I have 4 new otos :-)

[myriam]

I was going to post this morning but ran out of time...

This morning my tank was sparkling clean and practically rid of any brown algae! I was sooo impressed with those little otos It's like the tank is super brand new or something. I kind of forgot that my substrate was actually white/light grey, not brown.

Now that I'm out of algae, I hope these guys eat the algae wafers. I waited for the tank light to go off (10pm) and dropped a few in very stealthily. The platies and mollies found one of them and their feeding frenzy began. Hopefully the otos get to the other ones.

 

[captainGregor]

I just found out something, myriam. My otos were very shy, as I said before. They would not get a chance at algae tablets because of the barbs and danios. I have tried zucchini, and after 2 days in the tank, fish liked it a lot. Otos included. Now I put broccoli sticks (whatever was left after I cut the crowns off) and otos love it, they graze on it constantly. Just make sure you nuke it for a minute or so. If it still floats, find a place to stick a toothpick to and then stick your broccoli on that toothpick. It is so funny to see the tail sticking out from the broccoli forrest - it's the oto diving into it

 

[myriam]

captainG, do you zap the zucchini, too? And how do you have them sliced? Round pieces or sticks?

 

[Allivymar]

Amazing what a job they do eh myriam? I guess thats why they don't do well in new tanks; they INHALE algae like nothing I've ever seen, even my plec.

I don't feed mine zucchini, as theres plenty for them to chow on in the planted tank, and the gouramis let em get to the sinking wafers and Bioblend herbivore foods. I do, however, treat my plec to zucchini; I just nuke it. Do be sure to run cold water over it after for a bit; the inside gets HOT. Don't wanna burn their lil mouths.

 

[captainGregor]

I do a quarter-round along the length of the vegetable and nuke it. I do run cold water, just like Alli said. My fish is going insane for the broccoli! they swim into the bunch, and out, all all you see is tails happily waving in and out. Otos are sitting on a top like "We are the bosses" but the rest of the fish mind their own business and just graze.

 

[myriam]

Well I just found one of my little otos head-down in a plant this morning I can bring him into the LFS along with a water sample, and if my water checks out they'll give me another one. I don't know what happened. The other 3 are doing great, and the rest of the tank has been as well.

I guess sometimes they just don't make it

 

[grimlock3000]

Sorry to hear that you lost an Oto. They are pretty fragile fish overall, but it sounds like you had a good setup for them. Some fish come from the LFS weak and there is not much you can do about it. If your tank is free of all algae, you might not need to get another one. One they eat the fresh food supply, some Otos may be picky (and others will eat anything). Also, if the fish that died was ill, you run the risk of getting another sick or weak Oto from the same tank you got the first four

 

[myriam]

Ok, I'm going nuts. I found my oto this morning in the plant, and I figured I'd wait till my kids went down for their naps before I performed the painful task of removing the poor guy.

So the kids are asleep, I roll up my sleeves, and lo and behold, the "dead" oto is gone. I can't find him anywhere. He was so deep head-first in a plastic plant, a tall one with long spaghetti-like strands. I was pretty sure he was a goner, but do you think maybe he was just jammed in there and had somehow un-jammed himself? If he has then he's hiding somewhere good, I hope, and not have floated or gotten stuck somewhere else I can't see.

 

[bsuball41]

Update

Did you ever find that otto?

 

[myriam]

bsuball41, yes I did, thank goodness! I guess he wasn't dead after all. So weird. I mean, he was head down, kind of on his back leaning on a leaf, no movement, all morning before breakfast. He looked like a gonner!

Now every morning I count all the otos, just to be sure

 

[Allivymar]

LOL You mean he was playing possum *grin*

So I gather he's still alive n kicking eh? Awesome

 

[myriam]

Yeah, Alli, the little guy just wanted to give me a heart attack!

I think these otos are really shy, huh. It is almost impossible for me to find all 4 at the same time, and I have no idea where the others are hiding when I can't see them. I guess I just have to feel confident that all 4 are doing alright, just hiding a lot.

I bought a piece of driftwood this weekend at Petco, and I'm going to treat it tonight before adding it to the tank. Hopefully that will help me see them more often, assuming they'll like hanging around on it and chewing on it.