# Feeding otocinclus



## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

I've given my otocinclus blanched zucchini, problem is they will only eat it if they accidently stumble upon it. And to do that I have to put it in my hygros, where it will fall down in a matter of minutes, unreachable to everyone.

So the other logical solution would be to clamp it to the glass. Problem is, I doubt they will ever accidently stumble upon it when its stuck to the glass.

So, my question is, are otocinclus actually able to reconize and search out food, or is it more of an accident?

And I'd love to hear what you feed your otos, and how to get them to eat.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

They will find their food source. Just let them be. I don't purposely feed them anything. Let them scavenge for themselves. The occasional treat is cool though, but most of my other fish devour it well before the Oto's even know its there.


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## Bugman (Jan 7, 2008)

I don't feed my otos anything special. They are fat and happy. Tanks are heavily planted so there is always algae somewhere to be found to eat.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

ditto to what they said. as long as their belly is round, they are finding enough algae in your tank to control.


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

They're bellies are pretty flat. There isn't much green algae in my tank.

They are eating the zucchini now. Only one at a time though, as they stumble upon it.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

It really depends on the whether you have sufficient algae or not in your tank to sustain them. I have one in my 5 gallon low tech planted hex tank and he has been in there for almost a year now, along with 2 amano shrimp and some snails(including a recently added Assassin Snail), I put a very small(1/4 inch or less) of blanched zucchini in the tank for extra insurance and remove it the next day to keep it from fouling the water. I have on occasion, not too often noticed the otocat feeding off the zucchini, but I have frequently seen the Amano Shrimp and snails feed off the zucchini too. The zucchini serves as food for the Amanos even if the otos do not eat it and it also serves as bait for the snails so I end up discarding some snails when I discard the zucchini thereby keeping the snail population in check. There is obviously no harm to the otocat as he has lived for almost a year since I got him.


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

My amano shrimp are a whole nother problem.

I have a half dozen or something, but they never come out. I've only seen one of them in the last month, and only at night. I can see signs of them though. Little shrimp poop all underneath my driftwood. Not sure what's up with them.

I have a bit of GSP, GDA, bba, and rhizo. Not sure if they eat any of that.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

How long have the Amanos been in the tank? IME they do tend to hide quite a bit until they're established enough to feel comfortable, and they do love DW. How many are in there? Adding a few more may help them feel more comfortable.

I'd definitely feed your Otos in a tank situation like yours. Keep in mind that Otos and Amanos will largely compete for the same foods, and the Amanos are going to win those competitions, so finding a food that your Otos like but the Amanos don't is a good thing.

If you get one of those food clips and keep it in the same area of the tank, your Otos will learn to go there for food when they're hungry.


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> How long have the Amanos been in the tank? IME they do tend to hide quite a bit until they're established enough to feel comfortable, and they do love DW. How many are in there? Adding a few more may help them feel more comfortable.
> 
> I'd definitely feed your Otos in a tank situation like yours. Keep in mind that Otos and Amanos will largely compete for the same foods, and the Amanos are going to win those competitions, so finding a food that your Otos like but the Amanos don't is a good thing.
> 
> If you get one of those food clips and keep it in the same area of the tank, your Otos will learn to go there for food when they're hungry.


Amanos have been there for 2 months.
There are 6 of them

The amanos seem to ignore the zucchini, so thats great I guess. Unless they start to learn.

I have a food clip but the otos seem scared of it. I guess after awhile they'll get used to it though.


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## rich815 (May 21, 2008)

If the Oto bellies are flat you probably should put something in there for them. I drop a couple/few Hikari Algae discs in from time to time. My BN plecos love them, as does my SAE and the Otos find them and munch them too but only if the plecos are not busy with them. For that reason I drop one or two near my two plecos. It's amazing how fast they can sense them and come to them. Then I go to the other side of the tank and drop one or two there. Mostly the Otos eat them at night.


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