Will Ottos eat potato?

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grimlock3000

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I bought two Ottos last weekend and they are eating through the algae in my tank very rapidly. I am worried now because they have about one day of algae left in the tank until it is all gone. I thought I had a lot of algae to begin with, but I guess not. The fish store owner advised they would eat a thin potato slice if I dropped one into the water. I was told the potato was actually very healthy for the Ottos and that they would suck on the potato all the time. I put a thin slice in, and the Ottos could not care less about it. The Ottos just keep going around the outside of the glass, looking for algae scraps there. Will they eventually find the potato slice, or am I wasting my time? If I try algae wafers, should I be worried about them breaking down and clouding the water?
 
I used algae wafers in my tank for my algae eater. It did not cloud the water, and my GAE loved them.

Try them!

Also try blanched Zuccini with the seeds removed.
 
I took out the potato after three days of trying with two different potato slices. I did not have any cucumbers/zuccini so I tried an algae wafer once I put the tank light out. There was a little bit of light coming in through the window in the room, so I checked the wafer after an hour. Both of my cory cats were muching on it! I check again a few minutes after that, and my Dwarf Gouramis were eating the wafer and finished off the whole wafer shortly after. The Ottos never left the glass while the wafer was in the tank that I am aware of. I thought about dropping in anothing algae wafer, but my Gouramis are truly pigs and probably would have tried eating the second wafer as well.

I will try the cucumber and zuccini soon. The Ottos have the tank almost spotless right now and are going to run out of food.
 
somebody in my tank likes carrots...

I was eating an organic carrot and thought I would toss the plug in to the tank and see if anyone nibbled on it... after a few hours the pleco was playing with it and I watched the carrot plug get moved around the tank for a few days, and now it's GONE ... so I don't know if the pleco decided to gorge itself and eat it all up, or if it's jammed under my huge amazon sword, which is the pleco's "cave".
 
Algae wafers are great! I have an otto and a pleco. They share them very well. No cloudy water either. I give them one or two wafers a week. That way they don't get lazy and stop cleaning the tank! :D
 
Tried the cucumber, the Ottos did not touch it but I left it in the tank. Another piece of Algae Wafer got eaten by the Gouramis. I think they are still trying to get the last 2% of the algae left in the tank along with the algae trying to grow. Is it safe to assume they will start checking the bottom of the tank for food instead of starving themselves?
 
Yeah they'll figure it out soon enough. You HAVE to provide them with some algae, so I'd continue with the wafers. You might want to cut back a little on the other foods, since your gouramis have a taste for em, and add 2 wafers so the otos get some.
 
So far, my Gouramis have a taste for anything edible except the vegatables 8O On top of their regular food, they dig most of the catfish pellets out of the rocks before the cats get to them, eat algae off my plastic plants, eat my java moss which causes it to break apart, and now they eat algae wafers. And one of them bites my arm when I put my hand in the tank!

Tonight I will try two full algae wafers instead of the half wafers I have been putting in. At some point, the Gouramis will have to get full and stop eating. I hope :p
 
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