Feeding Hypoptopoma (Nannoptopoma) sp. Peru

[kruseman]

I have a group of these fish.

They're still small ( 2 - 3 cm) and are very skinny.

I put them in a quarantainetank together with some algae from a pond and a slice of cucumber

Does somebody have experience feeding these catfish properly?
Thanks in advance

[matti2uude]

I'd like to know too. Mine has only eaten the algae off the glass.

[jeremybasch]

Try Repashy foods! They work very well for newly imported Loricarrids. I would also try to keep them warm, 82-84 F so it triggers their appetite. If you can't get Repashy foods, try taking making your own mix using spirulina and gelatin.

Jeremy

[kruseman]

Thanks for the feedback.

The brand you mention is not being sold here in the Netherlands afaik.

I went to my LFS however and found some paste but it was primalery being sold for slatwaterfish and corals (?) containg mainly
shrimp.

I'm going to try the gelatin and spirulina.

[Linus_Cello]

Try adding garlic or rubbing cut garlic on the food. Garlic acts as an appetitte stimulant (which is why it is in some fish food like New Life Spectrum Thera A+).

[jeremybasch]

Plenty of water movement would also be recommended.

[wijnands]

What we can get here in the Netherlands is the small hikari algae wafers. From the smell there seems to be garlic in there. Would that work?

There's also the paint a rock with egg white and roll it in powdered spirulina trick, would that work for this species?? (@kruseman, 4 euros at Kruidvat for tablets you can bash into powder).

[Vlacek]

Hi. Don't want to discourage you from buying Hikari Algae wafers but these didn't work for my otocinclus and hisonotus (and all of my corydoras). They just didn't touch it. I now have one Nannoptoma sp. Peru too but got rid of Hikari so can't confirm it's appetite for it. My one is also like 2.5-3cm long and also skinny. It's quite active and fights for the food after one month. It feeds on local brand spirulina tablets as which contain 20% of spirulina (all of my fish do like it most I think) but if it eats it only because not enough of other food is available, I can't tell

OT: Personally, smell of garlic is right the opposite to be an appetite stimulant for me

[Linus_Cello]

If you need something with more "algae" in it (other folks have been mentioning spirulina), maybe try some "nori" or sushi seaweed. Do a search on "nori" in planetcatfish, and see if you think this will work for your hypo.

[apistomaster]

I kept a group of about 20 Parotocinclus cf. eppelyi for two years.
I made sure they had plenty of aeration between an air stone and a large sponge filter. They need that and a strong current. I had another sponge filter running on a MaxiJet 600(160 US gph/600 lph).
Mine never touched any Algae wafers. They did keep the thick Java Moss free of algae but their staple food was Spirulina sticks. They ate those well.
I lost them all during a heat wave one summer after the power head stopped working.
They were not crowded. I had them in a 20 gal long(12 X 12 X 30 inches). There were a few Aspidoras pauciradiatus and Poeciliocharax weitzmanni Black Darter Tetra tank mates.
Anyway I strongly recommend the Spirulina sticks. These are all cool little Loricariidae.

[wijnands]

Spirulina sticks.. is that pure spirulina? Over here you can get pure spirulina pressed into tablets quite easily, almost any healthfood store sells that.

[apistomaster]

Spirulina sticks.. is that pure spirulina? Over here you can get pure spirulina pressed into tablets quite easily, almost any healthfood store sells that.

No, they are not pure Spirulina. The sticks contain most of the same shrimp, fish and bone meal as most fish foods plus some other ingrdeients. The Nannoptopoma and related fish do not seem to be attracted to any brand of algae/Spirulina tablets/wafers. They do go for the sticks. I can't explain why this is the case but unless they have access to a lot of algae growth they starve unless you can give them Spirulina sticks. BTW, they can not be allowed to starve for very long or they will not be able to be saved. Whoever sells earth worm sticks has these Spirulina sticks but I only know of sources in the USA but there is at least one distributor in the UK. Others should be able to tell you who that is.

[Vlacek]

So would you think something like this should work well? http://phytoplus.co.uk/index.php?route= ... duct_id=58
Looks like UK brand. For comparison, these are the ones that work for all my catfish, shrimps and even mini crayfish liked them http://www.rataj-spk.cz/www_eng/index.htm
(navigate to Products, scroll down to Aquarium feed and select Minitab

[apistomaster]

"So would you think something like this should work well? http://phytoplus.co.uk/index.php?route= ... duct_id=58"

Yes, these are exactly the same as what mine ate well.

[kruseman]

I fed mine spirulina"powder" and they seemed to like it.
Judging by the amounts of p*** they produce I think this is the right stuff to offer them.

Thanks all.

[apistomaster]

I think the key is that these little sucker cats are able to graze fairly steadily. Spirulina powder or the Spirulina sticks I used spread and settle about by the currents. The particles become distributed in a way that is similar to natural algae growth. I probably would have made a thick Spirulina paste if I did not already have the Spirulina sticks.
The sticks turn to a mush made of fine particles within a few minutes.
I know it is almost impossible to grow enough algae in a 20 gal long/~76 liter tanks to supply them with all the algae they require. I allowed a wall to wall carpet of Java Moss to accumulate natural algae growth in anticipation of receiving ~24 Parotocinclus cf. epplyei and it only took them a few days to eat all the accumulated algae.
I lost 3 or 4 of them during the first week but the rest did fine for 2 years until the power head broke down. I believe these fish live in a brisk current in nature. I think it is safe to generalize the various similar genera/species requirements. I kept mine warm at around 82*F/~27*C, in very soft water: >20 ppm TDS, a pH between 5.0 and 5.6.
I want to try them again someday. I could sex mine and I observed behaviors which were similar to pre-spawn Otocinclus/Corydoras behaviors. The males are about 2/3 as long as the females and slender while the larger females had definitely fuller bodies. They are one of my favorites of the Loricariidae.