# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Catfishes >  Question About Feeding My Oto

## Sudipto

I have a two-feet, 50 litres heavily planted tank here in Calcutta. I had 4 healthy otos in it and three black mollies. Very recently I found one oto missing. Followed by a black molly. Someone suggested that I feed my remaining 3 otos cucumber, as they are probably going without much food. My tank does not have any visible algae. And I have started using EI dosing in the last couple of weeks. Now even the little GSA is gone (otos don't touch it in any case). But my otos keep nibbling on the aquarium glass and the leaves of most plants. 

Yesterday I gave them a slice of unpeeled cucumber which they polished off during the light out period. I did not actually see them eat it but I found only the skin of the cucumber slice after about eight hours from lights off. Obviously the otos were hungry. Right now they seem at peace with the wall and resting on the glass. Normally they run here and there all the time. 

My question is - how often should I be feeding the cucumber to the oto. I have had bad luck with feeding my otos so far. I tried boiled cabbage, boiled spinach, boiled and mashed green pea and peeled slice of cucumber. They just don't touch all this. I found success when on the suggestion of someone experienced I gave them a slice of unpeeled cucumber. It worked like magic. I have friends who have tried feeding their otos algae wafers to very little success.

Any help on what and how frequently to feed the otos will be highly appreciated. I love my peace loving otos. I don't want to lose any one of them again.

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## Urban Aquaria

I keep zebra otos which tend to require more food than normal otos (due to their larger sizes) and i regularly feed them blanched zucchini slices as supplement food too. The amount to feed requires some trial and error, as it depends on various factors like the number of otos and the algae content in the tank. For a start just put a slice in everytime they finish eating. Once you start to see the slices not get eaten then it means they have had enough and you can feed them less frequently.

Its always best to have otos that maintain a round belly, if you see any of them start to get flat or sunken bellies, then it usually indicates lack of food, which means have to increase food supply.

Btw, otos do go for algae and sinking wafers too, just that sometimes it takes newly introduced otos abit more time to realize that its a food item. What you could do is just put an algae wafer in a small dish every night, the next day remove it if uneaten, and then repeat again the next night. Once they are used to algae wafer they will rush to it as soon as you drop one into the tank.

Here is an example of how i put a slice of zuchinni along with an algae wafer together in a suspended acrylic feeding dish for my otos:

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## Sudipto

Lovely tank and very nice looking fish (I wish we got zebra otos here in India). And thanks for the advice. Today I find they have eaten about half of what they did yesterday. So I guess I will be able to work out the quantity/frequency soon. While I will try the algae wafers, I am also going to grow some algae on separate pieces of small marbles.

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## Ryan Peh

> I keep zebra otos which tend to require more food than normal otos (due to their larger sizes) and i regularly feed them blanched zucchini slices as supplement food too. The amount to feed requires some trial and error, as it depends on various factors like the number of otos and the algae content in the tank. For a start just put a slice in everytime they finish eating. Once you start to see the slices not get eaten then it means they have had enough and you can feed them less frequently.
> 
> Its always best to have otos that maintain a round belly, if you see any of them start to get flat or sunken bellies, then it usually indicates lack of food, which means have to increase food supply.
> 
> Btw, otos do go for algae and sinking wafers too, just that sometimes it takes newly introduced otos abit more time to realize that its a food item. What you could do is just put an algae wafer in a small dish every night, the next day remove it if uneaten, and then repeat again the next night. Once they are used to algae wafer they will rush to it as soon as you drop one into the tank.
> 
> Here is an example of how i put a slice of zuchinni along with an algae wafer together in a suspended acrylic feeding dish for my otos:


Hey UA, I just bought 3 Otos last night and woke up with 1 dead this morning... My tank has cycled completely and I was running an air stone in my tank all night. My tank has mainly BBA which I know the Otos don't eat, but I think there's other stuff in there like some mold on the bogwood or other algae. 
But anyway my main question is, how long can you put a piece of zucchini or cucumber inside until it fouls the water?

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## Ryan Peh

Oh and am I the only one having problems trying to let the cucumber sink..? My cucumber keeps floating at the surface of the tank

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## Urban Aquaria

> But anyway my main question is, how long can you put a piece of zucchini or cucumber inside until it fouls the water?


