Lampeye Killi Fry & Otocinclus

[beetea]

I have two unrelated questions:

1) My lamepeye killies (A. normani) spawn once in a while. Last time I had two fry which disappeared after a while... not sure if it was a lack of food or they were eaten by other fish. This time I have microworms so I think that should eliminate the food problem... I'm thinking of finding a small plastic container that I could just float in the tank and keeping the fry in there with plants until it got big enough... any thoughts/suggestions?

2) Any tips for feeding otos? I have plenty of algae on the glass right now but I am not sure if he eats that type of algae. He's in a tank with shrimp and the shrimp seem to swarm the algae wafers which seems to deter the oto from even checking it out.

[Jadenlea]

Otos can be tricky because depending on where they come from, they may not have learned to eat other food souces.

Zuchinni is high on the list of successful foods to eat. I get those long wood BBQ sticks that they sell in the supermarket for like 80cents per 100. Cut a slice of zuchinni.. not to thin or it will fall apart quickly. I nuke it for 20 secs on each side just to start the softening process though if you do nothing it will eventually soften in the water. Then I just stick the bbq stake though it and stab it into the substrate. Keep the zuchinni about 5 or 6 inches from the bottom and if you are lucky you will find your Otos will come sit on it and eat it up. Shrimp will eat some zuchinni too but they don't seem to swarm it like they do wafers or shrimp food.

I would leave it in overnight the first couple times because your otos if shy may not bother with it until the lights go out.

Good luck!!

[Jadenlea]

PS. If you do a search in this string there are like 100 strings about feeding otos and there is a couple where i posted pictures of my zuchinni on the stick.

[beetea]

Thanks! I've tried blanched zucchinis before but never actually saw the oto eat any of it. My CRS swarm the zucchini though. I'll try the stick method to see if it helps keep the shrimp off.

Another oto question: he seems to swim a bit frantically along the glass... and then pause and start munching on the algae... and then go back to swimming frantically again. Is this normal? Or is he not finding what he wants?

[CatB]

Originally Posted by beetea

Thanks! I've tried blanched zucchinis before but never actually saw the oto eat any of it. My CRS swarm the zucchini though. I'll try the stick method to see if it helps keep the shrimp off.

Another oto question: he seems to swim a bit frantically along the glass... and then pause and start munching on the algae... and then go back to swimming frantically again. Is this normal? Or is he not finding what he wants?

i'm pretty sure that's a normal oto thing, i always see otos do this...

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

I've never gotten my otos to eat any zuchini or peas, blanched and soft. In fact, I've never seen them eat anything I put in. They've been in there for a month, so they must be content eating algae (what little there is, anyways).