I have 4 new otos :-)

[myriam]

The otos are cute and tiny! These are supposed to grow to 2" max. I can't get over how funky they look.

The guy at the LFS (Sati, it's Blue Sierra, if you read this) recommended the regular otos over the zebra ones for my tank because the zebras hide a lot and are nocturnal. He said he's never known otos to eat brown algae, but I told him everyone at AA.com said they do (so I'm supposed to call him and let him know if they do eat my brown algae). Can you believe he's never heard of this forum?!

He also recommended not giving them any algae wafers for a few days, to see if this will get them to go for the brown algae first.

Any thoughts on this, anybody?

 

[captainGregor]

I do not know about brown algae, but I have difficulty feeding those cats at all. I had 3 otos and now one is defunct. Algae wafers get decimated by other inmates and otos seem very shy. All the books I read say that tank needs to be planted so they could graze on leaves. I tried zucchini, lettuce - nothing. Poor things. I tried to drop wafers in a complete darkness after lights out - the rest of the fish just kills it. So far 2 other cats are ok, but I do not know

 

[webmoose]

if you get a second maybe post some pictures of your cats!!

 

[myriam]

I will try, webmoose.

I did a big no-no and I put the new otos right into my main 20G 8O I know, I know, you are all gasping in horror but I just have no time or space for a QT tank right now, not until after we move this summer. So I'm crossing my fingers that everything will be alright. Luckily they are from a nice little LFS, not a big one like PetSmart or something, so I'm hoping that will help.

One oto is busy gnawing(?) at the algae on the glass and the other 3 have completely disappeared already!

 

[Allivymar]

Actually, unless you have a QT with algae (like I did), otos are one of the few fish its recommended to put right into a mature fish tank. Yeah, you are taking a chance on your other guys, but otos are really tetchy, and require that live algae to truly be healthy. So, no horror *grin* just be vigilant!

 

[grimlock3000]

I am slowly running out of algae in my 10g tank. I have some Guppy fry in there and they are picking away at all of my Oto's food supply 8O

I think I am going to try pulling some Java Moss out of the tank, so the algae will have a chance at getting some nutrients before the large plant gets it.

 

[Allivymar]

Damn guppies. Buncha juvenile delinquents

Would leaving the tank lites on for longer periods of time kick off some algae growth? Or do you think it'll cause an algae bloom instead?

I leave the lights on in my tanks from 6 am until 11pm or so, except on weekends when the fish stay up as late as I do *grin* I figure, with the plec in the 55g, and the otos in the 10g, I actually need as much algae as I can get. Oh, and I discovered otos are not interested in whatever algae makes up Marimo balls; they don't touch em.

 

[myriam]

Whew Alli, what a relief

That LFS dude was totally wrong--even in just a few hours just one of the otos has already cleared up a 4x4" area of my glass that was almost solid with brown algae! I found one other one stuck on a a plant leaf, and the other two are still MIA.

 

[myriam]

Dare I ask, what's a Marimo ball?! My husband says it's some kind of kelp they have in Japan. He's eaten some himself.

 

[grimlock3000]

"Would leaving the tank lites on for longer periods of time kick off some algae growth? Or do you think it'll cause an algae bloom instead?"

I tried leaving the lights on for 13 to 14 hours a day with no luck. All it did was speed up the growth of my Java Moss, which is what got me thinking that removing some of the moss could fix the issue. Then again, I suppose it is not really an issue, not many people complain that they do not have enough algae in their tank.

The Pleco in my other tank is being lazy lately and I am getting a lot of green algae on my glass. And of course that is the tank I WANT clean since the Pleco can always eat algae wafers and pick through the rocks for other food.

 

[grimlock3000]

"That LFS dude was totally wrong--even in just a few hours just one of the otos has already cleared up a 4x4" area of my glass that was almost solid with brown algae! I found one other one stuck on a a plant leaf, and the other two are still MIA."

Wait till you wake up in the morning. The Otos work much better at night when no one is looking

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, my otos inhaled the brown algae, the green algae, only thing they won't touch is the hair algae that shows up occasionally on the slow growing plants. Took em 4 days to clean the entire tank, and it was BAD. One side was completely covered in algae so deep you couldn't see thru it. It was like that on purpose tho; I wanted to be sure the otos had plenty to eat when they moved into the tank, as there was some, but very little algae in the QT tank.

Heh, ever think of sending the otos on a mini vacation to the other tank grim?

And Marimo balls *grin* Your hubby is partly right myriam. It does come from Japan although its not a kelp, but a different form of algae. Theres some info on em here: http://www.lioncrusher.com/miscellaneous/marimo.htm

 

[grimlock3000]

"Heh, ever think of sending the otos on a mini vacation to the other tank grim?"

I have thought about redoing the tank so the Otos could live in it. I would have to do some serious remodeling because the only dark spot in the tank is where the Pleco sleeps all day, and my Otos love the hide in the shade.

I think a bigger issue is the potential of spreading the infection in my 10g tank into the 26g tank.

 

[Sati]

The guy at the LFS (Sati, it's Blue Sierra, if you read this) recommended the regular otos over the zebra ones for my tank because the zebras hide a lot and are nocturnal.

Yay, I was wondering if you ever got the little buggers :] Blue Sierra is way better than any chain pet store but that doesn't mean that each employee knows everything. Us AA people do a heck of a lot of research and sharing every day so we're pretty smart

 

[myriam]

Alli, that link was interesting and the pic was totally cool. It's also funny 'coz Hokkaido is where my husband lived for 2 yrs in Japan, right after college!

Sati, the 2 dudes working there were definitely "dudes". They were nice enough but their knowledge of stuff seemed a little fishy (harhar) to me.

I still have to get a piece of driftwood. Totally forgot.

 

[Allivymar]

Here's a recent pic of the planted tank: http://www.myaquaria.com/gallery/planted-10g/planted_11_9_03_1

You can see my balls on either side of the..erm...drift wood

 

[myriam]

Alli, LMAO
I'd say more but I may get kicked out of the forum!

 

[captainGregor]

You ladies are hilarious

 

[myriam]

Alli, upon closer inspection of your tank, I'd have to say the arrangement of your driftwood and umm...Marimo...balls...is very...umm...entertaining 8)

 

[Sati]

I like your balls, Alli