# Yet another question! Otto cats.



## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

I recently just bought 2 otto cats for my 10 gallon, and I already made the mistake of introducing them right away to it. Does anyone have these? I have some omega one wafers for them, but they didn't seem to care to much yet.. I also read the veggies will work. I got some frozen peas for them, how do I prepare them and how many can I give? Thanks in advance!


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## qpc68 (Jul 14, 2008)

I'm not sure about the other parameters in the tank, if it's planted or not, etc. however I would suggest you keep the lights on to get some algae growing in there. I have never had any luck feeding any type of food, be it prepared or fresh, to oto's. I suppose if they were incredibly hungry mine might, but fortunately I've never had that problem


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

The lights are on about 12 hours a day. It takes weeks before there's any sort of growth. =/ It has 3 or 4 fake plants, plus a little cave and snake decoration thing.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm experiencing the same thing....not enough algae for my otos. I read somewhere on this forum to put some rocks in a dish and set it in the full sun and algae will grow on the rocks. Yesterday I put some rocks in a dish in the sun. I even added some Flourush Excel to hopefully jump start the algae. If it works it'll be a great solution. As soon as the otos clean a rock(s) you just put it back in the dish to start the algae process again. Like I said, I hope it works.


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## flight50 (Sep 30, 2008)

well at least you recognized your first mistake of introducing them right away. otos can be fragile. i hope your tank has been set up for several months with steady water parameters. otos do better in well live planted tanks. honestly, if you can't produce enough or even have enough algae in your tank, your better off not purchasing them. mine did eat algae wafers but if you have bottom feeders and you feed during the day, chances are the otos won't have any left. otos tend to be nocturnal. most aren't too active during the day.


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## mkirby258 (Sep 10, 2008)

Mine absolutely love spinach! I get fresh spinach leaves from the grocery store (mostly for my salads, but I will share). Every night I crush 1 leaf up with the handle of a knife (Just enough to expose the fleshy part, but keep it intact). I usually then put it on the bottom of the tank, partially under a shell to hold it down. Within 10 minutes all 5 of my ottos are on munchin away. by the morning, there isnt much left of the spinach. I am trying to get algae rocks going too.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Hummm....spinach. I have some on hand so I'll try this out tonight. No blanching, just crush with a knife? Couldn't be easier...hope they like it. Thanks for the tip!


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I used to feed mine zucchini when I had them. I would put a slice in a cup of water and microwave for about 30 seconds just to slightly soften it. Then use a weight or veggie clip and suction cup it near the bottom of the tank. Don't leave any veggies in any longer than 24 hours or it will foul your water.

But they really do best eating algae. They did a great job on the diatom problem I had.


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## mkirby258 (Sep 10, 2008)

jeaninel said:


> Don't leave any veggies in any longer than 24 hours or it will foul your water.


what jeaninel said. Dont leave the vegetables in there over 24 hrs. I usually put mine in at night, then take them out in the morning. No blanching for the spinach, just the crushing. easy as pie! Let me know if they like it


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

flight50 said:


> well at least you recognized your first mistake of introducing them right away. otos can be fragile. i hope your tank has been set up for several months with steady water parameters. otos do better in well live planted tanks. honestly, if you can't produce enough or even have enough algae in your tank, your better off not purchasing them. mine did eat algae wafers but if you have bottom feeders and you feed during the day, chances are the otos won't have any left. otos tend to be nocturnal. most aren't too active during the day.


Yea, live and learn huh. Their black stripe though looks good, and I think they'll be alright.. I had cleaned the tank the day before. I feed the fish in the morning and at night time, then it's lights out. And none of my fish like to eat from the bottom, in fact once the flakes sink past a certain point they won't touch it. i think alot of it gets wasted, what can ya do right. at least now it'll be good for the ottos? i did put half an algae wafer in there, and some mushed peas.. which i read are okay. i'm gonna try and buy some zucchini soon. and also, my tank has been set up for a long time, over a year so that's a plus. but next time when i go to the fish store, i will just browse and take notes of ones that catch my eye... then come home and do research before buying.  thanks everyone!


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

oh and i also attempting to grow algae. i don't know if this is a good way to do it... but i took some tank water and water shaken from the filter, and put two rocks from the backyard in a bucket..out on my deck. now i don't know if the sun will hit it to much, and it's getting colder out now so I don't know... i also put tin foil over it thinking it will suck in the sun, but now i'm thinking it might just repel it? i don't know. either way, it's strangely amusing to see if anything will happen!


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Bummer. The Otos checked out the spinach but then just swam away. Tomorrow I'll try the zucchini. In the meantime I'll keep pulling up plants from the main tank (some have some great algae growing on them) and putting those plants into the Otto's tank. After the Ottos clean them up I then replant them into the main tank. A little tedious but it's working out well for the Ottos and me!


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## Little-Fizz (Aug 19, 2007)

Haha I've got tons of algae, I wish I could share some! 

Solacetiger, You said you had like a 2.5 gallon bowl right? I'm pretty sure you did. You can use that to grow the algae, You don't even have to put it outside, just in a window that gets a lot of sun. I don't know about the tin foil but I would think its keepings things out rather then letting it in.

Does anyone know if ottos with eat the black hairy algae? I want to get rid of this stuff soooo bad.


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## mkirby258 (Sep 10, 2008)

Little-Fizz said:


> Does anyone know if ottos with eat the black hairy algae? I want to get rid of this stuff soooo bad.


 Ottos dont eat any type of hair algae. especially the "black beard" algae, which I am trying to get rid of. From my research, the only fish that really eats the black beard is the siamese algae eater (not to be confused w/ chinese algae eater). I have been trying to get my hands on one of these for a while now, but I think I am going to have to order offline.
I think some shrimp eat it too. The cherry reds, but Im not 100% sure.
Also my LFS said that if I set up a CO2 system it will cut down on the stuff, but I dont really feel like going through that right now. good luck

-mk


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Little-Fizz said:


> Haha I've got tons of algae, I wish I could share some!
> 
> Solacetiger, You said you had like a 2.5 gallon bowl right? I'm pretty sure you did. You can use that to grow the algae, You don't even have to put it outside, just in a window that gets a lot of sun. I don't know about the tin foil but I would think its keepings things out rather then letting it in.
> 
> Does anyone know if ottos with eat the black hairy algae? I want to get rid of this stuff soooo bad.


No, it's just a plastic gallon ice cream bucket. and I have tro keep it outside, otherwise my cat Gandolph will get his mitts in there.... he has a fetish for water and tipping whatever contains it over so he can watch it spill everywhere. P: i'll take t he tinfoil off, lol, but it's good i had it on cause it's raining.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

An update on my Ottos: This morning the spinach leaf was skeletonized so hopefully most of the seven guys took turns doing this. I'll continue growing them algae but it's nice to know they'll take the spinach when I'm in a pinch and short on algae. Thanks all!


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## qpc68 (Jul 14, 2008)

As far as the hair algae, I reduced my lighting and upped my CO2 and it's started to recede. Not many fish will eat it.


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## flight50 (Sep 30, 2008)

i doubt very seriously if the foil helps. algae needs light to grow. not air. I ordered my SAEs online when I got them 4 years ago. watch out though. they get bigger as they eat up the algae. they also start to eat less as they become dependent on wafers and shrimp pellets. if you only have a couple of them, they can get a little feisty with your peaceful corys if you have some. i got rid of mind because of this. co2 helps because it supplies the plants with carbon with allows them to out compete for nutrients in the water column. watch out here too though. you have to be able to balance light,co2 and nutrients. to little or not enough of one, and you could be back at square one.


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