griffin

for those of you with otos, have you noticed if they will eat plants? i don't mean like the whole thing, but when they rasp (like they are eating algae), has it caused damage to your live plants?

COBettaCouple

I've watched our otos clean a plant completely of algae with not a bit of damage to the plant.

griffin

hmm, i'm wondering if it takes a few times for anything to actually show up. i noticed that the areas where the otos like to stay have leaves that are more likely to get holes in them.

i thought it was a nutrient deficiency, but there doesn't seem to be one. maybe the combo of otos rasping and slight nutrient deficiency?

COBettaCouple

hmm.. i think you might have a rebel oto on your hands.. one of the otos that end up joining a biker gang and terrorizing guppies! :


it might be a nutrient defiency in the plants - perhaps something like 'Flourish' would help them?

griffin

lol - i certainly hope not! although one my my otos does shun the other two! do you know what is in flourish? i'm currently dosing with greg watson's. is fluorish just npk?

or do you think they might be eating plants to get vegetable matter?

COBettaCouple

Is the one that shuns the other 2 bigger or smaller than them? thinner or fatter?

I pulled this description of Flourish:
Flourish™ is a comprehensive plant supplement for the natural freshwater aquarium. It contains a rich assortment of important micro elements, trace elements and other nutrients. These include calcium, magnesium, iron and other important elements that have been shown to be beneficial to aquatic plants. For macro element (NPK) fertilization, use Flourish Nitrogen™, Flourish Phosphorus™ or Flourish Potassium™ as needed.

griffin

the one that usually likes to be by itself is the same size, but fatter (i think it's a female and the other two are male?)

i think using greg watson's should take care of all the things that flourish takes care of?

COBettaCouple

it does sound like the solitary one is a female. It's not real common in home tanks, but she might be ready to lay eggs.. just a longshot guess there.

I've not seen Greg Watson's products, so i'm not sure on those.

griffin

hmm, i can up the trace dosing and see what happens. greg watson's ferts are basically the most concentrated forms of the ferts, but they're a lot cheaper.

the loner does look like it's been getting fatter lately.

thanks for your help!

COBettaCouple

you're welcome and if you happen to see some little eggs in the future, let us know.. it's not real common for otos to breed in home tanks i believe.

griffin

will definately let you know - i'll be really excited if i get to see something that rare

armadillo

A very late response but yes, otos are AWFUL for plant eating (at least mine are)! They gnaw the edge of all my plants! I don't care, though, as that way, I know they eat enough. I don't want to continuously feed them algae wafers, so they live off a diet of cucumber and courgette at the moment, while I STILL wait for some algae to grow in their tank! :

griffin

hehe, i decided that i got tired of getting my plant leaves eaten through, so i moved them to a different tank (with a few plants and a lot of java moss). they seem to be doing well there.