# Feeding Otos & Pygmy Corys



## Diana

Try other vegetables, keep rotating them. 
Raw: Cucumber, tender leaves like lettuce (not iceburg) and spinach.
Blanched or microwaved a very short time: Zucchini, other fairly tender things like firmer leaves or somewhat firmer things sliced very thinly. 
A bit more cooking: Broccoli stems. Slice long ways so the Otos can get to the tender middle. Green beans, slice the same way, and feed them the immature beans, too. 
Longer cooking: Harder vegetables like butternut squash, pumpkin, yams.
When you figure out what they like, push an algae wafer into it. Then, as the Otos graze on the vegetable they will also eat the algae wafer. 

Harder to tell if the Cories are eating, their mouth is almost hidden. 
I would keep on rotating sinking foods that are higher in protein, not algae wafers. Try some of the NLS products- they are in many different pellet sizes. 
Try shrimp pellets (Omega One). These are too large for the dwarf Cories to eat in one bite, so you may be able to watch them work on the pellets until they can handle them.


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## csong30

What's NLS stand for? I'll take a look at the pellets. How small so they have to be? Is 1mm still too big for pygmy cities? Thanks for all the tips btw.


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## abaker1961

My otos really like the sheets of dried seaweed. And yellow squash, like Diana describes in her post.


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## roostertech

Leave the zucchini in there. They might not be interested when it is fresh but once it is a bit more soften they'll chow down.


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## Manami

I have otos and they love to eat the Tetra Veggie algae wafers xtreme.


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## ichy

I feed my pygmies Big Al's premium catfish sticks. They literally will pile onto it and fed!


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## thedood

Ive been feeding my oto zucchini and cucumber and they eat it, especially when the lights are out. Ive been looking for seaweed sheets. How is it prepped? Not trying to hijack the thread, thought the op might find the info useful as well.


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## csong30

One of my otos did eat a bit of the cucumber, but became uninterested. I had to get it out because it was started getting mushy.

I would order from Big Al's, but they are from Canada, so I would shipping would cost a lot more to get it into the states???

Bump:


roostertech said:


> Leave the zucchini in there. They might not be interested when it is fresh but once it is a bit more soften they'll chow down.


I'll have to try it out. I only left it in there for about a full day. Only the bladder snails seemed to be interested in it. Got to remove 6 of them. They are such a pain to get rid of...


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## thegirlundertherainbow

*Otos and Pygmies*

I have a 20g long with otos/pygmies and RCS (well and nerites).. and in addition to algae wafers (the pygmies and nerites eat these and the otos do SOME)..
and veggies..
(mine won't touch frozen seaweed sheets for some reason)
I have recently started feeding Repashy Soilent Green and Shrimp Souffle and they go NUTS over it.
SO wish I had started feeding it sooner. It's powdered stuff you mix and it turns to gel then you let it harden.. and cut into cubes.. and then I keep mine in the freezer.
It's awesome. I think even my tiny pygmy fry eat it.. but they also get powdered New Life Spectrum fry starter and baby brine shrimp (preserved/refrigerated).


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## ichy

csong30 said:


> One of my otos did eat a bit of the cucumber, but became uninterested. I had to get it out because it was started getting mushy.
> 
> I would order from Big Al's, but they are from Canada, so I would shipping would cost a lot more to get it into the states???
> 
> Bump:
> 
> I'll have to try it out. I only left it in there for about a full day. Only the bladder snails seemed to be interested in it. Got to remove 6 of them. They are such a pain to get rid of...


Big Al's is not in Canada.


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## csong30

ichy said:


> Big Al's is not in Canada.


Oh, where are they located? I thought they were..


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## ichy

Big Al's
840 Aero Drive
Cheektowaga, NY, 14225


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## WaterLife

csong30 said:


> What's NLS stand for? I'll take a look at the pellets. How small so they have to be? Is 1mm still too big for pygmy cities? Thanks for all the tips btw.


NLS stands for New Life Spectrum. It's just a brand name, but they have the highest quality fish food.

For pellet size, definitely get .5mm, especially for dwarves/mini fish.
There is the "small fish community" formula. If you can, get the Thera A version in .5mm as it's a bit better since it has more garlic. Finicky fish is their best formula (has garlic and New Zealand green lipped/shelled mussles), but as far as I know doesn't come in .5mm, so I would stick with the .5mm Thera A.

Repashy gel is a good food as well.

