Otocinclus cats not eating algae?

[ywagner]

So I have had three oto cats in my 30 gal planted for a couple days, and I have honestly not noticed any difference in algae. Am I doing something wrong? Are they stressed out?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Brookster123]

Give them a few days, have you been monitoring Their behavior?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[ywagner]

Yeah, they seem fine, but thought I would see better results by now


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[ywagner]

Really don't want to resort to chemicals


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Brookster123]

Really don't want to resort to chemicals


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

What*!?!?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dalto]

Yeah, they seem fine, but thought I would see better results by now

How much algae are we talking about?

 

[dragon14]

Are you feeding them anything else? They need food too I think, not just algea.

 

[philipraposo198]

Is this a planted tank? What type of algae do you have? Otos only really eat diatoms.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[emilygupps]

You could give them zucchini to see if they WILL eat. They're pretty temperamental, hard to keep until established.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[CoronaBlue]

If you bought them to take care of an algae problem it's kinda too late. You don't need to resort to chemicals just increase water changes and reduce light.

 

[Luananeko]

Is this a planted tank? What type of algae do you have? Otos only really eat diatoms.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

^ This. If you have hard green spot algae or black beard algae, they won't touch it. They only like the soft diatoms and hair algae since their mouths aren't strong enough for tougher stuff. They also will do nothing for green water. Stick to reducing your lighting period, increasing water changes, and ensuring that you're not overfeeding if you want to limit the new algae growth.