I usually leave the slice of zuchinni in a tank for up to 48 hours (2 days)... usually its mostly eaten up after a day, especially if there is an active colony of shrimps and otos in the tank. 

After 2 days, any uneaten parts of the zuchinni will tend to become mushy and break apart, thats the time to manually remove the leftovers. If you see quite alot of leftovers still sitting in the tank after 2 days, its a sign to feed less.




> Oh and am I the only one having problems trying to let the cucumber sink..? My cucumber keeps floating at the surface of the tank


Its a good idea to blanch the zuchinni or cucumber slices (ie. soak them in boiling water briefly for a minute), let it cool, then add to the tank. The blanching process softens the vegetable matter and helps to saturate the slices with water so that they sink more easily. Even if the slice doesn't sink, just jam it under a rock or piece of wood, or use a plastic stick/fork to spear it into the substrate. Anyways even if you leave it floating, the slice will naturally sink after a day too.  :Very Happy:

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## Ryan Peh

Ohhhh I see. Guess I'll be boiling cucumbers from now on HAHA. 
But what do you guys do with the rest of the cucumber or zucchini? You can't keep it for long either right..? Cuz I'm not a fan of cucumbers nor zucchini so I'm not gonna eat the rest of it...

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## Urban Aquaria

What i do is slice them into medallions, blanch the slices in boiling water for a minute, cool in a bowl of cold water, dry them with paper towels, place the slices flat in a freezer bag, squeeze all air out, seal it and then put in the freezer.

Anytime need just get a slice out to thaw and feed. The extra slices can be kept frozen for a few months without issues.

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## gimhchng

Oh...i freeze it before blanch, and it's troublesome to blanch it when want to feed..now i know how to make it easier .Thanks !

Sent from my HM 1S using Tapatalk

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## Sudipto

> Oh and am I the only one having problems trying to let the cucumber sink..? My cucumber keeps floating at the surface of the tank


I had stuck it in the gap between the glass and the thermometer. I hadn't boiled it though. Only the skin was left behind. The next day I kept another one and they had eaten only half of it. I will try my luck with a piece of green papaya tonight. And next with a piece of papaya leaf.

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## Ryan Peh

Hey just another quick question.. What happens if I accidentally boil my cucumber for too long? Like... I kinda cooked it instead HAHAHA. 
Otos can eat cooked cucumbers?

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## Urban Aquaria

> Hey just another quick question.. What happens if I accidentally boil my cucumber for too long? Like... I kinda cooked it instead HAHAHA. 
> Otos can eat cooked cucumbers?


If you boil it too long it will just turn softer... otos will also eat cooked cucumbers, just that the overall nutrient content might be reduced and the slices will tend to turn mushy and break apart/decompose much faster in the aquarium.  :Grin:

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## Ryan Peh

Hey Guys!! 
One out of my 3 Otos isn't eating and his belly is getting skinnier and its already sunken.. My other 2 Otos ate the cucumber and have big round bellies. 

Any idea why just one particular oto isn't eating??? I'm really worried it'll die soon...

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## Urban Aquaria

If you see an oto exhibiting sunken stomach symptoms, but the other otos are still okay with round tummies... then most likely that particular oto is either ill or has some internal injury/infection so it can't eat or digest properly. It might already be sick or weakened from the LFS, so it may not be anything you did (since the other otos are okay).

There isn't much you can do except just to keep the water conditions stable and clean, hopefully it recovers on its own. Just have to keep an eye on it and get ready to remove it from the tank if it dies.

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## Ryan Peh

Huhhhh then that'd be the second oto of mine that died from AA....

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## tetrakid

> Ohhhh I see. Guess I'll be boiling cucumbers from now on HAHA. ...


You can also try freezing the sliced cucumber. After freezing overnight, take a slice of it and thaw it. Rinsing in tap water is best for thawing. The cucumber will be very much softened by the freezing/thawing process. Try it out to see if this method works for you.

But it is important not to let the cucumber slices dry out in the freezer. Thus they must be kept in a zip bag etc during freezing.

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