What to do with otos

[PuppyFluffer]

I currently have 3 otos in my QT tank. I intended to put them in a 10 gallon tank that I now have to break down and restart.

I understand that they like an established tank. I do have some filter media to squeeze over the new filter to help seed it but I doubt it will be enough to have the tank cycled right away.

I have a second tank that is well established. It's a 10 gallon and is fully stocked. Do you think I could put the otos in that tank temporarily until their true home is cycled fully? Of course I would have to do extra water changes as they would push my stock load a bit heavy. It's a planted tank with cherry shrimp, nerite snails, hengeli rasobras and cory hastatus.

These are my first otos.

[noodles62]

3 little ole ottos will not add much to the bio load. IMO you should be fine adding them to your 10 for the time being...the problem is trying to catch them later to move them to the other tank! LOL

BTW, take your time acclimating them to the "new" tank; they can be sensitive..........

[PuppyFluffer]

Yes, I've noticed that they are very quick moving little suckers! It's a planted tank with driftwood. Maybe they will end up living in there....

I am supposed to have 4 of them. One of my lfs is going out of business and I bought the 4 that he had and he kept them until i was able to get them. i had my husband pick them up and he only came home with 3. apparently the guy didn't see the 4th one and forgot that I had bought them all (i guess forgot how many he had in the tank) either that or he was trying to screw me over. I'm going to think the best of him.) I did stop by while doing other errands and he has the 4th one and i'll get it when I am heading straight home.

[Star_Rider]

make sure you can get them to adjust to eating wafers or other foods a 10 is a small tank and oto's are voracious eaters.. you may find there is not enough food in a 10..they do prefer algae but can be trained to eat other foods.

[PuppyFluffer]

Thank you star_rider! Any advice on this? I am feeding them Hikari sinking alage wafers in the QT tank and I am cautiously hoping they are eating. They are certainly not tearing up the wafers. Will they eat any other veggies?

I am concerned about them getting enough algae in the tank I'd need to move them to since I have nerites in there and they really keep things clean!

[fishorama]

My otos like Wardley shrimp pellets, Tetra wafers & sometimes Ken's earthworm pellets. I have never seen mine eat zucchini or romaine but they are more nocturnal than I am.

The 10 with shrimp would be better for them even if you have to do extra water changes. They feed off the "critters" in the biofilm that grows on all tank surfaces, the slight slime on things. That is part of what established tank means & can take several months or more to form varied biofilms including some algae. It's way more than just cycled.

You could also try growing algae on rocks for them. Use tank water & smooth rocks either outside or in a sunny window.

[inkyjenn]

they will eat pretty much whatever a pleco will eat. but they can be a bit hard headed about eating it. you could try getting some slate, grinding up your favorite fish food, mixing the food with some egg white and painting it onto the rock. let the egg white dry completely and drop the rock in. it should mimick how they eat in the wild enough to get them started. you can also add garlic juice to really stimulate their appetites.

[Hurley]

My otos love soft cucumbers, zuchini and spinach. They also like shrimp, algea, and those bottom dweller pellets. It will be important to feed them like you feed the other inhabitants especially since you already have algae eaters in there.

[Lupin]

You could also try growing algae on rocks for them. Use tank water & smooth rocks either outside or in a sunny window.
:iagree:

[msjinkzd]

I would try culturing algae, its pretty easy to do and would be their food of choice. I have done it with a bucket on my deck, some smooth river rocks, and a pinch of fish food. I run a powerhead too to prevent critters on the surface of the water. Then you can switch out cleaned off stones for algae covered.