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Oto Care


Zac
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Hey all,

I recently purchased 5 otos for my 30 gallon aquarium. Right now they are in quarantine in a 10 gallon with shrimp and some Pygmy corys. I’ve had them for about 2 days now. Some of them seem to be glass surfing quite a bit still and I can’t really tell if they’re eating. I know they are more skittish fish but I just am not sure if it’s normal behavior, or how long it takes them to settle down. The shrimp cleaned almost all the algae out of the tank so I’ve dropped an algae wafer, green beans for a day, and I just put some zucchini in there. They’re not fat but they’re not skinny either. Is there anything else I should be doing?

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I agree with @Beardedbillygoat1975 it takes time for them to transition to commercial foods if they ever do- I've even had a hard time with most veggies (mine will only ever consistently eat English Cucumber (with the skin cut off). Biofilm and algae are the most important things for them to have access to when you first get them. Mine have eventually eaten Hikari Algae Wafers and some Repashy gel foods. 

But by no means do I want you not to try and feed them commercial food if you have it! Definitely try! Also possibly try feeding at night as I have found my Otos do most of their out and about eating then. 

I put food in a small bowl in my tanks, that way I can monitor food intake (and it's generally easier to clean)

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Will Oto's eat hair algae off plants? I've been considering getting a few for my planted 40gal. I have a decent amount of hair algae on the val, the tank has been set up for 7 months and there is a lot of surface area for biofilm. There is not much algae on the walls of the aquarium. I would love to grow more for them, but I'm worried if I turn up the lights to encourage algae, the hair algae will get worse.  

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@Ponyoryxthe only reliable hair algae eaters I know of are true Siamese algae eaters and Florida Flagfish. I’ve had a lot of SAEs over the years and they do a fair to good job on black beard as well as green hair algaes. Some keepers indicate they’ve had success with Amano and Neocaridina shrimps but I’ve never seen them make a dent but they can keep it at bay once you’ve done some manual removal. 

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On 1/17/2022 at 12:24 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Ponyoryxthe only reliable hair algae eaters I know of are true Siamese algae eaters and Florida Flagfish. I’ve had a lot of SAEs over the years and they do a fair to good job on black beard as well as green hair algaes. Some keepers indicate they’ve had success with Amano and Neocaridina shrimps but I’ve never seen them make a dent but they can keep it at bay once you’ve done some manual removal. 

Can SAE's do okay in pH in the high 4's and low 5's?

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On 1/16/2022 at 2:54 PM, Streetwise said:

Grow algae and biofilm.

This is a great answer.  With our 44g we couldn't wait but I believe @Cory had a video saying to do this exact thing by leaving lights on 24 hours in a qt tank to get the algae going quickly before getting the fish.   

Edited by HotTunaCartel
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I also fret about my otos getting enough to eat. I have six of them in my livebearer tank that sits in front of an east-facing window: still not enough algae! I put a light on the tank, still no visible algae except for hair algae. 

Someone here recommended feeding otos in the same place every time--like putting the veggie clip in the same spot. I do feel like that made a difference for mine. I have seen them loitering in that spot on days when the clip is not there. 

 

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