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Tips on feeding otocinclus

I feed my otos blanched courgette, pattypans (a sumer squash my mum grew experimentally which nobody else fancied to eat, otos loved it), kale and other thick leaves like raddicchio. I'm very lucky that I have an allotment so everything is completely pesticide free. They get about 2 portions of veg/leaf a week, they usually ignore it for a day then go to town. I now batch blanch the bigger stuff like courgette and put it in the freezer so I always have something easy to feed and don't have to cook constantly for them.

They also LOVE dried green walnut leaves, and will eat the other dried leaves in the tank too, which I always have in there for habitat + backup food. They're quite fat, a bit like rugby balls, not at all the tiny things I started with, though they haven't bred yet.
 
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Given much thought to how you would cultivate diatoms? I've been thinking about this too.
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Hi @louis_last

I think I would take a sample of water from one of my friends' tanks at the local aquarist society once the current Coronavirus pandemic is firmly behind us. So, that would possibly be later this year. Then, I would add this water sample to a suitable container, fill with tap water*, place in a well-lit location and wait, keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, and I'd probably add a few drops of plant fertilizer.

* I'd probably test the tap water for SiO2

JPC
 
Don't know how reliable this chap is (Thomas Harbich) but his website makes interesting reading. @jaypeecee

Diatoms

The cultivation and observation of diatoms are described. The focus is on observing the motion of pennate diatoms.
www.diatoms.de www.diatoms.de

Feel free to tell me if the sites bunkum.
 
John q said:
Don't know how reliable this chap is (Thomas Harbich) but his website makes interesting reading. @jaypeecee

Feel free to tell me if the sites bunkum.
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Hi @John q

Many thanks for the link to Thomas Harbich's website. It's very interesting and informative. I'm in no position to pass any further judgment on it as this is far from my area of expertise. Sorry if I gave a different impression. On the basis that diatoms readily grow in our tanks without any human intervention, that's essentially the approach I hope to take.

JPC
 
Hi @louis_last

All is not lost. You may find something of interest here:

Phytoplankton

Quality fish food, brine shrimp, and equipment for the modern fish hatchery. Lab tested diets with excellent and reliable results.
www.zmsystems.co.uk

They have all sorts of interesting stuff. I have bought Roti-Rich from these people before and used it to culture Daphnia, Moina, etc.

JPC
 
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