Otocinculus Catfish

[mr.waffles1842]

Alright, so i was in the market for a good algae eater. I lov the look of otos, but had alot of trouble with them last time around, and they hardly ever ate any algae. So i was more than skeptic when my favorite sales associate at my petco told me these would be excellent. i told him about my past troubles and he said that it was probably the shock of moving them or they were uncared for in the tank they were in. He suggested i research these little guys or another small algae eater. i like what ive read on thim. He seems to eat brown, green, and other types of algae. However, i want as much info as i can get on these guys. how to acclimate them, how to feed them, what kind of algae wafers, what other algae does he eat, and finally, will someone please tell me how to pronounce the name?

 

[alLexX]

mine ate all the alagae in my 10 in like 3 days and it was pretty heavily covered. most dont eat algae wafers,but mine love blanched cucumber. drip acclimation is best

 

[mr.waffles1842]

drip acclimation?

 

[Sssea]

Oto-scene-q-lus, I believe.

 

[alLexX]

drip acclimation?

you use airline tubing to syphon water out of the tank into tghe bag there in,and whenever it gets full take out 50% of the water. do this 2-3 times. tie a knot in the tubing to drastically slow the water flow

 

[mr.waffles1842]

FINALLY!!!! ive wondered for months@! TY

 

[Sssea]

Haha I was pronouncing it wrong forever and someone finally corrected me. I just saved one of these little guys from the most deplorable lfs I've ever seen.

This is Daggit.

 

[mr.waffles1842]

lovely name! looks happy

 

[mr.waffles1842]

whats drip acclimation?

 

[alLexX]

drip acclimation?

you use airline tubing to syphon water out of the tank into tghe bag there in,and whenever it gets full take out 50% of the water. do this 2-3 times. tie a knot in the tubing to drastically slow the water flow

that^^ ,is drip acclimation

 

[alLexX]

Oto-scene-q-lus, I believe.

huh,i always thought it was aw-taw-sin-clis

 

[mr.waffles1842]

ah. thanks for the tip. that wont stress out the fish right?

 

[Sssea]

huh,i always thought it was aw-taw-sin-clis

Wikipedia says ahto-sink-luss. So I have no idea, lol. I think otos is a waaaay easier name.

 

[alLexX]

Wikipedia says ahto-sink-luss. So I have no idea, lol. I think otos is a waaaay easier name.

haha,yeah,yoiur right

 

[mr.waffles1842]

i used to think it was aw-tow-kin-col-us. lets just ccall them otos ok?

 

[Sssea]

Do they need to be in schools/shoals?

 

[alLexX]

Do they need to be in schools/shoals?

yes,at least 3 is necessassary

 

[Sssea]

Hm, the awful LFS I got him from only had one. He seems fine so far, would it be okay to add others in after? Do they prefer odds or evens?

 

[mr.waffles1842]

3 sounds like a plan. i googled them and it said they will be healthy if they are moving around, stick together, and have their fins erect. it also said to put cucumber in the bag and then the bag in a dark plkace. that sound good? sorry if i seem paranoid, its just i really dont want them to die, and i hate feeling responsible for fishie deaths...

 

[Demonknight]

yes,at least 3 is necessassary

maybe thats why mine act like they are on crack..I have 9 of them