r/Otocinclus

so for reference, ive had this one for almost a year now, added two new otos since their group was small (one died from old age and i previously had 3) so i have 4 now and this is one of my old ones... there recently was a bacterial bloom but its been handled so i'm not sure why theyre so pale now.. the new ones are getting their color and my other old one is still the same greenish color so why is this one so clear.. this is extremely recent like.. as of maybe a few days i havent seen them so.. i dont know why this is happening any guesses?

I gave them some zucchini overnight and I think they're burning off some energy. They love going into wherever I put the air stones!

I just got three otos three days ago from petsmart. I was so excited but i read about how they die easily because of how theyre starved. I swear i saw them all swimming happily this morning, but just now i found one dead. Its the smallest one out of them and, honestly, looking at it's stomach it does look skinny. Could it have been my fault? Or its just because of how theyre raised? There has been a heatwave lately. Anyways, the photos of are the two otos currently alive. (please let me know if theyre looking healthy, i feel like they're looking too red?) it's been a bit since i owned a fish, so i'm feeling extra worried. I've been putting in algae wafers but let me know what other fooda have worked for you. Feeling disappointed but i still have some hope.

Hi I've got 6 otos but they have become very elusive.. I don't think in the last 2 days they have come out from hiding at all.. the blanched cucumber I put in has moved so I suspect they are eating but I'm unsure what to do to coax them out more.

I think I may have a baby. I know this doesn’t happen often but I saw a baby. I am getting ready to move my tank in two weeks, now I am scared because I believe my otocinclus had babies? Or a baby? Are these eggs on the driftwood? I can’t see any otocinclus because they blend in with the plants and hide between the stones but early at 3am this morning I saw a tiny otocinclus on the glass and when I tried to take a picture it went away. It will be a year on July 28th since I had Catalina and O but what I saw this morning was way tinier than Catalina and O. Now how should I move this tank when moving? 💕🌈💕

curious if this guy looks a little rough? i started with 7 otos on may 13, how can only find like 3 MAYBE 4. also missing an amano since then but have found no bodies.
help meeeee

My otos are eating the food I drop at the acquisition

Aquarium instead of just cleaning surfaces.

It's more than a year I have most of them and it's the first time I see it.

I feed them pond tetra that I make it a powder by pressing with my fingers. Everybody eats the same. Guppies, betta, shrimps, snails, and now even the Otos.

Scooped this guy out of my med tank, ready to transfer him home and he got something wrapped up in the net. As far as I know they don't have barbs or hooks on their nose. Is he just biting the net and is too dumb to let go? Any thoughts to help him release? Sorry for the sht pics, he won't sit still out of water.

<EDIT>: got him out using nostalgic_sigh's idea of just letting the net dangle im the water. After 10 minutes of letting him hang out and chill, I gave the net a swish and he dropped right off. The next scoop found him stuck again, but only for a few seconds. Fingers crossed it didn't stress him TOO much. Thanks to all who offered helpful advice!

Hi! Meet my new oto cat! He gets his other otocat tank mates this week, and currently has a hitchhiker snail living with him, and hopefully i will get more snails this week too(my store doesn’t have a good stock). He loves leaf grazing here, he has a peace lily (roots only in water) and drift wood in here too, but this is his favorite area! Can I get away with more live plants, an air stone, and NO filter? I’m scared all my little guys might get lost/injured by even my smallest filter 😥

My tank is only a month old (though I used old substrate), and I've got 4 otos. They were doing totally fine for the first 2 or 3 days after I put them in, but they got a bit stressed after I added some new plants. Weirdly, there's one that seems especially panicked, and the other three just copy it and start glass surfing whenever they see it do it. My shrimp are completely fine, so I assume the water quality is okay, but I'm mostly worried because they aren't spending enough time eating 🥲

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We were excited to discover 5 new Otocinclus fry! You can clearly see the different sizes. Even better, the bigger babies are peacefully coexisting with the tiny newcomers and aren't trying to eat them.

The recent heatwave resulted in fewer new fry than our first batch. We'll keep checking over the next few days to see if any more are hiding.

It could be due to lower fertilization rates, the higher temperatures, or a number of other factors. It's still too early to know for sure.

we haven't had rain lately, so we can check out these factors. (Maybe it still helps or isn't necessary.)

We hope sharing our observations helps others learn more about breeding and keeping these amazing little fish!

I’m looking for some input, one of our Otos is extremely large, and currently sedentary (I mean look at the guy lol) and I don’t know if they’re carrying eggs or if we have a bloat situation requiring treatment. I’ve included some pics. I’m actually not sure if this is a female tbh.

I test my water weekly with API and my levels are great, this is an established tank with a mixed healthy population. Food is BUG BITES bottom feeder and top feeder, with fasting throughout and Mysis Shrimp on occasion.

I’ve stopped blood worms completely about 1 month ago but have fed them in the past.