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My Ottos have im sure enough algae to eat however i have tried blanched spinach and zuccini but they wont touch it! i left it in there for them for 3 days max but not one sign of being touched. what do you people tempt them with?

I would leave them eating the Algae that you have in your tank & maybe you can prepair more for them.

Just keep on feeding them small ammount of Spinach & Zuccini & try to see if they eat them or not.


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By preference otos seem to only go after algae especially if they haven't been in a tank long. After they run low and get a little hungry you can teach them to eat some vegetables or even fish foods. Mine would sample other things but they still didn't eat much other than algae. A few would stop by the piece of lettuce or cucumber for awhile but then move on. Sometimes they'd grab a bit of algae wafer or even shrimp pellet that was sitting around but then back to hunting for algae. They didn't eat enough to really feed them specifically. Mostly I was feeding my farlowella and snails and the otos were just grabbing a bite here and there. They might even be picking at it when you aren't around.

I guess my ottos have enough algae to eat because I have never even seen them eat an algae wafer, much less touch veggies I put in there. They are just happy as they can be cleaning the glass. :%)

*Kristin*

You shouldn't blanch vegetables for anything but fry.

Anyone who is worried about Otocinclus getting enough algae to eat, I have the solution. The Otocinclus Pet Rock™ method, as i've taken to calling it.

Get some aquarium safe rocks, or small bits of bogwood (bogwood is even better if you can get small pices, but rocks will do - even garish plastic aquarium ornaments are fine for this). Leave them immersed in water where they will receive lots of light. Direct sunlight on a windowsill is ideal, though if you live in a part of the world where the winter is pretty cold and the days are short (e.g., northern Norway or Sweden) then popping the rocks in an aquarium unoccupied by algae eaters (such as a quarantine aquarium) will do the job nicely. Let them sit there until they've acquired a nice coating of green fur. Once you have some nice green fur on the objects in question, take one or two out and pop them in with the Otocinclus. They'll spend happy hours munching away on them.

Have a supply of such objects that can be put in the aquarium in rotation, and recharge the spent ones in rotation once the Otocinclus have had their banquet, and hey presto, no more worries about Otocinclus having enough to eat.

Oh, almost forgot. If you're worried about cross contamination (in my case, accidentally transferring snails from an aquarium where they're welcome to one where they're not) then the removed and 'spent' artefact can be popped in a pan and boiled for a while.


Last edited by Calilasseia at 15-Dec-2005 20:44

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yup the solution for algae feeders does seem to be (logically enough) to provide algae , Hey its free, and easy to provide, whats the point in looking for other solutions when the genuine solution is so easy to acheive?

If you dont fancy the pet rock idea (although its a good one) sometimes all you need to do is float a piece of perspex on top of the water, and the lights will do the rest in a week or two. Then weight it down,- instant dinner plate

smarty pants!!

My Ottos in the Betta Tank will not eat any introduced at all they seem to be very happy eating the algae of the DW and the small smooth rocks.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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Keith

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