The Editor
Aquarium Advice Activist
I've been thinking....
I plan on attempting to keep Otos (vittatus or vestitus, one of the small breeds) in a smallish tank with a brace of guppies and a snail. I'm right at the end of a fishless cycle and am gonna get some guppies first, maybe this weekend if all levels are good!
I plan on waiting a few months before bringing the Otos home, but have been doing a little reading aroung about how to keep them happy... It seems that keeping them well fed is a big problem, and malnutrition is often the cause of premature death.
Natural soft green algae is their prefered food, however they will often eat blanched vegetables etc or algae wafers.... Now here comes the ghetto idea
I live near a few streams and rivers... Providing the river/stream is clean and relatively fast flowing... is there any problem with me taking algae covered rocks home and placing them in the tank as a "natural treat" for the otos? I could take only from moorland streams where the water won't have come off of any agricultural land so there would be no fertilizer run off etc....
This is all gonna be months away if it ever happens so not a problem if its totally off limits....
In fact what is the deal with using natural water courses in conjunction with home aquariums in a more general sense? The conclusion I came to is that: Assuming the river/lake is clean and not poisened with agricultural fertilisers etc, then surely it'll be a great example of a stable and diverse ecosystem we could use to boost our tanks?
I plan on attempting to keep Otos (vittatus or vestitus, one of the small breeds) in a smallish tank with a brace of guppies and a snail. I'm right at the end of a fishless cycle and am gonna get some guppies first, maybe this weekend if all levels are good!
I plan on waiting a few months before bringing the Otos home, but have been doing a little reading aroung about how to keep them happy... It seems that keeping them well fed is a big problem, and malnutrition is often the cause of premature death.
Natural soft green algae is their prefered food, however they will often eat blanched vegetables etc or algae wafers.... Now here comes the ghetto idea
I live near a few streams and rivers... Providing the river/stream is clean and relatively fast flowing... is there any problem with me taking algae covered rocks home and placing them in the tank as a "natural treat" for the otos? I could take only from moorland streams where the water won't have come off of any agricultural land so there would be no fertilizer run off etc....
This is all gonna be months away if it ever happens so not a problem if its totally off limits....
In fact what is the deal with using natural water courses in conjunction with home aquariums in a more general sense? The conclusion I came to is that: Assuming the river/lake is clean and not poisened with agricultural fertilisers etc, then surely it'll be a great example of a stable and diverse ecosystem we could use to boost our tanks?