How to feed Otocinclus in a dwarf shrimp tank?

[branong]

I put them (3 of them) in a tank with only shrimps
but lately 2 died. i think they died because of hunger.

my tank only has fissidens and i do drop algae flakes down
for the shrimps and ottos. but they just wont feed.
i think my tank doesnt churn out enough algae for them.

what should i do about them? Is it the shrimps that are at
the bottom that are preventing them from reaching the
algae flakes?

thanks.

[Tony]

I feed my otto hikari algea wafers, they dissolve slower so the otto have a chance.

[branong]

ya, i feed hikari as well... but i admit my shrimps are much faster than the ottos in reaching there and finishing it...

[BlackHawk]

oh .. i have never feed them with anything as my tank is full of moss.
It might be eating whatever left from the shrimps and still doing well ...

[branong]

but it is strange. cause the ottos are very very thin..

in fact thinner than the time i bought them... so means something must be wrong....

either they cant get to eat the Hikari Algae Wafers or they dont like the food

[johannes]

can try feeding with cucumber or zucchini to kickstart their appetite..

my otos come rushing out once the algae wafer hit the bottom of the tank

[illumnae]

the otos you bought may have been stressed or infected with internal bacteria, hence explaining their refusal to eat. so far all my otos, be they normal or zebra otos, will hunt down hikari wafers from whereever i drop the wafers, even in a 422 tank, within minutes of the wafers dropping in. they love this stuff!

Perhaps when choosing the otos in the LFS, make sure the otos did not just arrive (try and get stock that's been in their tanks at least a week) and that the otos you choose are fat and active.

[branong]

sure.. thanks... by the way. what is zucchini?

[Binks]

Its a vegetable, a close cousin of the cucumber.

[branong]

i see.. i will try out later. thanks.

[yyylarry]

try using cucumber... i try it with success. normally i leave it in there for 2 days

i suspect i have 2 different species of oto in my tank. One will come rushing for cucumber while the other stare blankly at it.

take note,cucumber are kinda messy... you may want to remove the seeds in the middle first before putting it in.

[beetroot]

zuchinni is also known as courgette. resembles a cucumber, but not sure if they are related.... not a very cheap veg though. johannes' otos are quite "good life" (hokkien)... haha.

[branong]

is zuchinni those japanese cucumber?

if its not, can i use japanese cucumber?

thanks.

[beetroot]

zuchinni is not a cucumber. it is from squash family . not all supermarkets sell them.
maybe you can try using cucumber because bros here say they use cucumber too .