Ken's fish, similar to Big Al's, also has some pretty good quality food for the price (not all, but some are). I would definitely recommend most of Ken's foods over cheap low quality fish foods typically found at Walmart and pet stores (most of Ken's food with probiotics are pretty good). Don't get the catfish sticks at Ken's, get the earthworm sticks (there is a mini sticks version) as those are a big hit with the fish (not the highest quality ingredients, but the fish like it). You would think with catfish in the name of the catfish stick food, that catfish would actually like it, but nope, I bought a pound of it and the fish just didn't like it. Now the earthworm sticks were readily eaten by the fish though.

For what it's worth though, many of my fish like the cheap Wardley catfish pellets found at Walmart. They turn to mush fairly quickly in the water, but the fish really like it even though it's a rather low quality fish food.


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## csong30

WaterLife said:


> NLS stands for New Life Spectrum. It's just a brand name, but they have the highest quality fish food.
> 
> For pellet size, definitely get .5mm, especially for dwarves/mini fish.
> There is the "small fish community" formula. If you can, get the Thera A version in .5mm as it's a bit better since it has more garlic. Finicky fish is their best formula (has garlic and New Zealand green lipped/shelled mussles), but as far as I know doesn't come in .5mm, so I would stick with the .5mm Thera A.
> 
> Repashy gel is a good food as well.
> 
> Ken's fish, similar to Big Al's, also has some pretty good quality food for the price (not all, but some are). I would definitely recommend most of Ken's foods over cheap low quality fish foods typically found at Walmart and pet stores (most of Ken's food with probiotics are pretty good). Don't get the catfish sticks at Ken's, get the earthworm sticks (there is a mini sticks version) as those are a big hit with the fish (not the highest quality ingredients, but the fish like it). You would think with catfish in the name of the catfish stick food, that catfish would actually like it, but nope, I bought a pound of it and the fish just didn't like it. Now the earthworm sticks were readily eaten by the fish though.
> 
> For what it's worth though, many of my fish like the cheap Wardley catfish pellets found at Walmart. They turn to mush fairly quickly in the water, but the fish really like it even though it's a rather low quality fish food.


I'll definitely be doing some online shopping tomorrow. Lol. Need to get some different varieties for them. Thanks!!


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## newbieshrimpkeeper

They love decapsulated brine shrimp eggs.


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## Nordic

I have stuck raw cucumber under a rock (the stuff floats like crazy), first day - nothing, second day - nothing, third day - a few nibbles visible, 4th day, its all gone.
I think they waited for it to get soft enough. It did not get messy at all.

I sometimes treat my corys with tiny pieces of banana, the other fish like it too. Not too nutritious but I think they like it.
Saw on a monster fish episode how this old lady was catching fish after fish with banana, while the pro anglers couldn't get a bite.

I love feeding artemia and brine shrimp eggs to my danio... they already love eating eggs that size .


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## csong30

Nordic said:


> I have stuck raw cucumber under a rock (the stuff floats like crazy), first day - nothing, second day - nothing, third day - a few nibbles visible, 4th day, its all gone.
> I think they waited for it to get soft enough. It did not get messy at all.
> 
> I sometimes treat my corys with tiny pieces of banana, the other fish like it too. Not too nutritious but I think they like it.
> Saw on a monster fish episode how this old lady was catching fish after fish with banana, while the pro anglers couldn't get a bite.
> 
> I love feeding artemia and brine shrimp eggs to my danio... they already love eating eggs that size .




I never heard of using banana. That's a first. Lol. 

I'll have to shop around. Glad I asked around because there isn't too much info floating around Google from what I've seen.


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## newbieshrimpkeeper

No offence, but banana breaks up to easily in water, so its best to feed SMALL amounts. A blanched and sheled pea is a better choice.


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## Nordic

That is why I said tiny bits... also most of my tanks are bare bottomed, so no food gets left behind. And the danios eat any small particles that may go into the water, just in case they are eggs.
Peas are friggen gross, only exceeded by cauliflower. I'd only feed it to constipated fish. My platies sometime fart bubbles... might work for them.


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## GrampsGrunge

newbieshrimpkeeper said:


> They love decapsulated brine shrimp eggs.


Brine Sprimp Direct..Shop Now Brine Shrimp Direct carries Golden Pearls granulated in many different sizes, and they also have good prices on decapsulated brine shrimp eggs.


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## csong30

Thanks for all the replies!! Got a small list going.


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## caique

I think some of the best food out there is,

almostnaturaltropicalfishfood.com

They have so many different pellets i use the earthworms,beefheart
and many others. I have over 100 cory's and they love the stuff also feed my plecos there food they love the Algae wafers.


