Alessa

Ok.. I just got four beautiful otos and I got them hikari algae wafers...

now the only ones not eating the wafers are the otos, the guppies and the platies are obsessed with them :O

what do I do? maybe its because the wafers are monopolized by the others that my otos arent eating them suggestions?

mlinden84

Have you tried putting them in at night after you turn the lights out?

Alessa

no, i just got them today.. should i wait until the lights are out?

mlinden84

That's when I usually feed them, so the rest of the little piggies don't eat all the wafers. Plus, I've noticed that the otos can be a little shy, they feel more comfortable when the lights are off. (at least that is my experience)

Alessa

ok, i waited until it was dark and nothing, i cleanef the tank and again today i added another wafer and this is pretty much the attitude :

put the wafer on a rock near their favorite hang out spot:

oto => picking on the nerby rocks, gettinng closer to the wafer, getting closer... oto jums over the wafer and continues picking on the nerby rocks as if nothing happened.

they seem to be ignoring them! is there anything i can do? i dont want them to starve!

mlinden84

I would just put a wafer in every few days or so, if he is hungry, he'll eat it. You can also try cucumber and other veggies. I have 1 lone oto in my tank (somehow he managed to live through a heater malfunction when everything else in the tank didnt) and he seems to find enough to eat.
Can you tell if his belly looks sunken in or is it full?

Shaina

For whatever reason, mine were not interested in wafers either.

However, the four of them will eat an entire slice of cucumber, barring the seeds and the skin, in 24 hours.

You can see the skin that was left when I woke up in the morning...the slice had started wedged against the side by that piece of slate:

Alessa

I cant really tell, i believe it isnt sunken but they arent full either... they look so little and fragile! and they are so shy that the tought of them not eating makes me so worried!

I will just leave the wafers in for a day to see what happens and if they dont eat it, i will add cucumber.

do you guys have experience with the other "algae food?" or the chalk things? I have seen:

Algae flakes (like the regular fish flakes but green)
Algae sheets (like the thing people use for the sushi rolls)
and the infamous chalk things...

any advice in which to buy next?

Thanks,

TFA101

I would try the cucumber idea if you haven't already. Any progress?

Alessa

ok... added the cucumber... I'll see tomorrow and tell you guys if they ate it.

any recomendations for the other food? (the one I mentioned above?)

thanks!

TFA101

try the sinking green flakes. they work for most suckermouth algae eaters