Otto Question

[lancerland]

I recently purchased 2 ottos for my tank to help with a severe brown algae problem that I had. Within 48 hours all the algae was pretty much gone, which after discussing with you fine folks on this website I knew that was going to happen. I was also helped out here by someone letting me know how to feed otto's after the algae is gone, this weekend I found out that my otto's love zucchini. They cant get enough of it. I tried lettuce, and cucumber. Anyway I am happy that I have found something that these cute little guys can eat and enjoy, but my question is, to the experienced otto owner, is do the ottos ever become less shy. My tank is about 10 feet away from the couch I sit on in the living room, and if is so much as look in their direction the flee to the back of the tank. Just curious, and thanks to those who have helped me already.

 

[NeonJulie]

It depends - mine stayed shy for 2 months until I put the 3rd one in, so it may be they don't feel comfortable in the small pair. It may be temporary, as they adjust to the new tank, and that's normal for any fish for the first 7-14 days to be a little shy.

You might find dimming the light or offering floating plants above them to help coax them out. Also, there's a good chance they may feel there isn't a lot of cover available, so adding more decor may be an option if it's on the light side. For instance, 4 plants may not be enough shelter.

Some Otos stay shy, though in my trio, mine are out all hours of the day.

They've been known to line up, all of them, on the driftwood. Do you have any?

Otos also love current, so sometimes they prefer being near the filter intake (or on the filter intake, be still thy heart! :O), or near my bubbler. Course they usually go where the food is...

 

[lancerland]

Maybe I should start putting the food near the filter intake then.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[hitman12131976]

My Oto's love to be the center of attention. They perch themselves on the top of my driftwood. I have a male and female, so maybe that's why they like to be out all the time.

As for food: I haven't tried the lettuce yet, but I will soon. Cucumber and Zucchini is one of their favorites. I always see the female 'attack' the veggies, but the male doesn't even notice it (unless it eats it in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping).

The big problem that I see is the algae wafers. I try to feed it to them, but they don't acknowledge them until after the fish are attacking the wafer and by that time they don't have a chance to feed off of it as the other fish will bully them out of the wafer.

 

[Nolapete]

Go sit in front of your tank when you feed them and just wait. If you do this consistently, they will get used to you being there. Mine love cucumber and are always out. They are somewhat nocturnal though. While mine are out when the lights are on, they go crazy when the lights go out.