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## newbieshrimpkeeper

Nordic said:


> That is why I said tiny bits... also most of my tanks are bare bottomed, so no food gets left behind. And the danios eat any small particles that may go into the water, just in case they are eggs.
> Peas are friggen gross, only exceeded by cauliflower. I'd only feed it to constipated fish. My platies sometime fart bubbles... might work for them.


Thanks for the info! I ll try banana next! And also I do agree about cauliflower-and brocolli-they are both gross.


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## csong30

So I grabbed a bag of micro pellets from hikari just to try out since I was at my LFS today. I added a small pinch for the Emerald Rasbora, but they didn't seem all that interested and didn't come out of their hiding spot. I'll probably try again later.

They did have NLS Thera A and Small Fish Community formulas, but all of those were 1mm pellets. Looked like that was the smallest they carried. Are you saying that the 1mm would still be too big for the Pygmy Cory? 



WaterLife said:


> NLS stands for New Life Spectrum. It's just a brand name, but they have the highest quality fish food.
> 
> For pellet size, definitely get .5mm, especially for dwarves/mini fish.
> There is the "small fish community" formula. If you can, get the Thera A version in .5mm as it's a bit better since it has more garlic. Finicky fish is their best formula (has garlic and New Zealand green lipped/shelled mussles), but as far as I know doesn't come in .5mm, so I would stick with the .5mm Thera A.
> 
> Repashy gel is a good food as well.
> 
> Ken's fish, similar to Big Al's, also has some pretty good quality food for the price (not all, but some are). I would definitely recommend most of Ken's foods over cheap low quality fish foods typically found at Walmart and pet stores (most of Ken's food with probiotics are pretty good). Don't get the catfish sticks at Ken's, get the earthworm sticks (there is a mini sticks version) as those are a big hit with the fish (not the highest quality ingredients, but the fish like it). You would think with catfish in the name of the catfish stick food, that catfish would actually like it, but nope, I bought a pound of it and the fish just didn't like it. Now the earthworm sticks were readily eaten by the fish though.
> 
> For what it's worth though, many of my fish like the cheap Wardley catfish pellets found at Walmart. They turn to mush fairly quickly in the water, but the fish really like it even though it's a rather low quality fish food.


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## WaterLife

I have 1mm NLS pellets as well as .5mm. Pygmy cories and other fish with too small of a mouth will still pick at the 1mm pellets, but I personally think the little fish enjoy .5mm because they can fit the whole chunk in their mouth and munch it up inside. Especially true for upper water column fish that don't touch food that hits the bottom, they would "need" food they can get (fit in their mouth) while it's in their water column "feeding zone". But yeah, if you only have bottom feeders, then the 1mm is still fine (most adult 1.5"+ fish can still fit the 1mm in their mouth, emerald rasboras are a bit smaller so I am not sure, guess you could try and crush the pellets to a smaller size?), the little guys will be able to pick at it.

With new foods, it's common for fish not to accept/take to new foods right away. It can take starving fish for a few days before they are hungry enough to try out a new food. The same might happen when trying NLS as well. Just give them some time to transition over to the new foods. So for the NLS, I would say try and get Finicky Fish formula, if not, get Thera A as those are the top two foods, but the rest of NLS is still top notch food.


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## csong30

Okay I'll order up some of the .5mm pellet sizes for both. Ya, I figured that's what it was since they weren't going for it right away. They seem to be the .5mm sizes and they float for a little while before they sink. I noticed its a little harder to feed the Emerald Rasboras since they don't look for food from the top nor the bottom. They want it floating to them in the middle.. it's a little weird.




WaterLife said:


> I have 1mm NLS pellets as well as .5mm. Pygmy cories and other fish with too small of a mouth will still pick at the 1mm pellets, but I personally think the little fish enjoy .5mm because they can fit the whole chunk in their mouth and munch it up inside. Especially true for upper water column fish that don't touch food that hits the bottom, they would "need" food they can get (fit in their mouth) while it's in their water column "feeding zone". But yeah, if you only have bottom feeders, then the 1mm is still fine (most adult 1.5"+ fish can still fit the 1mm in their mouth, emerald rasboras are a bit smaller so I am not sure, guess you could try and crush the pellets to a smaller size?), the little guys will be able to pick at it.
> 
> With new foods, it's common for fish not to accept/take to new foods right away. It can take starving fish for a few days before they are hungry enough to try out a new food. The same might happen when trying NLS as well. Just give them some time to transition over to the new foods. So for the NLS, I would say try and get Finicky Fish formula, if not, get Thera A as those are the top two foods, but the rest of NLS is still top notch food.


