Otocinclus questions

[Karen B.]

Greetings!

I bought 7 otocinclus on may 28th and put them in quarantine with the med trio.

After a week, one developed a bad case of fungus and sadly passed away. I retreated the while tank with the med trio.

The 6 others seem to be fine - I see them grace on plants, substrate, glass. And they also eat the Hikari algea wafer (that is what the store was giving them). I will soon introduce zucchini and repashy very stinky soilent green! 
 

How long should I leave the wafer in? They seem to ignore it until 24 hours later when it’s all mushy...

Are they sensitive to Flourish excel by Seachem?

I usually fast my fish one day per week. Is it ok to do it with Oto as well? I read they often die of starvation so I want to be sure...

I give them one full wafer for the 6 of them, is it too much? Should I wait until they finish it up before giving a new one? Usually I will siphon after 24-36 hours but they seem upset because that’s when they wanna eat it!

Is seachem garlic guard good for them as well? I try to soak some food or add it to the tank about once a week.

some of them have really long think string of poop. Not white, it just seems like poop that won’t fall. Constipated? Too much food? 
 

Thank you! Here is a picture of their belly. Is it round/well fed type of belly?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi,

Oto loss in quarantine seems almost inevitable I lost 5 of my first 6 and none of my 2nd set of 7- I only medicated them for Ich which they had when I brought them from the store, but nothing else. 

I have fed MY Otos Hikari Algae Wafers from the beginning. If you can stand it, I put a wafer in a tiny food bowl for them in my tank, yes I think they like it mushy. I typically put one in in the morning and take it out the next day around that time. They seem to be more nocturnal in their eating so I think putting it out earlier helps. It's easier to monitor their eating and remove the bowl when you need to replace the food. 

Mine also string their poop around for a while. I don't fast mine though I fast my mid water dwellers, that's just me- I'm sure they'd be fine if you did especially if you have algae to eat. Your bellies look great!

I don't know about Excel, I don't use ferts in my tanks.

[Patrick_G]

@Karen B., those are some chubby Otos! I think they’re eating well.😀

[HH Morant]

I have 8 giant otos in a quarantine tank. They really like Soilent Green. I only feed them every other day because they are in a tank with lots of algae and I want them to become accustomed to eating it. Four of them have been in the Qtank for 3 weeks and 4 have been there for 7 days. All have survived so far.

[DaveO]

I would retreat the ParaCleanse now. Cory recommends this to make sure internal parasites are all gone.