Fish is attached to Glass?

Question
I bought a weird looking fish on the weekend. It is small, about an inch long, and has this strange sucker like mouth. He was doing well, until today, when I found him stuck to the glass. I was kinda concerned because he wasn't moving, until I tapped the glass. Is this normal behavior? Do you know what kind of fish it was? I searched sucker mouth fish on google, and I knoe it ISN'T a pleco! Its small, white, with a black stripe running down its body. Please help! It's been stuck to the glass for almost the whole day...

Evelyn

Answer
Hi Evelyn,

Your fish is an Otocinclus catfish, also known as the Dwarf Suckermouth Catfish, or simply, 'Oto'. If you search it on the internet, I'm sure you'll agree. Otocinclus are algae eating fish, and it is perfectly normal to be attached to the glass with their sucker-disk mouths for lengthy periods. You will notice that they are moving up, down, left, and right in small movements to cover the glass area to eat all the algae and microorganisms. So, there's absolutely nothing to be worried about! Since you didn't know what kind of fish it was, you probably don't know what to feed it. You need to get some algae wafers at your local fish store (if you haven't done so already). You can feed the Oto half or quarter of an algae wafer. Feed them just before you go to bed; they are somewhat nocturnal. Don't worry if they don't go for it - it sometimes takes hours before the Otocinclus registers it as food.

Next time, save both yourself and your fish from a headache - RESEARCH you fish before you purchase them! Ask the pet store person to tell you what kind of fish it is, what their behavior is, and how to take care of them. If the employee stares bleakly at you or mutters "... flake food, flake food, where is the silly flake food..." and attempts to ignore you, it's probably best to find another store, or at least find a more experienced representative.

And of course, NEVER tap on the glass! It disturbs the fishes in the tank, and it often makes them go into a frenzy, injuring themselves as they hit ornaments, etc!

Have a great day, and Happy Fishkeeping!