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## WaterLife

Yeah some fish are like that, only taking food from a certain area. Flakes might be a better choice for the emerald rasboras if the pellets still seem to "escape their reach" too quickly. NLS does make a flake food too (Optimum all purpose flake with garlic), still a high quality food, just doesn't have the added extra garlic like Thera A or mussels like the Finicky fish formula.

And yup, the .5mm are able to float (lighter weight so they have a harder time breaking the water surface to sink) which is a plus. Easy enough to get them to sink (just "throw" the pellets into the water, or place at a current).

Not sure where you normally shop from, but I usually buy from Kensfish as there is always great deals and Free shipping on $50 orders. I took a look and it seems the .5mm Thera A and regular community fish .5mm formula are both out of stock. There is the Finicky fish 1mm and NLS flakes available though. DrFosterSmith has the regular community .5mm available, but don't have the other's mentioned.

You could just feed the flakes to everyone if you wanted. Though I find pellets to be less messy (don't scatter everywhere) and easier for the bottom dwellers to get. But that's not too big of a deal.


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## Nordic

I like the Tetra prima granules, I can grind it between my fingers and make it as fine as I want.
It does not go all hair fungus over night. It can sit in the tank looking exactly like when you threw it in for days (I chuck some into buckets with floating plants as fertiliser).
They are very hard, but actually go soft quickly in the water, they just don't go mushy. When my corries find even a large piece, they simply suck on it till it is all gone, takes maybe 5 seconds.


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## touch of sky

csong30 said:


> Oh, where are they located? I thought they were..


Big Al's has stores in Canada and the U.S. and has websites for online shopping in both countries.


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## abaker1961

thedood said:


> Ive been feeding my oto zucchini and cucumber and they eat it, especially when the lights are out. Ive been looking for seaweed sheets. How is it prepped? Not trying to hijack the thread, thought the op might find the info useful as well.


The seaweed that I buy is pressed into very thin sheets. Our Petsmart has it in their frozen foods sections. I tear a sheet in half and clip it into one of those veggie clip things that suctions on the tank glass. Any uneaten seaweed starts to disintegrate after about 48 hours and ends up in the gravel.


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## csong30

Ya the micro pellets that I put in the tank is all gone now. Idk if the fish got to them or the pest snails. Lol. I still got a lot of flake food left and they like that, so once I run out I'll try out the NLS Optimum flake food. I went ahead and order a .5mm Thera A from Amazon. 



WaterLife said:


> Yeah some fish are like that, only taking food from a certain area. Flakes might be a better choice for the emerald rasboras if the pellets still seem to "escape their reach" too quickly. NLS does make a flake food too (Optimum all purpose flake with garlic), still a high quality food, just doesn't have the added extra garlic like Thera A or mussels like the Finicky fish formula.
> 
> And yup, the .5mm are able to float (lighter weight so they have a harder time breaking the water surface to sink) which is a plus. Easy enough to get them to sink (just "throw" the pellets into the water, or place at a current).
> 
> Not sure where you normally shop from, but I usually buy from Kensfish as there is always great deals and Free shipping on $50 orders. I took a look and it seems the .5mm Thera A and regular community fish .5mm formula are both out of stock. There is the Finicky fish 1mm and NLS flakes available though. DrFosterSmith has the regular community .5mm available, but don't have the other's mentioned.
> 
> You could just feed the flakes to everyone if you wanted. Though I find pellets to be less messy (don't scatter everywhere) and easier for the bottom dwellers to get. But that's not too big of a deal.


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## wmnash

About those pygmy cories: For months I've been curious if 11 _corydura pygmaeus_ I bought in September were getting enough to eat. I see them shoaling all of the time and was thinking, "Some of those cories aren't growing at all. Hmmm . . .." 

I set up a long 150 gallon tank last September. The substrate is #20 pool filter sand which is a natural tan/brown. I've been using this material for decades. The tank has one thick forest of _vallisneria asiatica_ at the 1/4 tank length mark and a variety of stuff such as dwarf hair grass, a spacious lawn of miniature chain sword, three different miniature lilies at one end, and an invasive bunch of what was supposed to be _cryptocoryne becketti_. It's the last plant, the cryptocoryne, that has led to an interesting discovery. There's a bunch of other stuff growing, too. But this particular cryptocoryne is the fastest growing and oddest color I've ever seen and it's messed with the visual balance of the vallisneria forest. It has reproduced and grown so large it's now a weed. And it's leaves are 12 to 14" tall. It was advertised to be a nice bronze color. Instead it has developed to be a deep chocolate brown. No green. No red. No bronze. Just dark chocolate brown. So, I was futzing about trying to decide how to groom it when I noticed substantially more _cordura pygmaeus_ than I originally purchased dashing about among its stalks.

