# Will Otocinclus Eat New Growth on Plants?



## trag (Jan 9, 2008)

I am having a heck of a time with Water Wisteria in a 30 gallon tank. I've started dosing fertilizers, which seems to have fixed up the banana plant, but my wisteria is still a no show. 

I started carefully watching one of the few surviving sprigs (little sprouts on a large stem) and it sure looks like it was about to spread a pair of new leaves and then the new leaves turned into little green nubs.

The wisteria grew great for a couple or three months.

Coincidentally, I added three otocinclus some time close to when the wisteria all started failing.

The tank also has way too many swordtails (70 - 100) and ten Cory. aeneus. 

So, any experience with Otos preying on plants?


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## Franzi (Dec 7, 2009)

I've never seen mine munching on plants. I would suspect the swordtails before the otos or corys.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Franzi said:


> I've never seen mine munching on plants. I would suspect the swordtails before the otos or corys.


+1. I highly doubt that it is the Otos, unless your tank is completely void of algae.


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## James0816 (Oct 9, 2008)

The Oto's are innocent. They'll starve themselves to death before eating a plant.


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## OVT (Aug 26, 2010)

+2 I have ottos in all my tanks. Never saw them eat plants. Your bio-load seems to be rather hight to me: all water conditions check out?


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## trag (Jan 9, 2008)

OVT said:


> +2 I have ottos in all my tanks. Never saw them eat plants. Your bio-load seems to be rather hight to me: all water conditions check out?


Yes, the bioload is high. The tank is overcrowded. However, I run a Penguin Biowheel, an AquaClear HOB, and a reverse flow UG filter with power head on the tank. So, from a volume point of view it's overcrowded but from a filtration point of view it's okay. But to answer your question NH3 and NO2 are zero. Nitrates and phosphates measure a bit high before a water change (every 2 weeks) but within reasonable limits. Most importantly, the fish are healthy and seem happy.

When some of them grow a bit more, they'll go to the LFS. A couple more weeks and the males should have enough tail to look good at the pet store. That'll cut the population by a third or half.

So, folks believe the most likely (plant eating) culprit is one or more of the swordtails? Do you think they'd give Hygrophila polysperma the same treatment?

I feed an algae flake every fourth or fifth feeding, and every morning I add Kent's Platinum Reef Herbivore pellets (along with some shrimp pellets) for the corys, which the swordtails of course, also munch on. Should I feed more vegetable based foods, or is this just an opportunistic kind of thing that they're going to do no matter what.


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## fisharemygame (Feb 9, 2014)

As I have on other forums, I will face the wrath of those who tell me I am dead wrong. I got rid of three oto cats because all they did was destroy my jungle val. They would suck the tissue right out of the leaves in a long straight line. The damage was noticeable and followed their path up the leaf. With that point on the floor for argument, I wonder if your source water is soft, RO. The way you describe the new growth sounds like calcium deficiency. Calcium is an immobile nutrient as is iron. That is they cannot be shunted from old growth to provide for new growth. Calcium deficiency causes small stunted, yellowing leaves. Usually a serious nitrogen deficiency also does this, but you say your nitrate is usually high so I question that that is the problem. It may be an iron deficiency too. Usually with an iron deficiency you don't get stunted leaves, but rather very yellow sickly ones in new growth. Stunted growth has nothing to do with damage from the fish. Your water column is missing a key nutrient. The scientific challenge is to figure out which one(s).


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## fisharemygame (Feb 9, 2014)

If the new growth looks almost brittle it is calcium. The weird twisted growth of calcium deficient leaves can be grotesque. I would get a trace minerals fert that has calcium in it and dose that according to instructions accompanied by iron supplementation. Of course making sure you have enough light is important as well. I'm making the assumption you have good light which would create a demand in your plants for nutrients. Hope some of this helps.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

I had never been able to grow any plants with a UG filter running normally or even reverse flow. 

Yes the bio wheel will allow you to keep more fish. But it will allow you to increase the population to double of it should be. Perhaps it gives a 10 or 15% advantage.

Swords are roughly 3" long full sized. You have a 30 gallon tank with 468 square inches of surface area. I would not put more than 52 swords in that tank. And some people will say that is way over crowded. if the swords were 5" long I would only keep 18 in that tank.

Final note some species of Xiphophorus are destructive vegetarians. They will eat plants and especially love the tender new sprouts.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Pictures of the damage might be helpful.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Any updates?


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## stan71 (Mar 11, 2014)

My ottos did eat my anubias nana flower,but Im pretty sure they won't eat any new growth.


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## foster (Mar 7, 2013)

I've kept ottos in all my planted tanks for a long time, never seen them eat plants at all.


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## robb (May 15, 2014)

I have never seen them eat my plants. I've had amano shrimps much plants probably because they had algae on them. The older bottom leaves


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## Thegoodking (Jun 23, 2017)

I realize this is a relatively old post, but- I'm watching my otos eat my water sprite as I type this(well, ONE, now, only). I added about 20 to a tank a couple of days ago, with lots of HEALTHY floating water sprite, and tonight I noticed several leaves missing most of the tissue, with the veins remaining, and the outer tissue. It didn't take long to spot 4 otos on different leaves, munching away. There isn't a ton of algae in the tank (I had hillstream loaches and panda loaches in there until a week ago- they've been moved into my hillstream tank).
So, they DEFINITELY will eat plants. I believe I once read that they will eat SOFTER plants only. 
Anyways, clearly they will not starve to death before eating plants!(I'm, of course, feedng algae wafers, along with bloodworm, spirulina brine, daphnia, and NLS community flake).


James0816 said:


> The Oto's are innocent. They'll starve themselves to death before eating a plant.


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## Thegoodking (Jun 23, 2017)

I keep them in other tanks, with Cyperus helferi, and while they love to graze on the blades, they never damage them.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Try giving them sliced blanched zucchini to lure them away from the plants. Hang the slices near the plants.


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