My little soldiers

Dan Steveo

Large Fish
Apr 1, 2006
707
0
0
32
South England UK
#1
Hey all

Just bought 4 ottos from the LFS and i can't believe how cool they are.. i call them My Little Soldiers because they're always together and they sort of 'form up' on the glass, all in line and everything ...

so cool.

I know thy're good with brown algae but if they eat it all, will they just eat normal food that i feed the plecs?

Thanks.

Dan
 

lauraf

Superstar Fish
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#2
No, if your tank runs out of algae you'll need to supplement special food for them - either grow your own algae like OC does, or plan to feed veggies . . . .
When I had a team of otos, I called them my Molly Maids - they were running around cleaning up the tank!
 

nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#5
depends on what you are feeding your plecos

are you feeding blanched zuccini? if so they may like that

sometimes i make a "bed of spinach" then strap the zucchini down on top of it for my plecos

remember that the phantoms need veggies and protein rich sinkers

i buy xl sinking cichlid pellets for my plecos that need meat they are huge and i have found that the worse they smell the more the fish seem to like them my cats also love them but they are not intentionally given to the kitties (sometimes they jail break the Tupperware and steal fish food)

you have a door-wall across the room from your tank so just leave the blinds open and i bet you keep enough algae :)
 

Dan Steveo

Large Fish
Apr 1, 2006
707
0
0
32
South England UK
#6
Yeah i was thinking about the blinds, algae is in no short supply right now, but at the rate they demolished some last night, might be soon... I see they like some of the bloodworms i had in there yesterday, at least it looked like they were eating them, And i have some sinking pellets that are rich in bogwood that my pleco's adore, i'm gunna buy some hikari wafers too, i had them in my previous tank they were amazing.. That gives them some variety..
I'm gunna try some cucumber/zuchini soon so i'll see how that goes.. In fact i'm gunna watch them tonight and see if they eat the wafers i put in..
 

nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#7
oh i thought i sent you the link for fish food! they have the pellets you mentioned too ;)

Fish Food - Your Fish Flakes - Your Fish Stuff Store

Fish Food - HBH Pellets - Your Fish Stuff Store

mine like the super cichlid sinkers a lot and the flake is the highest quality flake i have ever used :)

fish meal, soy flour, krill meal, shrimp meal, wheat starch, fish oil, squid meal, wheat germ, spirulina algae, carrot powder, beet powder, red pepper powder, brewers dried yeast, wheat gluten, soy lecithin, glycerin, astaxanthin and Vitamins and Minerals added.

are the ingredients for the sinkers as you can see no ash :)

45% Protein
12% Fat
4% Fiber
10% Moisture

6.50 a lb on the sinkers is sooo super cheap figure you get about a quarter pound of high quality fish food for 15 dollars at an lfs (hey know what is different here? i can use my numbers and punctuation!!! yay!!!!! 1.3,5. now im just showing off sticky key virus sucks!)

pound of the tropical flake is 9.55

Salmon Fish Meal, Oat, Wheat Flours, Gluten, & Soy-Meal Flours, Brewers Yeast,
Shrimp, Plankton & Krill Powder Mix. Kelp Meal, Frozen or Dried Brine-Shrimp.
Fish Oil, Lecithin, Dried Spirulina, Vitamin Supplements: A, D-3, B1, B-12,
Choline HCL, Biotin, Double Stabilized Vitamin “C”, Methionine, No Preservatives, Some Coloring

45% Protein
4.1% Fat
4.2% Fiber
8.2% Moisture

a pound is more then will fit in a 2qt ziplock it would cost you close to fifty dollars to buy that much at the fish store of high end flake :)
 

Last edited:

nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#9
yeah i think so, check the link i sent you. It has the UK listed in delivery options but i didn't have a state/zip to do the shipping thing.

If you order i would bit the bullet and order 5lbs of flake then throw the excess in the freezer the pellets are awesome, I mix the flake like this;

2 parts veggie flake, 2 parts color enhancer flake, 1 part mixed tropical because i like a higher concentration of color and veggie. Did I mention it makes fantastic kitty treats? lol
 

nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#11
well thats for cichlids and plecos your stock is slightly different i think i would suggest tropical mixed with veggie and the sinkers skip the color enhancer

do they ship to the uk? honestly the food is top notch you wont be disappointed (i would be willing to put my money where my mouth is on this the food is really good and the price cant be beat)

how did your fish do with the veggies btw? i do potato and zucchini with some other random veggies mixed in my tanks can blow through two to three zucchini a week and its cold here so zucchini is pricey in the winter hence my mixing in of the taters if zucchini was always in season i would only do that