Otocinclus Went Nuts?

Title says it all. It is 3 AM right now (Friday benefits)and I fed my corydoras raw shrimp from walmart as usual. My oto has been eating veggies for days now and he has been gaining weight. Today something weird happened tho. I was watching the tank and I think he accidentally suctioned in a piece of shrimp while he was rasping at one guava leaf. Once that happened he went into this weird extasis mode (best way I can describe it) and started eating all the shrimp he could. When my corydoras went to get their share it looked as if the otocinclus lashed out of the ones that got close to his shrimp. I honestly feel like I just made a massive scientific breaktrough that just skyrocketed me to Ian Fuller level (I guess I also entered extasis mode lol) as I have never heard about stuff like this. Please don't tell me this has happened before. I managed to record a decent video of it but I don't have time to cut the audio out and put some classical music.


I read about them eating brine shrimp/daphnia and eggs ocasionally but this just looked to me like they accidentally sucked them in. I also read this story on a forum about an otocinclus eating a slice of salmon, bloating and dying. I find it hard to believe that it died and if I wake up tomorrow and see my oto belly up this will be literally the most epic fail thread I could ever possibly imagine.

SOOOO. Has anyone seen this before? Maybe otocinclus are really omnivores? Maybe this is just the product of a deep identity crisis in which my otocinclus thinks he is a corydoras pygmaeus? When will Tropical Fishkeeping Magazine write an article on this LOL.

 

My Oto's are partial to bloodworm as well as other frozen food that's put in for the corys, they also love the corys pellets & wafers which are not veggie so from my experience with them I'd say they're not strictly vegetarian/algae eaters.

 

Like Coradee and I have stated in earlier threads they definitely are omnivores.
In fact like almost all so called "algae-eaters" btw

 

I saw one eating a fallen comrade at the lfs. From the looks of it, it's been rasping on it quite a while too.

 

I saw one eating a fallen comrade at the lfs. From the looks of it, it's been rasping on it quite a while too.

yeahhhh proteinnnnn !!!

 

So I guess I did not make a major scientific breaktrough? LOL.
I was definitely amazed when I saw him enter the extasis mode and attack all the shrimp, the internet is full of "strict herbivores", "dont feed too much protein", "that fish will die if you keep giving him protein" so I was pretty naive about the topic.
So, should I be worried about him eating too much shrimp and bloating? Can he even eat too much? It looked to me as if he knew how much to eat lol as he just spent 10-15 minutes eating shrimp and then just went back to his business. I'm still curious about the "lashing out" thing he did when the corydoras got close to him. Do you guys also experience that? Would you even considered "lashing out"?

The more I think about it the more it becomes obvious that they are omnivores, at least partially. Even if they mainly feed on algae in the wild I think it is impossible not to come across small crustaceans and worms between all the gunk and algae.

 

So I guess I did not make a major scientific breaktrough? LOL.
I was definitely amazed when I saw him enter the extasis mode and attack all the shrimp, the internet is full of "strict herbivores", "dont feed too much protein", "that fish will die if you keep giving him protein" so I was pretty naive about the topic.
So, should I be worried about him eating too much shrimp and bloating? Can he even eat too much? It looked to me as if he knew how much to eat lol as he just spent 10-15 minutes eating shrimp and then just went back to his business. I'm still curious about the "lashing out" thing he did when the corydoras got close to him. Do you guys also experience that? Would you even considered "lashing out"?

The more I think about it the more it becomes obvious that they are omnivores, at least partially. Even if they mainly feed on algae in the wild I think it is impossible not to come across small crustaceans and worms between all the gunk and algae.

Nope no article in a scientific magazine, no speech at the university, sorry hahahaha.

 

So I guess I did not make a major scientific breaktrough? LOL.
I was definitely amazed when I saw him enter the extasis mode and attack all the shrimp, the internet is full of "strict herbivores", "dont feed too much protein", "that fish will die if you keep giving him protein" so I was pretty naive about the topic.
So, should I be worried about him eating too much shrimp and bloating? Can he even eat too much? It looked to me as if he knew how much to eat lol as he just spent 10-15 minutes eating shrimp and then just went back to his business. I'm still curious about the "lashing out" thing he did when the corydoras got close to him. Do you guys also experience that? Would you even considered "lashing out"?

The more I think about it the more it becomes obvious that they are omnivores, at least partially. Even if they mainly feed on algae in the wild I think it is impossible not to come across small crustaceans and worms between all the gunk and algae.

Yes, too much meat can be a problem, causing fat around the organs that aren't found in wild specimens, or so I've read.

yeahhhh proteinnnnn !!!

Seeing this made me think, maybe this is how to get severely starved otocinclus back to full recovery--feed it protein rich or meaty foods.

 

Yes, too much meat can be a problem, causing fat around the organs that aren't found in wild specimens, or so I've read.

Seeing this made me think, maybe this is how to get severely starved otocinclus back to full recovery--feed it protein rich or meaty foods.

Story goes that bacteria in its intestials have died off cause of the malnourishment. But you could try.
Scatter some decapped brineshrimpeggs over the place / leaves.
Mine love those.