# Eating menu for Otocinclus.



## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

They will eat boiled veggies, squash spinach carrot, rutabaga, and many other veg. Cook them until they are tender. Let cool and drop in tank.


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

Aquatic Delight said:


> They will eat boiled veggies, squash spinach carrot, rutabaga, and many other veg. Cook them until they are tender. Let cool and drop in tank.
> 
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


That is quite helpful thnaks, Unfortunately 1 fish died  other 3 are super active munching brown algae all over the tank, but they are only swimming near glasses.


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

HannahFergusonFan said:


> That is quite helpful thnaks, Unfortunately 1 fish died  other 3 are super active munching brown algae all over the tank, but they are only swimming near glasses.


Sadly, that is common for Otos. Unfortunately, the way they are captured, transferred, and get stressed easily makes all of those changes very hard on them. Once they are established in a tank, they are pretty hardy though.


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## sharambil (Nov 15, 2016)

The key to purchasing healthy Otos is asking the person capturing the fish to catch the fastest moving fish. Never buy the sluggish, slow moving ones as they are usually sick. I have had a squad of 4 for around 1 year now and they have no signs of stopping. They steal algae wafers from my Amano shrimp all the time lol


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Yeah some tend to die when you first get them. Since your tank is large enough to take it I recommend you get a few more Otos. They are quite a social fish and look pretty cool and they prefer when you get them in larger groups. Even about 6 would be good.
As for food, blanched spinach and zucchini tend to be what most people supplement their feeding with.

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## zuc (Mar 29, 2012)

I am like you with a 29g and 4 otos. I have had them for 3 weeks now.

I actually put in small-size algae wafers, which get attacked by my harlequins and rams and crumbles into many pieces. I think the otos are scavenging for the leftovers because they are pretty chubby.


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

sharambil said:


> The key to purchasing healthy Otos is asking the person capturing the fish to catch the fastest moving fish. Never buy the sluggish, slow moving ones as they are usually sick. I have had a squad of 4 for around 1 year now and they have no signs of stopping. They steal algae wafers from my Amano shrimp all the time lol
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I am going to get 4 more and I will ask him to catch active fish.:thumbsup:

Bump:


Opare said:


> Yeah some tend to die when you first get them. Since your tank is large enough to take it I recommend you get a few more Otos. They are quite a social fish and look pretty cool and they prefer when you get them in larger groups. Even about 6 would be good.
> As for food, blanched spinach and zucchini tend to be what most people supplement their feeding with.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yes I am going to buy 4 more, thanks for your suggestion. do you think it will be over crowded for 29G to have 12 rummynose and 6 emperor tetra?


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

HannahFergusonFan said:


> I am going to get 4 more and I will ask him to catch active fish.:thumbsup:
> 
> Bump:
> 
> ...


Nope, that stocking sounds fine, I would probably get more Emperor Tetras as well TBH.
A good rough-guide on how your stocking levels look is to use AqAdvisor (just Google it). It's not perfect but will give you a rough idea on how stocked your tank is, and whether you have space for more fish.


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## sharambil (Nov 15, 2016)

I have 4 in my 10 gallon, and they are absolutely thriving because of the immense quantity of plant growth I have in there. I was appalled when my LFS said they don't eat anything, so one day, I came and placed some algae wafers in the tank for them to feed... with the permission of the store of course.


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## zuc (Mar 29, 2012)

Oh yes. That is also a major part of their diet IMO. My tank is very densely planted as well so there is always a source for algae from the lights. I tried the whole blanched vegetable thing but it's messy and most of the time they don't bother to eat it.


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## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

Otos will also eat biofilm, which can be encouraged by adding leaves such as Catappa/Indian Almond leaves. On a side note, does anybody know if they'll go after seaweed/Vacation gel blocks?


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Vacation blocks are harbingers of death. Just don't!


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## newportjon (Mar 22, 2011)

Nordic said:


> Vacation blocks are harbingers of death. Just don't!


Hahaha.


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## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

Nordic said:


> Vacation blocks are harbingers of death. Just don't!


