I am looking for ideas for finding and catching a few otocinclus in a heavily planted 29G without taking the plants and wood apart. I am thinking about trying large slices of lightly cooked zucchini. NB: The are MTS and Assassins in the tank as well as a small goup of kubotai rasbora, a couple of cories and a group of neon tetra.. Any other suggestions?
Full story: I recently ordered 6 Otos on line. 7 arrived in good health. 1 died within a day, perhaps due to being caught in a net when transfering to the aquarium. I found 5 after 2 days and within a week they cleaned out a heavy algae deposit on the glass and plants. At the start, I could barely see inside the tank. Now, there is not a lot of algae left for them to eat. However, I have two more aquariums which need a live cleaning. I caught 2 of the fish and transferred them to one of my other very algaed tanks. I've been looking for the other 3 or 4 but so far, I don't see them. I tried a flashlight in the dark but did not see the Otos. BTW, losing Otos in a heavily planted aquarium is not unusual for me. I have 2 Bumble Bee Otos (from Barbara Day), in the next dirty tank, that I rarely see but pop up occaisionally.
Could try a bottle with a opening big enough for otos, put food in it and wait till an hour or two after lights out and grab the bottle as fast as you can.