Well i have a huge algae problem cause my tank is right next to a window so i decided to reinforce my oto ranks(yesterday) from 3 to 6 and also added a young BN pleco well the 3 original oto have gotten lazy within the last month or so and just kinda sit around together in their favorite hiding place and i havnt seen them eating in awhile but everytime i see them swimming around they have full bellies so are they eating at night or am i just not checkin on them often enough to see them eat
Lazy oto?
- Thread starter Mustang Boy
- Start date
What size of tank is it?? Also what are the water parameters and then other tank mates?? Oh and is it live planted?
the tank is a 29g all params are in check tank mates are 4 rainbow fish and a yellow lab cichlid(i know but came with the tank and havnt found a decently priced larger tank for him) and yes it is live planted with 3 amazon swords and a broad sword and some water sprite in the near futur when i propogate it from one of my smaller tanks
Well one of your problems may be that the lab is picking on them...but you say that the other Otos-the new ones-are eating the algae? How often do you do water changes? Also do you supplement feed the Otos at all??
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yes the new oto are going to town on the algae that has built up over the months and i do water changes of about 30-40 percent every couple of weeks
and i dont see much aggression with the lab cause he was the receiver of alot of bullying for along time until i got rid of the aggressor all he does now is follow the new tank mates around for a little while to figure out what they are then he just kinda goes about his business
i have been trying to supplement them with hikari sinking algae wafers but the oto dont seem to be too interested in them the lab is the one that usually eats the which i dotn mind cause he is a vegetarian now the oto in my 10gal seem to eat the pieces of algae wafer i throw in there
and i dont see much aggression with the lab cause he was the receiver of alot of bullying for along time until i got rid of the aggressor all he does now is follow the new tank mates around for a little while to figure out what they are then he just kinda goes about his business
i have been trying to supplement them with hikari sinking algae wafers but the oto dont seem to be too interested in them the lab is the one that usually eats the which i dotn mind cause he is a vegetarian now the oto in my 10gal seem to eat the pieces of algae wafer i throw in there
Well first off you want to try and do 25-30% WC every week, especially where you a small amount of tanks. And and another thing would be that you should just clean up and remove most-if not all of the algae that is there now and then let them work on what comes after the good clean!
With the Lab some times they are and some times they are not agressive-that is the reason that I put may be one of the problems. Yes he is a Vegan so needs to also have that vegitable supliment, it is also a good idea to throw the waifer in just before turning off the light at night-if your Otos are looking small at all-that way they can get to it when they would normally feed. Because as zzyzx85 said they are nocturnial, but also as he said Ive never had a problem with them not moving a LOT through out the day!
They may just not have a reason to be "cleaning" as well as you would like, as it sounds like you have a LOT of algae and that would mean that there is PLENTY of food for them!
If I were you I would manually remove all the algae-other then maybe from the back wall-and then let them work from there. That would make sure that there isnt to much to have to remove, and you would then beable to see their progress from there!
Don't be concerned with not seeing your otos eating during daylight, they are nocturnal feeders. I have 8 or 9 in my heavily planted 55G and they sleep hidden all day. The minute the lights go off I see their white bellies plastered on the glass! And the light on that tank comes on verrrrrrrrrry early in the morning so I can feed the sids before I leave for work, so it comes on from complete room darkness and the otos look like bullets flying for cover, not to be seen again until lights out. What I have observed with BN plecos is that they are active eaters 24/7 while they are growing youngsters and as they mature they become more of a nocturnal eater. Is all the algae you're getting from the direct sun a soft algae that they can indeed scrape and eat? If it's the dark green spot algae, no fish will eat it. The only removal method for that is scraping. I get some natural sun light on the front glass of my discus tank and the dark spot algae will grow in any scratches on the inside of the glass. I have to scrub it off with a tank scrubby or it'll be there forever.
i just went in and tried to scrub it off with my fingers and it seemed to scrub off with some effort but not alot so im hoping the oto and BN can eat it off the glass
and it doesnt look that deep of green kinda somewhere in the regular green area
and it doesnt look that deep of green kinda somewhere in the regular green area
i am now super relieved i turned the lights off about 10-15min. ago and just went in now and turned the light next to the tank on so i could drop a piece of driftwood in it and as soon as the light came on i saw a bunch of oto scatter in all directions and i know i saw more than just the new 3 so i know now that once the lights go off they go to town on the walls so im happy now
and thanks all for hte answers to my questions i am greatly appreciative
and thanks all for hte answers to my questions i am greatly appreciative