Otocinclus in quarantine question

[fish wrangler]

If I am going to quarantine some otos in a 10 gallon tank I set up yesterday what should I feed them while they are in qt? I was thinking about removing some of the algae covered rocks I have in my display tank and putting those in for them. Any thing else I can try amd feed them?

Also how long should I quarantine for, 2-3 weeks 4-6 weeks???

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[tbone5957]

Otos will devour any kind of sinking algae wafers. You could try skinned peas or lettuce leaves as well.

Ideally you want to quarantine new fish for four weeks before adding them to the main display.

 

[fish wrangler]

I have read that otos won't touch commercial algae wafers.

I will definitely try the lettuce leaved though.

To make the transition from QT to display as less stressful as possible I am running the qt and display light at the same time, both are well over filtered, heated to within a few degrees, and I will add either fake plants or some live ones to the qt

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[Rianyu]

My Otos completely ignore the wafers. Tried cucumbers and zucchini and they didn't care for either. They really went to town with some romaine lettuce though! It was so thin it basically dissolved the next day when I went to take it out and they were happy little fatties.

 

[PNWaquarist]

I've seen otos at my local LFS devouring algae wafters. Depends on how long they've been acclimated to tank living, I suppose.

Good call on bringing over the algae-covered rocks. Basically, give them as many food options as you can.

 

[fish wrangler]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Seeming how my plants have what I believe is some kind of algae on them I might drop some in for them too. I am going to start cycling the qt this weekend. I want to give the biomedia in my display filter some more time to grow the BB. Shouldn't take to long to cycle if I move in enough of it.

Depending on when the tank is cycled and when I get the otos I am looking at adding them to display around the end of January/early February



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[Brookster123]

Otos will devour any kind of sinking algae wafers. You could try skinned peas or lettuce leaves as well.

Ideally you want to quarantine new fish for four weeks before adding them to the main display.

Nah.. not really, i have otos in 3 tanks and none of them touch commercial food. I'd really consider putting them right in the display. Theyre so delicate to begin with. A barren qt could sign their death warrant. Mine go ballistic on algae for the first week in the tank. It's really spectacular actually.

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[Rianyu]

Nah.. not really, i have otos in 3 tanks and none of them touch commercial food. I'd really consider putting them right in the display. Theyre so delicate to begin with. A barren qt could sign their death warrant. Mine go ballistic on algae for the first week in the tank. It's really spectacular actually.

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The only thing I'd be worried about putting them right in is parasites since they are generally wild caught yes? At least, that's what I've read mostly before getting mine. I did get very lucky with my survival rates though - only lost one because it has been so cold here lately my tank heater wasn't enough and the temp dropped too fast before I got home from work to add another heater!

But yeah and generally if you have live plants they love perching and nibbling at the surface of the leaves, it's really cute to watch

 

[fish wrangler]

I am also most likely going to get them from petsmart. It is either that or drive an hour south to Chicago to go to lfs.

I got ich last time I bought fish from petsmart so would only add fish from there after quarantine

The more I think about this otos might be worth the drive, especially since they are most likely wild caught...

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[Rianyu]

I am also most likely going to get them from petsmart. It is either that or drive an hour south to Chicago to go to lfs.

The more I think about this otos might be worth the drive, especially since they are most likely wild caught...

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I got mine from a Petsmart actually. It's worth asking how long they've had them in the store and checking their bellies in the tank (to see if they are full or sunken). It was a risk I took with confidence because the guy who sold them to me really knew his stuff and was hesitant to sell them to me before knowing more about my tank set up. They also looked very healthy and full of food in a slightly planted display tank.

I've had a couple horrible experience with smaller family ran fish stores despite their extensive knowledge just because in the end they may be good fish keepers for themselves, but they just want to take my money in the end.

TL;DR I think it's worth a look if Petsmart is close-by to just see how they look. Some locations deserve credit when its due!

 

[fish wrangler]

I got mine from a Petsmart actually. It's worth asking how long they've had them in the store and checking their bellies in the tank (to see if they are full or sunken). It was a risk I took with confidence because the guy who sold them to me really knew his stuff and was hesitant to sell them to me before knowing more about my tank set up. They also looked very healthy and full of food in a slightly planted display tank.

I've had a couple horrible experience with smaller family ran fish stores despite their extensive knowledge just because in the end they may be good fish keepers for themselves, but they just want to take my money in the end.

TL;DR I think it's worth a look if Petsmart is close-by to just see how they look. Some locations deserve credit when its due!

Very true. Petsmart is a 5 minute drive so it's not like im driving that far.

This is also the first time I have gotten any disease from petsmart. I guess that is what happens when you get 21 fish at once...

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[Rianyu]

Very true. Petsmart is a 5 minute drive so it's not like im driving that far.

This is also the first time I have gotten any disease from petsmart. I guess that is what happens when you get 21 fish at once...

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Oh man yeah, that probably threw the tank's chemistry off very quickly. Too bad they didn't tell you to pace yourself - I had to get that talk when I first started from the same employee haha. Tried to get 14 neons and he was like "Whoa! Slow down just start with 7!"

But yeah it's so close it wouldn't hurt to browse and since you know what to look for (right?!) you can make the call when you see them yourself

 

[fish wrangler]

Exactly. I didn't see any fish with ich in the tank the guy took them from, but he took 10 or so from the tank right next to it, and I didn't have the chance to look in that one. I only asked for 15 too...they gave me 6 extras on accident

I only had 10 black skirt tetras in the tank at the time and i just finished a fishless cycle. Figured if I can turn 2ppm ammonia to trates in under 24 hours the neons should cause any biological trouble.

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[Rianyu]

Oof! Yeah and ich can be caused by stressed out fish and I'm sure the mass additions probably did it. Have you lost any fish to it? It's a horrible looking disease

 

[fish wrangler]

I got rid of it a couple weeks ago thankfully. I lost one neon but he didn't have any white spots on him. I was thinking stress from the heat treatment killed him. The ich only affected my neons though. No black skirts ever showed signs of white spots, and I was checking every day. Think I caught it early enough so i got lucky. Started with 5 neons day 1, and then all of them where infected within days. Heat was already cranked up though

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