Algae wafers

[stacic8679]

I bought an otto last night and the lady at the LFS told me I needed to get algae wafers. I bought some but I have some brown algae in my tank, not a ton but you can see it on the glass and on the skull head. Do I need to use these wafers also or will that just be overfeeding him?

 

[misterking]

You still need to feed him the wafers. If not, the otto will quickly run out of algae to eat in the tank and starve, they're surprisingly quick at getting rid of algae.

 

[stacic8679]

How many should I give him? They are little things. Just once a day like the other fish?

 

[unwritten law]

Mine don't bother with the waffers... if you can see the algae... I figure so can he.

 

[MissFishy]

Ottos are pretty finicky and starve quickly. I would see if he starts eating away at your algae, if not, add a 1/2 wafer in and see if he'll eat it. Ottos like to be in groups too.

 

[big54bob]

Ottos are pretty finicky and starve quickly. I would see if he starts eating away at your algae, if not, add a 1/2 wafer in and see if he'll eat it. Ottos like to be in groups too.

Also ottos like veggies, feed him a mixture of beens, cucumber, zuchini, and lettuce.

 

[OrangeCones]

I bought an otto last night and the lady at the LFS told me I needed to get algae wafers. I bought some but I have some brown algae in my tank, not a ton but you can see it on the glass and on the skull head. Do I need to use these wafers also or will that just be overfeeding him?

Otocinclus prefer to be kept in groups instead of alone. I have 10 Otos (5 in two seperate aquariums) and have never fed them. I've offered them algae wafers and veggies, but they ignored them, preferring instead to eat algae they found or the slime that algae lives on. They find enough algae keeping the plants clean.

The best way to tell if they are finding enough food is to observe their stomach size. If they are on the aquarium glass, you can easily see if they are thin or well fed. I check them daily, and so far, so good.