Otocinclus fry

[Tyler]

So I have what I believe to be a very pregnant otocinclus. I have 5 of them in a ten gallon along with a still very tiny pea puffer. Literally about the size of a pea still. I got the otocinclus a few months ago for the purpose of trying to breed them. Attached is a feeding regimen (I guess you could call it) I found while reading up on another tony catfish. The writer had good luck with the following. Does this seem like a good mix of feed for young otocinclus? Also, My tank has a couple pieces of wood along with about 1/3 of the bottom with fluval stratum heavily planted and the other 2/3 are just sand where I have the wood and some lava rocks with moss, will this be adequate space for the fry to hide from my pea puffer? I got a breeder box to put the puffer in temporarily if he's gonna eat all the fry. Any advice on rearing these up or any other input would be much appreciated. This is my first time with baby fish and I want to get it right. 

[pedrofisk]

I have had Otos bred on their own in a couple of tanks over the years. I have had them survive when there is plenty of surface algae for them to graze on. If you don't have any in your tank maybe you can put a small piece of wood in something else under intense light to try and grow some quickly.

[AdamTill]

Honestly, that sounds like a pleco diet for the most part, not an oto diet. Other than the little aufwuchs they get grazing on rocks etc, they don’t need animal protein. Soilent Green Repashy and blanched veggies, combined with maybe a little Community Repashy, is all I’ve needed to raise my otos and their babies. A seasoned tank helps too.