Otos not eating algae wafer?

I bought 2 oto's 2 days ago. One died over night. Yesterday I went and bought two... Total at the moment is 3. (for those of you that are math defficient)

I've been dropping in algae wafers... My mollies will pick at them.. but the otos seem to just munch on the walls and plants... should I be worried?

 

I wouldn't be worried...just as long as they're eating the algae and extra food on the bottom and sides they might not have noticed the wafers, you might have to train them to accept them

FISH

 

you might have to train them to accept them

FISH

hahaha yeah yeah, FISH yourself!

and train them.. how?

 

Some thoughts based on my experience with them:

They don't tend to find hte food you give them immediately (if they're anything like mine).

- They will have more of a chance if you feed them at night as they're slow to find the food, so then they won't have to compete with your day fish.
- I tend to give them really obvious stuff with a large surface area (like a thin slice of cucumber cut along the whole length of the cucumber, so you end up with a 10cm long and 4cm wide, thin slice of vegetable). It took them 2 days I think to understand that cucumber was edable, but they got there in the end. It's better to leave the cucumber in the water for the whole day first, then it's soft by nighttime. Be sure to remove the cucumber after a couple of days max, or you'll pollute your water.
- I also feed them sinking vegetable pellets as well as sinking protein pellets (i.e. not wafers), but way less (apparently, they still need some proteins). I don't see them eat it, but they're still alive and kicking (fingers crossed). I've kind of given up for now feeding them the large wafers as they don't always seem to find them.

 

not exactly train...more like help them find out it is food









never know when I might "fish" you...

 

never know when I might "fish" you...

hahahaha

Yeah, I have been using these... They sink to the bottom but disapate within like 2 hours or something like that, then I find all the crumbs in the corners in the morning.

There is plenty of algae for them to eat on the colliseum in the tank and the plants.. I just want them to realize that these are also for eating!!

 

the otos that we got seemed to go after algae on decor, etc first before going for the wafer piece we'd leave in there but we'd often see 1 or 2 of them sitting on the wafer nibbling away. they took a few days for us before getting the hang of things and then it was easy keeping their little bellies full.

 

You're lucky you've got algae. Our oto tank is tiny and they ate it up immediately.

 

I use similar algae flakes when I feed my otos them. I don't do it often though. I have 2 otos and drop in 1/2 to 3/4 of a flake every few days. it gets eaten fairly quickly now, but it took them a good week of me dropping it in, waiting a day and then vacuuming it out. They will catch on. I just try to put it in their favorite hang out spot (in my tank, directly on the bubble wall. they sit on that for hours...). Just make sure not to leave the pellet in there too long, as it can cause a nitrate spike.

 

yea, those wafers can wipe out a tank, especially one filled with distilled water but we don't leave them in more than 12 hrs max.

 

I put all sinking food (including algae wafer) in a high-sided plate (more like a bowl, I guess). That way, no debris everywhere. When am satisfied they won't eat anymore, I remove the bowl. My otos haven't been great at eating the algae wafers up. They just kind of suck on it for a bit, then move on. I've got lots of pix now of otos in a plate!

 

lol thanks. I've been doing the same thing. Dropping one in every few days. I've never seen them take to it, only the other fish!

 

hmmmm with all this talk of algae wafers for the otos, I'm wondering if I'm starving my otos? All they eat are the diatoms in my tank. I don't give them anything else, unless they like left over flake food that I feed the others, which I doubt. Is it alright for the otos to have a meal of only diatoms? They don't act like they are starving and have plenty of diatoms to eat. What do you think?

 

the algae wafers are meant as a diet supplement. if they are getting enough food without them, the don't need them, but if you aren't sure that they get enough to eat, you can drop a half of one in ever so often. just remember to take it out within 12 hrs.

 

Well if they can make a diet of diatoms.. then there are plenty for them to eat. Thanks for letting me know, I do have algae wafers left over from the bumblebee catfish that I can use if need be.

 

Maybe you could drop in a long slice of cucumber so that the large surface area is easy for them to find. You'd need to secure it so it's just another yummy surface for them. They like that in my tank. If you drop it at night, they'll get a better chance to get to it.

 

good idea.. some variety in their diet would be good I think.

 

What I've been doing is dropping in a slice (cut the long way) attached to some plant weights around like 3:00 in the afternoon. That way, it softens up by nighttime.. and ALL of my fish love it! It's usually completely gone by morning.

 

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.

 

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!!

 

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!!

 

hahaha true that.

 

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!!

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.

 

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!!

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.

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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.

 

thanks chicadee!

 

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



but Dennis Bubbles won't eat it and hasnt found it. for those of you who don't know oscar is a crowntail betta and dennis bubbles is an oto and they share a 4 gallon tank.

Miley

 

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. :-\

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

ok - I think I have any idea how to keep Oscar away - I will put it in the cave.... Miley

 

Maybe you could arrange the vegetables in such a way that the oto would eat the veggie between the glass and the veggie, somewhere the betta won't fit?

 

ya - oh I have a place .............. Miley

 

Good stuff.