The better of 2 evils

[Cinnebuns]

As some of you may know, I had a major cycle crash in my main tank and had to move everyone to other tanks. My other tanks are much shorter on algae than my main tank but I thought my otos MIGHT still be ok. I have seen them munching on shrimp pellets before and I always drop algae wafers in the tank. 

Today I noticed 2 of them have lost some color. Are they starving maybe?  The main tank still has super high nitrite levels right now but maybe they are better off in there with prime. Ideas?

The 2nd pic is one more of the color I'm used to. 

[Pepere]

Can you transfer any of the decor or plants that might have algae on them?

have you ever fed them some blanched vegetables?

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Pepere

[Cinnebuns]

On 9/2/2022 at 8:18 PM, Pepere said:

Can you transfer any of the decor or plants that might have algae on them?

have you ever fed them some blanched vegetables?

 

 

I like both these ideas. I do feed all tanks blanched veggies on Saturdays anyway so maybe I'll move that up and put some in tonight. There's def some decor I can move in there. My only hesitation is the tank has ramshorn snails and I don't know if I want eggs on the decor. Tbh, that might not be a big deal tho because I'm rescaping and likely won't be using that piece anyway. 

[Cinnebuns]

So I put in a decor piece and totally saw them eating the algae wafers so I'm confused. Maybe they aren't as starved as I thought. *shrug*  I think moving the decor is best anyway tho. 

[TOtrees]

Their condition looks OK for now. One of the best indicators for this is the width of the tail section, from the stomach on back. Ottos are naturally little potbellies due to the beneficial bacteria in their guts, so it’s normal to see the back half a little bit skinnier, (this is what I see on the left one of your two). If and when they get in trouble, you’ll see that tail section really narrow down a lot.
I would expect your fish to be stressed, being moved, new tank, etc. And in truth, if they were healthy to start with they should be able to go weeks with very little food. Naturally occurring diatoms, biofilm and aufwuchs are your best friends for these guys. 
Idea (not mine :)). Try taking a few smooth rocks and putting them in a shallow clear container with tank water in direct sunlight. Maybe add a couple drops of liquid fertilizer. You’ll get a bloom of algae or diatoms on the rocks hopefully within a few days and you can rotate these into the tank where the ottos are. The snails might get them first, but a little bit is better than nothing, right?