armadillo

Good idea to drop it in in advance . Great that it works!!! Have you seen the otos on it? I think it's really funny. If you do, take a pic for us if you dont' mind, as I loooooove pictures of fish on cucumber for some dark, unknown reason.

Amnagrla

lol sure.. My otos haven't eaten the algae wafers at ALL so I've been giving them a cucumber like every 2-3 days. When I see them on it, I'll try and snag a picture.

What I REALLY want a picture of is when the three of them suck on the glass together in a triangle... their little fat bellies!!

vin

It sounds like they're doing well! Just be careful that they don't get addicted to the cucumber and fail to eat the algae that you originally bought them for! Little guys will be strung out on cucumber withdrawal!!

Amnagrla

hahaha true that.

armadillo

I've never really managed to take decent photos of them on the glass as my camera then focuses on a plant or something behind it, it's really annoying.

COBettaCouple

yea, you'll have to go to manual and focus on them that way.

armadillo

I don't even have a manual option. Mine is really a basic camera.

COBettaCouple

hmm.. yea.. that makes it pretty tough for sure. what about your phone?

chickadee

The general rule is that a tank of 5 gallons can support 2 Otos with no supplement unless it is super cleaned all the time. Now they may need a little veggie once in a while or a half wafer once a week or so, but if you put more than that ratio in a tank you definitely have to feed them as the tank will not support them. (one oto for every 2.5 to 3 gallons) I just got 4 for one of my 12 gallon tanks and they are having a hard time keeping it caught up but they are doing it. I have 5 in my 25 gallon tank and my goodness are they ever chubby but they do not need supplements. (all my fish get vitamins but I mean wafers)

The best time to take pictures of an oto is when they are eating. It is about the only time they are still enough.

Rose

armadillo

hi hi hi, I still have that ancient Nokia one that doesn't even have the speaker option, nevermind a camera ; ). Ah well. It's OK, I take pictures when they're on leaves and stuff.

Amnagrla

thanks chicadee!

BettaBuddy ~ Miley

My oto has a similar problem - he hasnt found or eati his wafer. ...... oscar seems to like it

O_o

but Dennis Bubbles wont eat it and hasnt found it. for those of you who dont know oscar is a crowntail betta and dennis bubbles is an oto and they share a 4 gallon tank.

Miley

COBettaCouple

don't let Oscar eat them, they can really cause constipation.. if Oscar is taking to DB's algae wafers, you'll have to try other food i think, like the fresh veggies. We had 3 of our Bettas get constipated bad off of eating them.

BettaBuddy ~ Miley

omg! ok...... can they just survive on the occasionall fresh veggies and tank algea?? Miley

armadillo

I would say otos need a regular food source. If you notice that your tank is clean of algae (which it will be very quickly as they're quite efficient), I'd pretty much always have some veggies for them to munch on (don't forget to remove older veggie that's been in the tank for, say, 24h). It's important to vary their diet somewhat, so here's some options for them:

- flesh veggies like cucumber and zucchini (don't forget to remove the seeds off the zucchini as they won't eat them and they'll end up everywhere in the tank, causing a huuuge mess)
- spinach (just tried for the first time yesterday and the otos seem to love it)
- peas (never tried on my otos yet, but I hear it works from a recent post on the subject). Good news is that the betta can eat the peas too. Do be very conservative with the portions, though. I'm talking one pea max, with the flesh mashed in little pieces, and the skin removed (and in the bin, not hte tank). I'd drop the pea in a bowl at the bottom of your tank so that if they don't find it, it's not a mess. Also, they're pretty smart and will end up always checking the bowl for food after a while.
- I sometimes push protein pellets in fleshy vegetables, as otos need some amount of protein once in a while, although not much
- They love algae sheets. You can get them from your fish store (at least we can). They're exactly like the nori that you'd eat with sushi, except that they're fish food.

That sort of variety should make sure your otos are nice and healthy.

Another piece of advice: You can use veggie clips for bigger flesh vegetables (I swear by them since I've started using them). I'd definitely cut generous slices of the flesh vegetables to increase the chance of them finding it. Oh, and of course don't forget to thoroughly rinse them before you put them in the tank. You never know with pesticides and stuff.

COBettaCouple

that's good advice and you can find out which veggies Oscar doesn't like too and feed those more often.. then you won't have Oscar overeating or stealing the Otos food. although he might try, just to be a stinker.

BettaBuddy ~ Miley

oh hes soooooo bad that way!!! hes the naughtiest little guy ever!! HeeHee!! LOL Miley

armadillo

You'll have to let us know how it goes.