The Tetra gel vacation blocks? My shrimp seem to like them...is it because they have too much protein in them?


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## maxhrbal (Mar 19, 2016)

Yeah, many ottos tend to die. IME and based on what others have said as well, if Otos are going to die, it will actually be several weeks after introduction, not usually within the first few days like other fish would. They eat biofilm and algae that you can't really see, not hair algae or beard algae or mossy algae or anything like that. 

Mine tend to prefer blanched zucchini over other veggies...spinach is messy when blanched but they did like that too, and even hung around on cucumber a bit. IME, if you go a while without feeding veggies, they forget what they are and it takes time to acclimate them back, just in my experience though...(I have plenty of algae)
They also like hikari algae wafers a lot, but my snails cover them too quickly haha! 

To put it simply...zucchini is my go to, they love it...my 3 champs that are my original otos have lost their appetite for anything except natural algae...good thing I have plenty of that!

I place the blanched zucchini at mid level around in the early/mid evening and remove it in the morning before it disintegrates and causes a cloudy mess, if it's blanched just right, it won't last much longer than 12 hours. Hope my experiences and thoughts help, I love otos. Don't be discouraged if half of them die within the next month, it's not your fault. (Probably....[emoji14] hehe jk) 


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## Hitaiwan666 (Nov 24, 2016)

I thought otos are sold quiet cheap at petsmarts.

Anyway, they seem to love cucumber and other similar type of vegetables. They also love algae wafers. Very pleasing to see them sucking on piece if cucumber. 


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

I've just seen and experienced tragic results in people leaving holiday blocks in tanks.
Sometimes the fish die faster than if they just were not fed at all.


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## maxhrbal (Mar 19, 2016)

Nordic said:


> I've just seen and experienced tragic results in people leaving holiday blocks in tanks.
> 
> Sometimes the fish die faster than if they just were not fed at all.




Can you elaborate just a tad more, like what kind of "tragic results?" Over feeding? Water quality? Elaborate please. Thanks. 


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

maxhrbal said:


> Yeah, many ottos tend to die. IME and based on what others have said as well, if Otos are going to die, it will actually be several weeks after introduction, not usually within the first few days like other fish would. They eat biofilm and algae that you can't really see, not hair algae or beard algae or mossy algae or anything like that.
> 
> Mine tend to prefer blanched zucchini over other veggies...spinach is messy when blanched but they did like that too, and even hung around on cucumber a bit. IME, if you go a while without feeding veggies, they forget what they are and it takes time to acclimate them back, just in my experience though...(I have plenty of algae)
> They also like hikari algae wafers a lot, but my snails cover them too quickly haha!
> ...


Very helpful thanks

Bump:


Hitaiwan666 said:


> I thought otos are sold quiet cheap at petsmarts.
> 
> Anyway, they seem to love cucumber and other similar type of vegetables. They also love algae wafers. Very pleasing to see them sucking on piece if cucumber.
> 
> ...


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

maxhrbal said:


> Can you elaborate just a tad more, like what kind of "tragic results?" Over feeding? Water quality? Elaborate please. Thanks.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Tragic as in people put vacation blocks in, go away for a weekend and everything is dead. SOme of the older ones used to make your water all milky and white.
To be fair I have not tested the gel food, but the whole idea seems suspect.


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## longgonedaddy (Dec 9, 2012)

Nordic said:


> Tragic as in people put vacation blocks in, go away for a weekend and everything is dead. SOme of the older ones used to make your water all milky and white.
> To be fair I have not tested the gel food, but the whole idea seems suspect.


This has been my experience with them. I'd much rather leave the fish go a few days without than subject them to what in the past has been certain catastrophe. I'd be willing to experiment with the gels, but when I was home to monitor the results.


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## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

Just for clarification: I use the gel blocks as the main food source for my shrimp, and pop one in whenever the last one disappears. I do observe my tank, and the shrimp seem to be doing fine. I'm just wondering if the otos will also go after the gel blocks, and if so, if I should stop due to the blocks mostly being made out of daphnia/aquatic protein.


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