Questions about otoclincus

[WhiskeyD]

Hi, I bought a few otoclincus about a week ago and I'm having trouble getting them to eat. They are currently in my quarantine tank so there is not much algae for them to eat. I have tried feeding them blanched cucumbers, okra, lettuce, asparagus, and also algae wafers; all of which they turned their nose to. I'm starting to get worried about them since they haven't eaten in so long. Two of them have nice round bellys still but the rest are looking pretty skinny . They are going to be in quarantine for another 7 days so i really need to get them eating. Any ideas on what i should try feeding them? What does everyone else feed their otos when they are in QT?

Also, my QT tank and my shrimp tank (both 10Gs) have a PH of 6.4 while my main tank (75G) has a PH of 7.6. I use the same water faucet (PH is 7.0 out of tap) and water conditioner to fill all tanks. The 75G is about 9-10 months old, the shrimp tank is about 3 months old, and the QT tank has been up for about a month. I'm worried about stressing the fish when i move them to my 75G since there is a drastic PH change. I havent had any problems in the past but I'm starting to buy more sensitive fish now which has me concerned. I drip acclimate the fish now but is there anything else I should be doing to help them adjust? And why is there such a PH difference in my big tank?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[WhiteDevil]

What is different in your 10g's then in your 75g?

substrate,filtration,decor....all play a roll.

 

[WhiskeyD]

What is different in your 10g's then in your 75g?

substrate,filtration,decor....all play a roll.

They all have gravel, different colors in each one but i believe they are all the same brand. My 75G has a few porous rocks (Feller Stone Tufa Stone at PETCO) and a bunch of live plants. The shrimp tank has nothing but live plants and the QT tank has a few large rocks and fake plants. HOB filter on the 75G and shrimp tank. The QT tank has a sponge filter. The rocks in the 75G said they are safe for freshwater but i wonder if they are affecting my PH? Thats the only real variable I can see. I plan on getting a large piece of driftwood one of these days to replace the rocks even though my rams and corys seem to LOVE the rocks.

 

[WhiteDevil]

porous rocks do effect Ph, what I do is get some Ph down and take that with me when I look at rocks be it collecting or store shopping, if it bubbles you dont want it.

take the porous rocks out and see if it changes. also a hard Ph swing will severely stress the fish. maybe incorporate it with a WC?

 

[happygirl65]

The rocks are most likely increasing your pH and the plants in your shrimp tank can also decrease it because they can use up minerals that increase the hardness of your water and reduce the pH when less dissolved minerals are present.

I would just like to add that as long as you acclimate them slowly you should not have a problem, especially if the tank they are going into is higher pH it seems to be easier on them to adjust up rather than down for the pH, at least that has been my experience.

 

[susankat]

To get them to eat you might try taking some deco or plants out of your established tank and put into the quarantine tank. There should be some algae on them for them to eat.

 

[DizzCat]

To get them to eat you might try taking some deco or plants out of your established tank and put into the quarantine tank. There should be some algae on them for them to eat.

This is what I was going to suggest. Get a plant, rock, something that has a lot of algae on it and put it in with them. That is what they are used to munching on. Mine never eat off a wafer or fresh food. Always just the algae in the tank.

 

[WhiskeyD]

I checked on the otos this morning and one of them is eating the asparagus and has been eating it all day judging by how much is missing. I have a huge silk plant that is covered in algae I'm going to put in their tank when I get home tonight. I also removed about 3/4 of the porous rocks from my 75G hoping to lower my PH some. Hopefully it will work so my future fish wont have to deal with just a harsh PH swing when going from QT to the big tank.

 

[Nippy Fish]

Otocinclus are so sensitive you might consider acclimating them while they are in their Q tank. Over the next 7 days remaining you could slowly add water from the 75g to the Q tank, since the Q tank is only 10 gallons.

 

[FishEggs]

Otocinclus are so sensitive you might consider acclimating them while they are in their Q tank. Over the next 7 days remaining you could slowly add water from the 75g to the Q tank, since the Q tank is only 10 gallons.

or put one of the smaller rocks in the qt to bring up the ph in the qt tank. i dont know however how fast it will increase the ph.

my otos liked zucchini sliced paper thin. all that would be left was the skin ring.

 

[susankat]

Oto's also don't eat very many types of algae, mostly the algae they eat is the film that grows on your glass, and the brown algae. So even if a piece in your established tank doesn't look like it has anything on it, it will have a biofilm on it that they will enjoy.

 

[Markstanfill]

Second the zuchinni. Never gotten them to eat cucumbers. Had some eat carrot, dont really seem to go nuts for it but it got nibbled on.