Going on all the good things I've heard about Otos, I bought two. Brought them home, got them set up in a 2.5 gal quarantine tank to keep an eye on them, then raced here to do some back-up research on them. Found they are a bit more maintenance than I had expected!
Not having any algae, I have:
- put in some anacharis, hogwort, dwarf water lettuce, and a small piece of driftwood with java moss so they can pick off anything they might eat
- added a much brighter light, an extra air-stone on top of the bubble-powered filter I have in the tank, and some extra plant nutrients, all to encourage algae growth for the babies
- dropped in a Hikari algae tablet, after breaking it into about 5 pieces so they might be able to find it easier
- added an overturned terra cotta pot for hiding places
I plan to:
- purchase at least one more oto ASAP
- keep the light on 16 hours a day
- add small amounts of fertilizer every other day
- do 20% water changes every other day, with an 80% change once a week.
- feed them one tablet (~1.5 cm dia.) every day
The two otos are around .8 of an inch long, maybe shorter, so they are very young, and one is obviously underweight, but they're very active, and nibbling on everything.
The only veggie I have on hand is frozen peas (easily blanched), would these be good for them?
Looking at people's designs of algae scrubbers, I've thought about roughing up some of the plastic canvas I have laying around and putting it near the light and over the airstone, to again encourage algae growth, but would this be over kill?
Is there anything else you guys would suggest I do for them?
I really appreciate any advice!
(might be able to get pictures up of their set-up, but don't count on it ^^; )
Not having any algae, I have:
- put in some anacharis, hogwort, dwarf water lettuce, and a small piece of driftwood with java moss so they can pick off anything they might eat
- added a much brighter light, an extra air-stone on top of the bubble-powered filter I have in the tank, and some extra plant nutrients, all to encourage algae growth for the babies
- dropped in a Hikari algae tablet, after breaking it into about 5 pieces so they might be able to find it easier
- added an overturned terra cotta pot for hiding places
I plan to:
- purchase at least one more oto ASAP
- keep the light on 16 hours a day
- add small amounts of fertilizer every other day
- do 20% water changes every other day, with an 80% change once a week.
- feed them one tablet (~1.5 cm dia.) every day
The two otos are around .8 of an inch long, maybe shorter, so they are very young, and one is obviously underweight, but they're very active, and nibbling on everything.
The only veggie I have on hand is frozen peas (easily blanched), would these be good for them?
Looking at people's designs of algae scrubbers, I've thought about roughing up some of the plastic canvas I have laying around and putting it near the light and over the airstone, to again encourage algae growth, but would this be over kill?
Is there anything else you guys would suggest I do for them?
I really appreciate any advice!
(might be able to get pictures up of their set-up, but don't count on it ^^; )