As I stated, when I stocked the tank I put in a little herd of 11 cories. This is the first time I've kept this species and have been very pleased with how they shoal above the carpet plants several times a day. They just seem so happy. It's hard not to smile while watching them chase each other back and forth. However, it appears they are much happier than I ever suspected. Staring down through the stems of the crypts I counted at least 20 baby cories no bigger than half the size of my small fingernail. They are everywhere. I don't normally wear my bifocals except to read. That's a habit I need to change. Once I put on my glasses I could see the tank was overrun with the little critters. Even when doing the weekly water change I've never noticed them before, primarily because they are the exact same coloring as the substrate. I foresee having to do a fish haul out of that tank and pay a visit to the LFS where I purchased them. They've been complaining that their usual supplier has not been able to provide any. 

And all this time I've been suspicious if the little guys were getting enough to eat. All they've been surviving on has been Tetra Min Color UP Flakes that the shoals of Lambchop Rasboras, Black Neon Tetras and Chili Rasboras have missed at feeding time. I feed brine shrimp twice a week, but often have to vacuum up leftover artemia because the cories don't really seem to eat it. 

It's just odd. :-/


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## 0xDEADBEEF

My otos are very fond of Hikari Mini Algae Wafers, but it took them a while after I brought them from the store to figure out they were food. Now they have nice round bellies.


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## abaker1961

wmnash said:


> About those pygmy cories: For months I've been curious if 11 _corydura pygmaeus_ I bought in September were getting enough to eat. I see them shoaling all of the time and was thinking, "Some of those cories aren't growing at all. Hmmm . . .."
> 
> I set up a long 150 gallon tank last September. The substrate is #20 pool filter sand which is a natural tan/brown. I've been using this material for decades. The tank has one thick forest of _vallisneria asiatica_ at the 1/4 tank length mark and a variety of stuff such as dwarf hair grass, a spacious lawn of miniature chain sword, three different miniature lilies at one end, and an invasive bunch of what was supposed to be _cryptocoryne becketti_. It's the last plant, the cryptocoryne, that has led to an interesting discovery. There's a bunch of other stuff growing, too. But this particular cryptocoryne is the fastest growing and oddest color I've ever seen and it's messed with the visual balance of the vallisneria forest. It has reproduced and grown so large it's now a weed. And it's leaves are 12 to 14" tall. It was advertised to be a nice bronze color. Instead it has developed to be a deep chocolate brown. No green. No red. No bronze. Just dark chocolate brown. So, I was futzing about trying to decide how to groom it when I noticed substantially more _cordura pygmaeus_ than I originally purchased dashing about among its stalks.
> 
> As I stated, when I stocked the tank I put in a little herd of 11 cories. This is the first time I've kept this species and have been very pleased with how they shoal above the carpet plants several times a day. They just seem so happy. It's hard not to smile while watching them chase each other back and forth. However, it appears they are much happier than I ever suspected. Staring down through the stems of the crypts I counted at least 20 baby cories no bigger than half the size of my small fingernail. They are everywhere. I don't normally wear my bifocals except to read. That's a habit I need to change. Once I put on my glasses I could see the tank was overrun with the little critters. Even when doing the weekly water change I've never noticed them before, primarily because they are the exact same coloring as the substrate. I foresee having to do a fish haul out of that tank and pay a visit to the LFS where I purchased them. They've been complaining that their usual supplier has not been able to provide any.
> 
> And all this time I've been suspicious if the little guys were getting enough to eat. All they've been surviving on has been Tetra Min Color UP Flakes that the shoals of Lambchop Rasboras, Black Neon Tetras and Chili Rasboras have missed at feeding time. I feed brine shrimp twice a week, but often have to vacuum up leftover artemia because the cories don't really seem to eat it.
> 
> It's just odd. :-/


Congratulations on the cory babies!


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## quiquik

Would like to see pic's of your tank.


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## djrichie

Big Al's is online and shipping cost are fair, maybe I miss understood, your in Canada? I find my ottos will eat any algae wafers,they eat algae that is why you have them in your tank right, as a natural cleaning crew.


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