# Otocinclus



## CebakaLaika (Feb 27, 2013)

I’m planning to get a small school of otocinclus and I’d like to quarantine them before adding the to my main tank. I’m wondering what people do for quarantine tanks. I have a spare 10gal tank with a HOB filter. I can use some filter media from my canister to cycle the tank and I’m planning a bare bottom tank. What do I feed the new otocinclus since there will be no algae in the quarantime tank? How long should the new fish spend in quarantine? I’m interested in hearing what others have done. Thanks.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

You can cycle the tank immediately by using media from your canister. You can blanch or microwave squash & zucchini to feed them. You can feed them Repashi Soylent Green as well. Keeping them well fed will be hard in a larger tank.


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## CebakaLaika (Feb 27, 2013)

mistergreen said:


> You can cycle the tank immediately by using media from your canister. You can blanch or microwave squash & zucchini to feed them. You can feed them Repashi Soylent Green as well. Keeping them well fed will be hard in a larger tank.


My big tank has abundant algae and the resident otos have been there for 3 or 4 years. Thanks for the tip on the zucchini.


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## PlantFan (Jun 19, 2021)

Angelfish getting out of the hospistal tank after suffering from Hexamita



CebakaLaika said:


> I’m planning to get a small school of otocinclus and I’d like to quarantine them before adding the to my main tank. I’m wondering what people do for quarantine tanks. I have a spare 10gal tank with a HOB filter. I can use some filter media from my canister to cycle the tank and I’m planning a bare bottom tank. What do I feed the new otocinclus since there will be no algae in the quarantime tank? How long should the new fish spend in quarantine? I’m interested in hearing what others have done. Thanks.


I wanted to have a school of Otocinclus. I added four of them to my newly stocked main tank in March and three of them died. That always happens when I buy Otocinclus. I have seen threads explaining why they die. It's not always the hobbiest's fault. It has to do with how they're caught and transported. The next time I buy Otocinclus I'm going to buy more of them than I need to account for their mortality. So now I have one healthy unhappy lonely Otocinclus looking for some company. I have a ten gallon tank set up like you have. I have been thinking about the same thing. How am I going to quarantine some more Otocinclus?

Well, I have the filter in the quarantine tank cycled. At least I think it's cycled. I will have to test for Ammonia and Nitrite to be sure it's still cycled. I tested it before and I have been feeding the tank 1 ppm Ammonium Chloride everyday to keep the bacteria going. There is a strong light over the tank. The tank had a bacteria bloom so I did a water change and turned off the light. I've been thinking about filling little baking dishes with some substrate and planting Wysteria cuttings from my main tank. I want to have this quarantine tank pretty well planted with Wysteria before I add Otocinclus. Then I'm going to leave the lights on long enough to allow algae to grow. The lights are programmable. I'll just program them for too much light and see what the algae does.

The problem with this plan is that I would not be able to medicate the fish first when I get them because of the plants and filter. It might be better to medicate them with Kanaplex (not Erythromycin) to cut down on their mortality. Kanaplex is for internal bacteria and Erythromycin is for external bacteria. The issues with Otocinclus have to due with their gut and the way they are stunned with toxins when they are wild caught. You mix Kanaplex with another product called Focus for fish to ingest. Kanaplex also gets dosed into the water column. You want to do both for the most effective treatment. The plants and the filter would have to wait until after the medicating which takes six days. After that, you add the plants and filter and feed the fish the Vegies and Soylent Green like @mistergreen says. The fish should be left in quarantine another ten days for observation after treatment. You can really tell by the way they swim when they're healthy.


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## jake37 (Mar 18, 2021)

The thing about oto is they require a mature tank with lots of micro organisim (biofilm). It isn't just about nitrite and ammonia. So if you are going to use a qt tank with oto you really need to put in some driftwood or similar from a mature tank. So far i've been pretty successful with oto; i have 14 in one tank and 10 in another and in the past couple of years only a few have died most from known reasons. I picked up some from petco a year ago and they all lived (and are still alive) and some from wetspot last week and 12 out of 14 are still alive (1 was doa and 1 got tramautized in the net when i was adding it tot he tank).
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While vegies and soylent green are good they also require a bit of meat (mine love shrimp pellets) as well as micro organisim found in a mature tank.
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Having said all of the above it could just be blind luck that my batches have lived but i do worry about qt tank doing more harm than good.


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## PlantFan (Jun 19, 2021)

jake37 said:


> The thing about oto is they require a mature tank with lots of micro organisim (biofilm). It isn't just about nitrite and ammonia. So if you are going to use a qt tank with oto you really need to put in some driftwood or similar from a mature tank. So far i've been pretty successful with oto; i have 14 in one tank and 10 in another and in the past couple of years only a few have died most from known reasons. I picked up some from petco a year ago and they all lived (and are still alive) and some from wetspot last week and 12 out of 14 are still alive (1 was doa and 1 got tramautized in the net when i was adding it tot he tank).
> -
> While vegies and soylent green are good they also require a bit of meat (mine love shrimp pellets) as well as micro organisim found in a mature tank.
> -
> Having said all of the above it could just be blind luck that my batches have lived but i do worry about qt tank doing more harm than good.


So I guess it's back to my plan A. Thank you.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

Soilent green has lots of protein.



> Our Meal Replacement Gel for Aufwuchs (Algae and Small Living Organisms) Eating Species of Fish, Invertebrates, Amphibians and Reptiles.
> 
> INGREDIENTS: Spirulina Algae, Algae Meal (Chlorella), Krill Meal, Pea Protein Isolate, Squid Meal, Rice Protein Concentrate, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Leaf Meal, Dried Brewer’s Yeast, Coconut Meal, Stabilized Rice Bran, Flax Seed Meal, Schizochytrium Algae, Dried Seaweed Meal, Lecithin, Dried Kelp, Locust Bean Gum, Potassium Citrate, Taurine, Stinging Nettle, Garlic, RoseHips, Hibiscus Flower, Calendula Flower, Marigold Flower, Paprika, Turmeric, Salt, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (as preservatives), Magnesium Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Manganese Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Copper Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Selenium Yeast. Vitamins: (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Choline Chloride, Calcium L-Ascorbyl-2-Monophosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta Carotene, Pantothenic Acid, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex).
> 
> Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein min. 40%, Crude Fat min. 8%, Crude Fiber max. 8%, Moisture max. 8%, Ash max. 12%.


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