New starving Ottos what to do?

I got 3 ottos and are in a 10 gal cycled quarantine tank but it’s so newly cycled it has no algae or anything and the ottos are so skinny from the store I feel bad I put a slice of boiled cucumber down but I don’t think they touched it any ideas?

 

It can take a while for them to notice cucumber/zucchini/etc. are food. It certainly took mine a couple of days. There are other things you can try too. I've had success, though limited, with Repashy Solient Green. Zucchini has been the most liked thing so far with mine, with cucumber coming in at a close second. Hopefully, it will just take time.
In a 10 gal, you won't get enough algae to grow for them to snack on without getting them to eat something else regularly as well. I have a 15 and they polished off any algae in mine overnight.

 

Could you remove some wood or decor from another tank and put it in the QT? That might have enough algae and biofilm on it to sustain them.

I would try algae wafers too but many peeps say ottos won't recognise them as food.

 

Ya I’ll transfer some decor with algae on it and keep trying different foods
Everything’s scraped clean from snails I guess I’ll try putting in multiple foods and see which ones are eaten

 

Ya I’ll transfer some decor with algae on it and keep trying different foods
Everything’s scraped clean from snails I guess I’ll try putting in multiple foods and see which ones are eaten

Any luck with prepared foods? So far mine have been in my quarantine tank for 5 days and haven’t been interested in zucchini, algae wafers or Repashy. They even will rest on the zucchini so they know it’s there! Lol

 

Any luck with prepared foods? So far mine have been in my quarantine tank for 5 days and haven’t been interested in zucchini, algae wafers or Repashy. They even will rest on the zucchini so they know it’s there! Lol

I don’t think there going for anything I keep trying but I’m not gonna get my hopes up for there survival because of this
I’m going to keep trying is what I mean

 

This is the reason I don't ever recommend ottos as algae eaters. Even very experienced fish owners sometimes have a hard time with them. I would only try them with a tank that has been up for at least a year. They are not known for eating prepared food. They are super finicky.

Good luck I hope you can find something for them that they will eat. They are such cutie pie fish. I really like them but they have not liked me so far.

 

I don’t think there going for anything I keep trying but I’m not gonna get my hopes up for there survival because of this
I’m going to keep trying is what I mean

Hopefully they figure out that it’s food you’re throwing in and it works out.

 

Update one of the ottos went on the cucumber for a few seconds idk where the other one is I haven’t seen him in awhile so I’m thinking he’s passed..

 

Crumble food so they can scavage it from leaves and decor.

Skinny otos might mean they have been starved in the past and their intestial fauna died allready (the reason of so many dead ones). If that's the case they don't have a chance.

 

I've found that my otos currently are super skittish (and were even more so when there were less than 3) so they'll only eat food at the moment if it's in a place where they feel secure, so I've been using tongs to place my veggies near their favourite hiding spots. I don't know if that helps.

I've had success with repashy, but only once it's disintegrated. It seems like they are not willing to eat it while it's whole but are very willing to eat it out of the substrate.

I don't know if that helps at all, but I hope it does!