Dead Otto!

[sammydee]

Hey, I got some Ottos yesterday for my 20G and one was found dead this morning! He was acting kinda lethargic yesterday so I was worried bt thought he might be sleepy or soemthing, so left him, but he turned out dead today!

I heard it is normal for Ottos to die inexplicably when you just get them home - is this true? The other two seem fine, zooming around the tank cleaning up algae, I hope they don't die as well.

 

[WILDER]

Could be stress, what are your test results in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what was the ph of the lfs to your tank ph.

 

[sammydee]

Well pH of my tank was 6.7 and the LFS is 6.5. Ammonia, Nitrite are 0. Dunno bout Nitrate but it should have been low because I did a 30% water changer three days earlier.

 

[WILDER]

As long as you climatised them right, I would say it probably was stress, sorry for your loss.

 

[sammydee]

Was there anything I could have done to save the li'l guy?

 

[WILDER]

No sorry the stress was to much for him, nothing you could have done.

 

[rdd1952]

Here is a link to an almost identical post I have on another forum board. It also has a great link in it to a site with a lot of info on otos. I also have a post on this forum. That link is below too.

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http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=75879

The first thing I noticed after I started reading the replys to my post is that the one I have left is skinny. I don't think he is eating despite the fact that there is plenty of algae in the tank (another problem in itself). I put a piece of zuchini on a clip and put it near where he stays attached to the side of the tank. He was on it in less than 5 minutes and stayed on it for quite a while. I have done that for 2 days now and he looks much plumper.

 

[FrAnK3333]

Otos like to die from unknowen deaths. I lost 2 because I made the mistake of buying them from the lfs when they were new. Try buying otos after they have been in the petstore for atleast 3 weeks. This makes sure you dont buy the ones that die because of not eating. Sorry for your loss.

 

[corykitty516]

yep I lost an oto 24 hours after I brought them home. I think the girl squished this one a bit when she was neting it. Anyway... they replaced it and all 6 have been fine since. I think the trick is 1) acclimating them and 2) makeing sure they have plenty to eat. There was massive algae build up I purposely had in the tank before I put them in. Of course they now have the glass scrubbed clean but there is plenty more on rocks and such that they are working on. yum. Plus the odd veggie or spirulina tab a suppliment with.
Oh and there is a neat aticle somewhere on planet catfish about them. I dont know where exactly but hunt around for it.


good luck

 

[rdd1952]

Do your otos every eat the algae from the tank bottom? Mine don't seem to have done anything. They (or I should now say he/she) stay stuck to the back side of the tank or to the heater tube almost all the time unless it is active after the lights go off. I would like to have about 4 but hate losing fish period, even if they are notorious for just dropping dead.

 

[corykitty516]

I dont usualy see mine on the bottom ... but then again I have sand so nothing really grows on that. And there are some kinds of algae that they wont eat (like that god-awful cyanobacteria junk ). They spend most of their time on the plastic plants now that theyve licked the glass totally clean but I still see them there ocassionaly. They also hang out on the live sword plant. I'd like to have more live plants for them but the silver dollars make short work of almost everything I put in there so I put one in a pot and swap it out before its totally eaten to the nubbins. They are not terribly active but cute when they do swim around (sometimes I catch them tagging along after the danios ) I also have lots of flat rocks they like to suck on.

edit: here I found the article otocinclus article

 

[rdd1952]

The cyano is what I've got and it grows on everything, including my sand substrate. I'm at a loss as to how to get rid of it. My corys, oto and ghost shrimp don't do much with it.