# Feeding otto's



## Vito (29 Sep 2008)

Hey guys im stuggling when it comes to feeding my otto's I have lost one and it seems I am loosing another, they go all limp before they die, Im sure its down to feeding because I dont see fat round bellys, I have tried algae waffers, blanched cucumber, blanched cabitch... they dont seem to be attracted to any food, I thought they would swarm to it but I never see them feed, any ideas on what im doing wrong?

Vito


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## JamesM (29 Sep 2008)

Have you tried feeding at night when the lights are out?


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## Superman (29 Sep 2008)

I tend to drop algae wafers in on a night as the Harlequins like to munch on them if they see them.
Although, the Ottos I have are very out and about and will eventually go for them when they find them.
I've dropped cucumber in there (taking the skin off first) and they love it, give them a few hours to realise what it is and they properly munch on it.


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## Dusko (29 Sep 2008)

I never feed Otos in bigger tanks but I also never introduce Otos too fast to a newly established set-up. I wait for the Diatom algae to start growing. Once the Diatoms appear I now that the microorganisms also started developing which this catfish relishes.
Oto doesn't eat only algae (btw it eats Diatoms only) but also microorganisms/infusoria.
Try feeding it with tablets for Corys and Botias and you will see how it reacts to it   
In smaller tanks I feed my Otos with Cory tablets and *Protogen* from Hikari (infusoria sticks). They will never go near the nasty Algae wafers   
Also try and observe your Otos when you clean the filter (internal that is). Whenever I take my filter out some of the dirt of course leaks out of the sponge into the tank. All Otos of mine (as well as shrimps) go crazy chasing that dirt (read infusoria/microorganisms) and feeding on it. 

Regards, Dusko


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## aaronnorth (29 Sep 2008)

well i have a 60l with 4 ottos, and i feed 1 algae tab, and 1 veg tab on a sunday night, that keeps them going  

plus there is loads of shrimp too


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## Vito (29 Sep 2008)

thanks guys Ill try your advice and let you know how things go.

Vito


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## Ed Seeley (29 Sep 2008)

I give mine some Nori sheets.  They love those and soon demolish them.


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## joyous214 (30 Sep 2008)

I lost a couple to begin with when i first introduced them to the tank. (set up over a year) for no reason. Not sure why they dont like the slightlish change sometimes. and i get the feeling the fish shop i got them from had a different PH to mine. 

Got some more and now have 6 which i never see!! They normally feed on plec tablets dropped for them or mini catfish type food.


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## a1Matt (30 Sep 2008)

My otos are environmentally firendly.. they prefer organic to non-organic veg!
So it might be worth trying cucumber gain, but an organic variety this time around.  Worst comes to worst you just waste Â£1.50 on a cucumber


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## Vito (1 Oct 2008)

Damn, if only I had read that last post sooner, anyway, I baught a noram cucumber, de-skined it but a much larger peice this time about 5" long so they can settle on its and I saw one of them tearing it up for a while so fingers crossed, I went to tesco to try and buy some nori sheets but the don't seem to sell them, any one know any highstreet shops that do?

Vito


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## vauxhallmark (1 Oct 2008)

So are they really active at night? I notice all mine bunching together in caves half an hour before the lights go off, so I always assumed they stayed there all night.

What about shrimps - are they active at night too?

(Spose I should just get a little torch and look! I know all the shoaling fish sleep at night, and the plants (fold up their leaves)).

Mark


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## a1Matt (1 Oct 2008)

Health shops are a good bet for Nori sheets. (Holland & Barrett, GNC, Health Matters, etc)


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## vauxhallmark (1 Oct 2008)

Or try a bigger supermarket - could be in the "foods of the world" section, or Japanese section. Asian supermarkets, and of course, Japanese speciality shops have it (and are probably cheapest!.


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## Vito (1 Oct 2008)

vauxhallmark said:
			
		

> So are they really active at night? I notice all mine bunching together in caves half an hour before the lights go off, so I always assumed they stayed there all night.
> 
> What about shrimps - are they active at night too?
> 
> ...



Well I hardly see my shrimps in there and I fisrts started with 12-15, I did sport two of them about 2 weeks ago carrying loads of eggs but I think they all hide between the Hairgrass now and are very hard to find, as for the ottos they only seem to swimp more at night and are fixed to the rear corners of the tank during the day... Ill try to get some pics.

Vito


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## a1Matt (1 Oct 2008)

vauxhallmark said:
			
		

> Or try a bigger supermarket - could be in the "foods of the world" section, or Japanese section. Asian supermarkets, and of course, Japanese speciality shops have it (and are probably cheapest!.



good call.  Speciality shops are up to 10 times cheaper than supermarkets on some stuff.


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## JamesM (1 Oct 2008)

Is any dried seaweed ok?


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## Ed Seeley (1 Oct 2008)

I give mine algae sheets for marine fish.  Available from any LFS, especially those with a marine section.


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## daniel19831123 (29 Nov 2008)

I've never feed my otos and I've got 6 in 60l tank. Fortunately the female is always laden with eggs and the male looks plumb and healthy too. guessed my tank is just filled with algae.


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## slakey (24 Dec 2008)

I have 3 Otto's in my Rio300 *want and will get more*
At first I didn't see them eating the left over flake or jmc catfish pellets, but when I put in Hikari Algae Wafers and they went to the bottom, they'd sit by them straight away and eat with my corydoras.

It also bought them out of hiding and now they'll happily swim around in the open.


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## mjw1476 (2 Jan 2009)

ive got 12 ottos in a 180l planted discus tank with no problems at all. the hate new set ups and will have to be very resilient to last longer than a few weeks! i dont feed mine anything special at all, they feed on discus pellets,flake & frozen brine shrimp/bloodworm. they always hang in or around a rather large clump of java moss ive got attatched to a bit of wood which im imaging contains alot of inforusia. have you tried dosing a plant, possibly moss, outside in a different tank with liquifry to encourage the bacteria to develop and them puitting it back in your main tank? may be a soution as the main consensus has been for inforusia and this way will guarantee you loads in about half a day! especially beneficial if you have a newish tank. it took me about 6/7 months to establish a planted setup before the ottos would safely live, unfortunately a few were indirectly killed in the process  .
hope it helps

Matt


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## fourmations (17 Jan 2009)

hi guys

how do you keep the nori together

i stick mine on a bamboo skewer and anchor into the substrate
but when it get waterlogged it breaks up into pieces and is dragged into the filter

rgds

4


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