Big Belly otos??? Pregnant???

[Georgeer]

Saw one of the Otos having a very big belly in my tank recently. Looks like it is "pregnant". Any brothers (fish Doc) here can help to confirm??

http://sg.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/...mp;amp;.view=t

[img]http://sg.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/er_choonseng/vwp?.dir=/My+Tanks&.dnm=Big+Belly+Otos.jpg&.view=t
[/img]

[Nannostomuss]

anyway just wanna share my xperience with oto hehe.
Initially i was like you thinking one of them which has a big tummy was pregnant then.Well!! after a few days later i cant see that particular big tummy oto,haha...just what i saw it laying motionless on a gravel.Tummy bursted!!!! [:] Pathetic a horrible death

[anaconda]

Speaking of Otos, if there isnt enough algae in the tank what can I feed the Otos with?

They dont seem to take algae wafers

[theodore]

If they are not taking algae wafers then they are probably getting enough food in your tank - the young diatoms they eat is rarely visible to our naked eyes. Hungry otos will eat anything, incl. flakes and frozen bloodworms.

[benetay]

Otocinclus very basic diet is soft algae( green or Brown ) Some otocinclus die not of any other reason but in the lack of soft algae. Their suction mouth ain't strong enough to rip out hard looking algae just like green spotted ones on our glass.

Otocinclus are actually very choosy feeders, have tried JBL tab for pleco and bottom feeders, none of my otocinclus , parotocinclus etc, will touch them . Tried Sera Nip, sprilina(spelling) and two other tabs for bottom fishes. They don't seem to consume as readily as their favourite soft algae.

What i did to keep my otocinclus alive as i've a school of them inside my tank is to actually cultivate soft green algae in plastic tubs floating in the tank. Once in a while i'll remove the lid and let the tub sink to the bottom. Usually a totally green and brown covered tub will be clean(except for spotted ones) in a day or most two.

A happy oto has a big belly which means food is abundance and nothing to worry about.

I've send quite a number of otocinclus up to heaven due to the lack of knowledge that their appetide is superb!

Currently with 9 zebra otocinclus in my tank i have to feed them regularly in order to keep them alive. One important note is water parameters to be right(which most of us can do) and feed them with enough food.

So with a big bellied otocinclus i'll say your otocinclus are a healthy and nothing to worry. They love high oxygenated tanks though they can still breath through atmospheric air when O2 is low.

My 2cents worth.