# What to feed my Otts and plec ie cucumber



## malawistu (9 Mar 2012)

Hello I'm just wondering that people feed there Otts and plec rather than flake ie cucumber and wether to blanch it any input welcome 


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## dw1305 (9 Mar 2012)

Hi all,
Most vegetables will do, I use blanched green beans and peas, cooked carrot and raw courgette, cucumber, red pepper, melon skin/flesh and sweet potato.

_Otocinclus_ are only interested in soft food, but _Ancistrus, Peckoltia_ and _Hypancistrus_ will eat sweet potato when it is fresh, and _Panaque_ prefer harder veg. like yam, melon rind and sweet potato.

You could have a look here for some more options <http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=987>.

cheers Darrel


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## andrejacobs81 (9 Mar 2012)

My ottos love zuccini (courgette)! I also feed it to my plecos (peppermint, blue phantom, green phantom) and the other fish seem to love it aswell. I have tried feeding cucumber but my fish dont seem to like it. I slightly boil the veg and then keep it in freezer.


Ottos eating courgette by andrejacobs81, on Flickr


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## Antipofish (9 Mar 2012)

andrejacobs81 said:
			
		

> My ottos love zuccini (courgette)! I also feed it to my plecos (peppermint, blue phantom, green phantom) and the other fish seem to love it aswell. I have tried feeding cucumber but my fish dont seem to like it. I slightly boil the veg and then keep it in freezer.



But how do you actually feed it ?  Raw ? Cooked ? Sliced ? Whole ? How long do you leave it in for ? Do you weight it down with anything ? Cheers....


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## hinch (9 Mar 2012)

cut into slices and weighted down to the bottom with something (anything) I personally use plant weights but you can also use spoons etc.


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## Lemsip (9 Mar 2012)

My ottos never seem to be interested in veg - the shrimp however swarm it.

By the time it's been in the tank for a while/gone mushy the shrimp have already demolished it.

Should I try leaving a piece of cucumber in constantly (replace it every day)? Was worried about pollution since it's a 23L tank.


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## andrejacobs81 (9 Mar 2012)

I take a courgette, slice it in 2 or 3, put it in a bowl with water, and then just microwave it 30 seconds at a time and poke it with a fork until the fork can pierce it with not to much force (this is the quick hack method, you can steam it aswell). Important not to over do it i.e. it becomes soggy.

I then let it cool down and slice it into slices like the previous picture shows, some times I cut those slices in 4 pieces as well. I keep a couple in the fridge to be served out and the rest I freeze.

For serving I just throw 1 or 2 pieces in the tank every 2 or 3 days, not bothering with weighing it down. I have found that it gets water logged and sink to the bottom anyway. I also don't bother much with removing the left overs, there usually isn't any left apart from maybe the outer skin layer. Either my filter takes care of it or I remove it when it swirls around at the top. I do remove any pieces I spot during the weekly water change.

This is for my 110L tank being over filtered with a Fluval 306


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## KittyKat (1 Apr 2012)

Cucumber tends to go off quickly, so I prefer to use courgette as it lasts for longer.

Another thing that you can do is grow algae on stones in another tank or outside and move them to the display tank for the Otos. I imagine that it might increase the risk of an alagae outbreak, but it should be minimal as you can just reduce the targeted feeding while the Otos catch up.


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## somethingfishy (1 Apr 2012)

Good thread, its nice to get some tips .. now if i can just find somewhere to buy some? I have 5 lfs near me and not one got any in or will have any in for a few more weeks, including qurantine time


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## awtong (2 Apr 2012)

somethingfishy said:
			
		

> Good thread, its nice to get some tips .. now if i can just find somewhere to buy some? I have 5 lfs near me and not one got any in or will have any in for a few more weeks, including qurantine time



Did you check this recently?  I went to both Maidenheads a couple of weekends ago and one of them had some plump looking Otto's.  I have a funny feeling it was Scotsdales but couldn't be certain as I went to them one after the other.  Might be worth a quick phone call.

Andy


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## somethingfishy (2 Apr 2012)

awtong said:
			
		

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 They have had them at coton for 4 weeks but are not ready to sell any, because they keep losing some. Think i would rather wait for a thresh batch.


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## awtong (5 Apr 2012)

My wife has told me PAH Newmarket have Otto's in stock.  I haven't seen them so not sure what they are like but it isn't too far from you if you are still after them.

Andy


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## Sentral (5 Apr 2012)

I feed mine with courgette and cucumber, occasionally plec algae tabs.
Pets at home usually have otos


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## somethingfishy (6 Apr 2012)

awtong said:
			
		

> My wife has told me PAH Newmarket have Otto's in stock.  I haven't seen them so not sure what they are like but it isn't too far from you if you are still after them.
> 
> Andy


 
Got some from PAH Newmarket on friday cheers   Not the greatest looking bunch, but i will hopefully give them a much happier home.


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## somethingfishy (6 Apr 2012)

We have a goldfish tank and was wondering if i could leave a couple of stones in there to build up algae then put them in the main tank for the otto's. Is this ok do you think?


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## devo (7 Apr 2012)

I've been feeding my Ottos on Cougette (30 secs in the microwave and then frozen), but was going to go in for putting pebbles in a tank on the windowsill just to grow algae for them, so we can see how we get on.


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## awtong (8 Apr 2012)

somethingfishy said:
			
		

> awtong said:
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Hope they work out for you.


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## somethingfishy (11 Apr 2012)

They seem really happy cheers getting nice little plump bellies


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## KittyKat (24 Apr 2012)

somethingfishy said:
			
		

> We have a goldfish tank and was wondering if i could leave a couple of stones in there to build up algae then put them in the main tank for the otto's. Is this ok do you think?


The goldfish should eat that algae, as they quite like their greens, but you may get a very thin layer left over.


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## dean (30 Apr 2012)

try peeled cooked prawns
even the shrimp will eat them 
for small fish i grate them when they are still frozen


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