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Otocinclus Eating Bloodworm - Confirmed!

I've just been watching the aquarium after another Daphnia and Bloodworm banquet (which of course the Pandas enjoyed immensely - Mata Hari was almost spherical afterwards!) and I can now confirm sightings of three separate Otocinclus Catfishes in my aquarium eating Bloodworm. One of these was eating a live Bloodworm, the other two snacking upon dead ones.

I tried to photograph this, but the speed with which they pounce made this all but impossible! I tried, but once they get their lips around a Bloodworm, it vanishes in a trice!

However, they intersperse their Bloodworm bratwurst with a healthy leavening of salad, alternating between Bloodworm feeds and algae rasping. Which leads me to suggest, as in an earlier post, Otocinclus inthe wild may well beAufwuchs browsers, supplementing the algal portion of their diet with small embedded invertebrates. Which if true, means that Otocinclus share their feeding habits with, of all things, Mbuna!

Hopefully, I may secure some photographs of Otocinclus caught in the act, as it were, at some point in the future, to confirm that they will eat animal matter (I've known for some time that they will eat freeze dried Tubifex). Which shows that even after nearly 10 years of keeping these fishes, one can learn something new if one pauses to observe them for a little while - true of any fish species, of course, but I now have proof that my insistence upon taking notes during observation pays dividends. As far as I am aware, I have never encountered any mention of this feeding diversion in the textbooks, and thus, if this observation appears in future textbooks, remember that you read it here first!

It goes without saying that all my Otocinclus have that nice 'fingerprint' abdominal bulge, and I'm sure that I can see them smile in my aquarium because they know they'll never be without a square meal!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Quick, get your information to the authorities/fish magazine/writer, so you can get credit for unearthing this information first! Who knows maybe one day your name will join all the other fish scientists'. Maybe you'll even have a fish named after yourself if you're persistent! Starstruck!

hehehe bloodworm bratwurst.

Cute little things, aren't they?

DID IT!!!!

Last night, I dug out the camera and laid in wait for the Otocinclus after dropping in a pile of Bloodworm. And, I caught one on camera snacking away quite greedily, and I'm hoping that this head-on shot of an Otocinclus with a fairly substantial Bloodworm in its mouth.

There'll be a time delay between my posting this and showing the photo, because [1] I have a LARGE backlog of undeveloped films waiting to be developed, processed and catalogued (plus uncatalogued prints waiting to be integrated into the filing system) and [2] I'm trying to hold back on extra spending to save up for equipment to get the big Panda breeding aquarium going. I've acquired the hood, now I need a lighting system and a UGF, plus a propulsion system to keep it ticking over. In this case, NOT a powerhead as it'll be used as a nursery too. And this time, with a decent volume of water in which to raise the baby Pandas, I'm hoping that I'll raise a decent clutch once it's up and running.

Anyway, back to the Otocinclus - I now have photographic proof that they DO eat Bloodworm. Which means that a revision of the Otocinclus hints and tips article might be in order!



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

DID IT!!!!

Last night, I dug out the camera and laid in wait for the Otocinclus after dropping in a pile of Bloodworm. And, I caught one on camera snacking away quite greedily, and I'm hoping that this head-on shot of an Otocinclus with a fairly substantial Bloodworm in its mouth.

There'll be a time delay between my posting this and showing the photo, because [1] I have a LARGE backlog of undeveloped films waiting to be developed, processed and catalogued (plus uncatalogued prints waiting to be integrated into the filing system) and [2] I'm trying to hold back on extra spending to save up for equipment to get the big Panda breeding aquarium going. I've acquired the hood, now I need a lighting system and a UGF, plus a propulsion system to keep it ticking over. In this case, NOT a powerhead as it'll be used as a nursery too. And this time, with a decent volume of water in which to raise the baby Pandas, I'm hoping that I'll raise a decent clutch once it's up and running.

Anyway, back to the Otocinclus - I now have photographic proof that they DO eat Bloodworm. Which means that a revision of the Otocinclus hints and tips article might be in order!



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Ya ottos are definitely strange ones. My ottos snack on on the shrimp pellets with my cories, they latch on the entire pellet and sometimes my cories can't get any whil the ottos are on them. I really do wish they'd eat my fuzz algae though.

When I had my 20 gal setup with pygmy cories and ottos they'd eat bloodworms..and any other frozen food I gave my cories.