Ding otocinclus catfish

[DASHRIMPMONSTER]

How often do you feed oto cats? Do you just drop in one slice of cucumber(I don’t hAve zucchini) a day? How many otos will that feed?

And if this helps, the tank mAtes will be a dwarf puffer and snails... in a 20 gallon, hw many otos will be fine,as well as that.

[Autumnsky]

Snails will love that! Maybe 3-4 times per week just remove the thing in 12-18 hours before it starts to degrade.

People stab it with a plastic fork and it usually sinks, or a bamboo skewer. Easy to remove.

Also I was gonna mention you can add a daylight bulb around 5600K with a desk or clip light shining right in one spot all the day long - if you keep it in an open space side, away from plants which you do not want to have algae!

Another option is keeping a vase of algae rocks with ammonia water in a sunny window. Or in the yard if it is reasonable temperatures outside. I have had some luck with the stones and the last time I have tried it no algae grew at all!

The idea is you have this vase of algae rocks and rotate take one out and drop in the tank, when it is mostly cleared off, then switch with a algae rock with algae, and keep it rotating as a supplement for the Otos /algae eaters.

Obviously starting with a rock or 2 that already has algae on it would be a plus.

You can use the old tank water to refill the vase with the older seasoned tank water.

[DASHRIMPMONSTER]

1) how many otos should be in there, and 2) Can I, to feed the otos when my garden cucumbers are out, just add extra fertilizer and keep the tank near windows to have more algae growth for the otos, and 3) Would some corydoras be fine, it's fine if htey're not... in the 20 gallon X-Hgih with the dwarf puffer?

Thank you for all the help!

[Autumnsky]

I think you could easily keep 6 Otos with supplemental feeding / or attention to making sure they are getting fed. You might buy a few wxtra when you get them since sometimes in transitioning tanks they are sensitive. Once they get settled in and have food they usually last a long time.

But also I would wait until the tank is definitely cycled and parameters are stable for a number of weeks.

As for ferts, I would not extra dose as they can be sensitive to poor water quality. Or too much stuff in the water I would think like ferts.

You might do that in a separate tank with out fish / living critters in it.

You could supplement the Otos with fresh organic veggies. The amount you would need for them would be a low cost. Or even frozen organic squash.

There are many recipes for different bottom and algae feeders called snailo, snello, use Rapashy and or gelatin can be frozen or made each week. I like the tiny cube silicone ice cube trays. I have found one xl one at the thrift store, seen some at times, but they aren't very expensive if you look around at the discounter stores. A regular ice cube tray is too large for that if you only had a handful of Otos. Why they tiny cube trays are perfect.

I also have added rinsed (homegrown or organic) greens for them into the little cube trays especially I used for snails. You can chop up and add whatever you want.

At first You might like to sample things to them to see what their favorites are (even garlic) squash, pumpkin, melon...

Tmaier and Brookster123 have dwarf Puffers and would be good to help with which fish are compatible with them. You might consider PMing them with the thread link and asking their thoughts.

[DASHRIMPMONSTER]

How to do a pm?

And would the near-window thing be a good idea.?