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Otocinclus

RiaHx

Member
Joined
22 Mar 2018
Messages
25
Location
Bucks
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Hi all,
My tank has been running for well over 2 years, I had losses at the start due to unbalanced conditions but all good now, I have 6 ember tertas, 7 ottos & 4 Amano shrimps, I need help with my ottos, I know they are very shy but I see no more than 3 at a time, also sometimes dart the tank when you walk passed, can anyone give me tips or advice on what I’m doing wrong or right? Thanks, R
 
I can currently see 3 out of the 5 new ones, i have lost one I’m not sure if it is new or old one yes I give cucumber
 
Mine react to sudden movement too, they seem more relaxed with lower light and like the early morning/late evenings when I have my lights dimmed right down or just low ambient light. Those tend to be the only times they shoal too. Mid day I see the odd one feeding but they aren't particularly active.

I mainly feed my rapashy solent green but they also eat hakari algae waffers and like decomposing leaves. A few weeks and I'll be collecting some oak leaves to try them on.
 
How big is your tank? A friend of mine feeds her otos with algae wafers and I think hers take Repashy too, but mine won't touch them (or they get stolen by the Amano's before they get the chance). Mine take blanched courgette, red pepper and spinach (hers won't), I try to keep a small piece in a clip 24/7. I leave the piece in the water for quite a while (a couple of days), as sometimes they take the veg straight away and sometimes they wait until it is nice and slimy :eek: My otos always come together at WC time, but I don't know if that's usual behaviour for them.
 
I just got some otos today myself for the first time. Tank is pretty bad with algae and they are already going to town on it. I have one that doesn't look good at all though, seems pale and barely moving (breathing fine though). Could just be the shock, not really sure, but keeping a close eye on the little guy.

At most I see about half of them, it seems quite normal for them to go and hide :)
 
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Strange things aren't they, they all seem to have individual preferences. I had 9 I think from memory but generally I will only see tops 4 or 5 if I look hard for them and they are not switching about too much. A week ago I just happened to be sitting watching as you do and realised there was 8 on show, based on that there's nothing to say there still isn't 9 in there and they're all a couple of years old. I put cucumber in once or twice a week and most of them seem to appreciate that although other seem to ignore it. I also feed Hikari mini wafers which some munch on although I have hit the same problem as @Majsa where my Amano take off with the wafers as well so I bought some Tetra Pleco spirulina wafers which are too big for the Amano to carry off, mixed results really, I do see ottos on them but not what you would call going mad for it.

My Ottos are only kept with shrimp so nothing to spook them fish wise so I guess they are secretive by choice rather than necessity, I also see more of them early in the morning just as light is coming up rather than when the tank light is on, you can just make them out on the glass. The problem i find with these creatures is they graze non stop 24/7 on soft algae so most of our tanks are probably too clean for them. When I first introduced mine I had a good mist coating of algae on most surfaces including the glass and they had it stripped to gleaming in a couple of days, you could even see the trail marks on the glass where they had been. I would say if you're bothered about if they are getting enough food your best bet would be to put a pebble in a window with some water covering it and let an algae film build up then put it in the tank.

I never put any cucumber in the tank for a couple of weeks thinking they will be find with algae wafers then noticed there was one sitting on the heater cable looking a bit emaciated, looked like it was on its last fins to be honest. Immediately put some cucumber and can't see this fish again, only ones with full bellies. So either it died and the shrimp ate it, I'm looking at totally different fish or I just have some ottos that won't eat cucumber and some that won't eat algae wafers. Who knows with these PITA :D
 
I have four and i do not see them till the lights are off . Also i have never fed them once had them for four years.
 
Thank you everyone, I can see 4 of the 10 at the moment, I know it’s properly stress & there shy. I replace my cucumber every other day as I know they need food all the time, I put algae wafers in & frozen food for the fish I only have 8 small ember tetras & 4 Amano shrimps which stay together. I have done a lot of research on ottos just worried there not happy or disappeared or died.
 
Trying cucumber again :)
When I bought mine last week, the tank at the LFS had a silly "broken amphora" type decoration, and almost all the otos were inside hiding. I think they like living out of the spotlight. At least I see them more than my Hara jerdoni.
 
Mine quite like blanched cucumber. Although only 3 in number, they're usually swimming around or at least visible somewhere. I believe naturally they live in massive schools near riverbanks and the likes, where it's easy to quickly duck into cover.
 
Just to update my last comment, unfortunately the one I mentioned didn't make it. I can only infer that it was the stress of the move, the other 4 are fine and eating the algae in the tank, so will just have to keep a careful watch on them for a while.
 
The trick with ottos is to carefully select them at the LFS. Because of their terrible living conditions in transit, you’ll need to look out for two things: 1) high activity; meaning that they swim fast when you try to net them 2) large belly; meaning that they are better fed than the rest.

The ones which survive your first month in the tank usually lasts quite a long time. Those which succumb, well I guess we have tried our best to provide the best environment possible.
 
Ottos like Mulberry leaves which they share with my shrimp. Try a blanched leaf or two.
 
This is one fish I failed to keep them alive all the three times I tried. first time I introduced 4x after tank cycled and stabilized for more than two months in a two foot tank, they died one after the other
they always seem to graze on the glass and plant leaves but got skinnier and skinnier over few months and finally belly up. I tried all sorts of algae wafers but they didn't touch. I concluded CO2 is the reason for their poor health/performance after going through some posts in the forums. next I tried in 5 ft tank, same story there too, i cant even find the corpse. Finally i wanted to try in another 2 ft tank which was running for more than a year, they did exactly as first try, never touched fresh veggies at all. mostly visible and not scared. now they are off my list.
 
This is one fish I failed to keep them alive all the three times I tried. first time I introduced 4x after tank cycled and stabilized for more than two months in a two foot tank, they died one after the other
they always seem to graze on the glass and plant leaves but got skinnier and skinnier over few months and finally belly up. I tried all sorts of algae wafers but they didn't touch. I concluded CO2 is the reason for their poor health/performance after going through some posts in the forums. next I tried in 5 ft tank, same story there too, i cant even find the corpse. Finally i wanted to try in another 2 ft tank which was running for more than a year, they did exactly as first try, never touched fresh veggies at all. mostly visible and not scared. now they are off my list.

That's a shame :( They are cute little fish but very fragile from the looks of it. Hopefully I won't have to add them to my list of "fish I will never buy again", the last addition to that was dwarf gourami
 
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