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otocinclus care?

EnderUK

EnderUK

Member
Joined
26 Jan 2014
Messages
1,028
So these little devils are now some of my favourite fish, don't think I'll have a large planted tank without them.

I'm think I'm dong okay by them but just checking a few things. I currently have 5 in my 125l which is probably pushing the numbers but they all seem quite fat and happy so not worried there. In others experience how many would you put in a heavy planted tank?

I was feeding them courgette but have since read theres little nutrients in it, they completely ignore carrots and tomatoes but they really love the almond leaves I throw in. Just wondering if I can just have the plant mass and the almond leaves as a food source or should I still be supplementing their diet? Algae pellets are out, they're ignored by the otos but destroyed by the glass shrimp.

I've read other sources on them but tbh I prefer getting my info from ukaps members now, cheers
 
Hi all,
I was feeding them courgette but have since read theres little nutrients in it,
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Courgette and cucumber are fine as supplemental food. Mine get more cucumber (and Red pepper) than anything else and some of them are at least 4 years old, and in the past they've spawned.
but they really love the almond leaves I throw in. Just wondering if I can just have the plant mass and the almond leaves as a food source or should I still be supplementing their diet? Algae pellets are out, they're ignored by the otos but destroyed by the glass shrimp.
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They love dead leaves, but have you tried embedding food into the courgette? I fasten mine to a bamboo cane with an elastic band, and this keeps it away from the snails.

cheers Darrel
 
mine get cucumber, courgette, lettuce, spinich , algae wafers. they are pretty sociable and are never far apart . 5 is a minimum i would say.
 
Have tried red pepper, they ignored it last night but the barbs and rainbow fish were interested., they completely ignore other veg. This morning three otos were munching on the pepper. So I'll probably stick with pepper.

I don't think I could have more than 5 in the tank so I guess I'll have to stick to the minimum.
 
Get some stones in a bucket of water (with some leaves or weed or cuttings) outside, get a biofilm on them. alternate the stones in the aquarium. Especially new oto's, often famished in the shop, will appreciate it
 
I have a question on these fish as I'm looking to get around 5 or 6 for my 120l tank, I see there is Otocinclus Vittatus, Otocinclus Affinis, Otocinclus cocama, is there a certain type I should ge tover the other (I see the last one isn't cheap !)
 
I think vittatus is on sale mostly, doesn't realy matter for the tank. If the LFS has them just in you might loose some, i find they usualy are in bad condition when they are just in. You can help them by putting them in a smaller tank with a lot of algae/green stones till they are well
 
The Vittatus I got from a local shop didn't waste any time. They were on the job half an hour after release!
Granted they looked healthy. Lost none of them, luckely :)
 
Just called my LFS (only opened recently) and he has them in, he said they are not on display yet as he wanted a week or so of making sure they are fed properly, he has reserved me some for the weekend !
 
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