Puffercube: Otocinclus macrospilus

Two days ago, I introduced two Otocinclus to my cube. (I think they are O. Macrospilus)
They came in the same bag as the shrimp, and I had the bag acclimatise for only 15 minutes since it was a hot day.
And I always feel that sitting in a bag floating in a tank causes alot of stress.

Especially in a community tank, with the other residents looking and picking at the bag.

I like to give them a chance to hide in the plants as soon as possible.

But Allot of times they are so much in shock they just lay in front of the window.

Same here. One of them didn’t seem to have much of a problem, and sucked itself to the window and stayed there for about 15 minutes. The smaller one looked more in shock, and just lay on the ground, in close proximity to the other one, breathing heavily.

I left them a Wels chip, in addition to the brown algae in my tank, to make sure they had enough to eat.

Next morning I found my tank as clean as can be. All brown algae disappeared, just a little bit on the ophiopogon, but this they cleaned out the rest of the day.

The wells chip did get moved, but looked otherwise pretty untouched. I learned the other day that the shrimp like to move them, but don’t eat much of it.
The Otos both have a slightly rounded belly, so I’m not sure if they don’t eat the chip because they have plenty of other stuff to eat, or if they don’t recognize it as food.

I will try flakes, and plecomin in the next week.

I really like them, they sure live up to their reputation.
The larger one might be a female, I named him/her Max, the smaller one is called Moritz.

Species Information (found on planetcatfish.com):

Scientific Name

Otocinclus macrospilus Eigenmann & Allen, 1942 - add this species to your "My Cats" page.

Common Name(s)

Dwarf Sucker, Oto

Type Locality

Río Morona, Upper Amazon, Dpto Loreto, Peru.

Pronunciation

auto SINK luss - MAK ro spill us

Etymology

Greek, ous, oto = ear + Latin, cinclus = latticework; in allusion to the holes of the head in the ears

Species Information

Size

34mm (1.3") SL

Show near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

Similar in overall colouration to O. vestitus. The caudal fin marking is key to separating this species of Otocinclus from the others.

Sexing

Females are larger and broader especially when viewed from above.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Upper Amazon Basin of Colombia, Ecuador & Peru
Amazon, Upper Amazon (click on these areas to find other species found there)

5.5 - 7.5

Temperature

21.0-26.0°C or 69.8-78.8°F (Show others)

Husbandry Information

Feeding

Initially algae, add a shoal to an ''algaefied'' tank and then supplement diet with sinking tablets and the usual cucumbers / lettuce or courgette (zucchini).

Furniture

Large leafed plants and vertical flat rock surfaces (especially slate). Not essential, but likes bogwood and a large rounded substrate. Live plants seem essential to the long term Koppeling