[amphirion]

purchased 4 today....shooting myself in the foot for not buying more...
very cute buggers with strong contrasting coloration. in most photos i've seen, they were brown, but mine seem to show almost black and white.

i hope im doing it right. they dont look emaciated so im trying to use whatever precious time i have left to figure out their eating habits. trying frozen peas, but it seems because of their small size that the peas are difficult to locate. wish me luck.

 

[orchidman]

Cute!! Have you tried zucchini? My typical otos loved zucchini and yellow squash!

 

[amphirion]

i guess i will be buying some zucchini and yellow squash tomorrow!

i know there are a few others who have purchased this fish on this forum, any thoughts? i know that acclimation rates are dismal, most dying within a month or two--any help is appreciated.

 

[Jeffww]

NLS algae wafers have always been a hit with my otos. Although they aren't paraotocinclus...

 

[Bluek24a4]

Those are awesome! Where did you get those and how much are they each?

 

[amphirion]

i've tried utilizing algae wafers right off the bat--at the time, the fish were in a bag and looking slightly pale, which could explain why they might have ignored it. i will try again tomorrow.

got them online off aquabid. 9 bucks a piece + shipping.

 

[Jeffww]

That's a really good deal for cats like that. Paraotocinclus locally are around 12-16 a piece depending on what they look like. The nice green ones are crazy expensive. Something like yours would probably be even more lol.

 

[amphirion]

well, if you threw in shipping, it's not really that great of a deal--i used overnight shipping which put each fish at $17.75 a piece. at least there was no tax!

 

[james0816]

I'm looking to add a few more to my clan as well. Definately an awesome little guy. And by little...I do mean little. I wound up losing two of them as they swam into the outlet of a powerhead that was turned off and got stuck. Found them too late. I had no issues with acclimation as I took forever to do it.

Anyway, nice current is pretty much required for well oxygenated water. They will eat zucchini. Definately try to grow algae on rocks and replace frequently. I'm actually trying to get algae in the tank to grow believe it or not. Just not having much luck with it. I feed a combo of Veggie and Spirunela flakes from Kens Fish as well as in a powder form to coat surfaces of plants and driftwood.

I keep them with Nannoptopoma sp. 'Peru' (recently reclassified to a new name now). Another great little fishie if you can get them too.

My only regret was like yours....I didn't get enough of them the first time.

 

[Yuri]

Nice fish! Ive never seen them before. I have kept Parotocinclus sp. “Peru” tho which are brown.... Are they species you are comparing them to?

I had no luck at all with them. I bought 3, and 1 was dead when I arrived home, another died a day after that and the third lived for a month before it died as well.

My water was good, and the tank was mature and it in a heavily planted tank.

I also tried to feed them frozen blood worms as I read that they're possibly omnivore.

If I were to get them again, i would keep them in a species tank.

Good luck and please keep us informed on experience with them.

Thanks,

Yuri

 

[james1542]

I was scouring the internet, and saw a suggestion that they love freeze dried tubifex worm cubes. Don't assume they have the same dietary needs as ottos. They may be wood suckers... I've heard these are very hard to keep alive for long.

 

[amphirion]

@yuri: i believe both cf. britskii, "peru" and "bumblebee" are the same fish.

update, well, that didnt take to long. found my first dead one--the apparent death looked as if by pinning/suffocation-looked like it got caught in some dense anubias leaves and roots and tangled itself to death. and it tangled itself up pretty well too, even i cant get it out--i guess the snails are going to eat very well today. others are looking good though.

 

[james0816]

@yuri: i believe both cf. britskii, "peru" and "bumblebee" are the same fish.

Correct.

Rocks are another notorious spot for them. Basically any type of small opening, they will be able to get at. You're scaping will have to be planned out very carefully before introducing these guys.

 

[laqu]

i had mine for about a month now, 3 of 4 doing well (no idea why #4 died) they love alge can't get them to eat anything else.

they are not the hardest workers in the world, but so cute who cares.

what did you find they like to eat?

who on aquabid had them?

 

[james0816]

what did you find they like to eat?

who on aquabid had them?

I feed them just as if I would an Oto. Nothing special.

MsJinkzd carries them as well.

 

[HD Blazingwolf]

they eat bio film JUST FINE, a few decaying plant leaves will bring small crustaceans to the tank and the otto's will snack em up. don't worry, decent lighting and good feeding habbits to ur other fish will provide them everything they need
i haven't fed my ottos in a year

 

[laqu]

I feed them just as if I would an Oto. Nothing special.

MsJinkzd carries them as well.

she's out... i want more... :icon_sad:

soooo cute