did a water test Ammonia Zero, Nitrite Zero, Nitrate High !!!!!!, I have carried out another water change and will do another tomorrow and see if things improve. Any Ideas what's gone wrong the only change I have made recently is to go over to Tetra PlantaMin, could that be it?
Help.
Thank you

So just WOW! My 90 gal established aquarium was inundated in brown algae (diatoms) - no matter what I did it was just growing everywhere. I have 2 huge amazon sword plants that I thought would deprive the diatoms of nutrients and do my weekly 25% water changes and tested the parameters with liquid testing kits and all the readings were fine - and I even tried the lighting techniques suggested of various spectrums including completely having the tank lights off for a few days to no avail.

My 6 glofish Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, 4 black skirts, 1 solitary female cherry barb and 4 Hyphessobrycon megalopterus (black phantom tetras) have suffered no ill effects and are quite healthy (and voracious eaters)

Turns out my tap water is a little on the hard side which I feel was probably the culprit. In any case, it was ugly to see - so I purchased 6 otos (only one died 24 hours later) and boy did they go to town! After just 3 days in the tank, ALL my brown algae had disappeared.


However, now I am in a little bit of a quandary. The otos won't touch the mini Hikari algae wafers nor the peeled blanched (and raw) organic green zucchini I added. They are swimming around searching for food frantically and I do not want to lose them. I am going to try peas and spinach and kale later but if anyone has any other suggestions please please post

lochness wrote:
However, now I am in a little bit of a quandary. The otos won't touch the mini Hikari algae wafers nor the peeled blanched (and raw) organic green zucchini I added. They are swimming around searching for food frantically and I do not want to lose them. I am going to try peas and spinach and kale later but if anyone has any other suggestions please please post

Hmm, mine love blanched zucchini...
Another thought, why don't you try culturing some algae on large stones in a tub or water outside? Every couple of days, switch the stones so there is something for them to feed on?