Otocinclus owners - pls help

Neonlights

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Any otocinclus owners here?

I can’t tell if one of my oto’s has been getting his tail nipped or whether he has tail rot? He lives with a betta (who I’ve never seen go for the other fish), false julii corys and 2 dwarf petricolas. The dwarf petricolas are generally peaceful but recently I’ve seen them swipe at a julii on 2 occasions.

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Synodontis lucipinnis (“dwarf petricola”) needs to be in a group (6+) and in hard water. Shoaling fish in two’s are very likely to be aggressive due to the stress, and these are only ‘peaceful as Synodontis go’ which means likely to not be peaceful towards tiny fish like Otos (which need totally different water parameters).
With just two of them your Betta is also in a lot of danger. A heavily planted tank is also not their natural environment...
 
Synodontis lucipinnis (“dwarf petricola”) needs to be in a group (6+) and in hard water. Shoaling fish in two’s are very likely to be aggressive due to the stress, and these are only ‘peaceful as Synodontis go’ which means likely to not be peaceful towards tiny fish like Otos (which need totally different water parameters).
With just two of them your Betta is also in a lot of danger. A heavily planted tank is also not their natural environment...
Thanks - I did read up on them but the info on the site I visited was admittedly brief. I’m quite annoyed actually, I bought them from a reputable, specialist aquatic shop and asked if they’d suit my tank and was advised they would. I don’t want to return them to that shop as presumably they’ll sell them on to anyone. Any advice on rehousing fish?
 
I’m not a fan, I always feel that the lower tank gets less attention.
If you're so inclined, you could always try building your own. That's what I've done. You can design it so that the lower tank is a bit more front and center, because I agree, the space that most commercial stands allocate for the second tank is often really low to the ground and off to one side. I'm not sure what lumber prices are like in the UK, but it's usually cheaper to build your own than to buy a stand. If you have the motivation for such a project, I can share the design I went with. It wasn't that difficult to put together, even for an extreme beginner to woodworking like myself.
 
I have a 65/45 stand… 65 on the bottom is thicker, so it sticks out further, and has more lighting… due to the supports on the sides, full view of the sides is not possible, but the front 4 inches behind the corner is visible…

In the end it’s yours but I’m not afraid to go “out side the box”
 
I think the oto has developed fungus on its tail so I’ve treated the tank with NTLabs anti whitespot and fungus, is there anything else I should do?
 

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I lost my oto and now my other oto, who was really healthy, now has what appears to be mouth fungus (cotton growth over it’s mouth), what’s the best in-tank treatment for this? Is Melafix any good or should I stick with NTLabs (although the latter did nothing to help my last oto).
 
I lost my oto and now my other oto, who was really healthy, now has what appears to be mouth fungus (cotton growth over it’s mouth), what’s the best in-tank treatment for this? Is Melafix any good or should I stick with NTLabs (although the latter did nothing to help my last oto).
Doing lots of large water changes (how large is the tank, and what other tankmates currently?) because fresh clean water boosts fishe's immune systems, thus helping them fight of secondary infections like fungal infections, could be the best first aid.

Is there any chance of setting up a QT arrangement for him? Only needs to be something small, like a 2.5g, or even a new, unused plastic storage tote with heater (placed on stones/hardscape so as not to scorch the plastic), or a cheap second hand set up from Gumtree or something. Then something like a small, inexpensive (or second hand) sponge, internal or HOB filter, and lots of live plants, or just an air bubbler and a decent amount of fast growing live plants and some decor taken from the main tank to provide food, would work, be easier to treat and do daily water changes on, and give the fish a chance to recover from any bullying he's receiving in the main tank.

Since the first oto had a chunk taken out of his tail, and the synos or betta could easily have hurt both otos, I'd recommend a QT set up, large daily water changes, and a course of salt water treatment.

If it must be in the main tank, then W/Cs and salt treatment is still possible (see "emergencies" section of forum to find salt water treatment plan and dosing). Salt has antifungal and antibacterial properies, so can make a big difference in only a few days. However, it does still put some stress on the fish, and more delicate plants too, so better to isolate him for treatment if possible. Other meds also stress fish and can soon get very expensive, and many are snake oil, so unless the problem is something contagious that requires the whole tank being medicated, then it's better to isolate the fish (fish will also bully and chase away a sickly fish, stressing it further, even usually peaceful fish will do this, since sick fish attract predators), and be able to W/C and medicate the smaller volume of water. Doesn't have to be a permanent QT tank set up, can be temporary, but very useful.
 
Doing lots of large water changes (how large is the tank, and what other tankmates currently?) because fresh clean water boosts fishe's immune systems, thus helping them fight of secondary infections like fungal infections, could be the best first aid.

Is there any chance of setting up a QT arrangement for him? Only needs to be something small, like a 2.5g, or even a new, unused plastic storage tote with heater (placed on stones/hardscape so as not to scorch the plastic), or a cheap second hand set up from Gumtree or something. Then something like a small, inexpensive (or second hand) sponge, internal or HOB filter, and lots of live plants, or just an air bubbler and a decent amount of fast growing live plants and some decor taken from the main tank to provide food, would work, be easier to treat and do daily water changes on, and give the fish a chance to recover from any bullying he's receiving in the main tank.

Since the first oto had a chunk taken out of his tail, and the synos or betta could easily have hurt both otos, I'd recommend a QT set up, large daily water changes, and a course of salt water treatment.

If it must be in the main tank, then W/Cs and salt treatment is still possible (see "emergencies" section of forum to find salt water treatment plan and dosing). Salt has antifungal and antibacterial properies, so can make a big difference in only a few days. However, it does still put some stress on the fish, and more delicate plants too, so better to isolate him for treatment if possible. Other meds also stress fish and can soon get very expensive, and many are snake oil, so unless the problem is something contagious that requires the whole tank being medicated, then it's better to isolate the fish (fish will also bully and chase away a sickly fish, stressing it further, even usually peaceful fish will do this, since sick fish attract predators), and be able to W/C and medicate the smaller volume of water. Doesn't have to be a permanent QT tank set up, can be temporary, but very useful.
Thanks for the advice. My tank only has 5 fish (the oto, 2 x false julii corys and 2 x dwarf petricolas), 5 shrimp and 3 assassin snails. It looks really bad now and also looks like he has internal bleeding in the mouth.

I wonder if I’d be able to save him at this stage tbh, as my last oto died within a day of the fungus getting this big. I don’t get it though, he was perfectly healthy 48hrs ago, what could have caused what appears to be bleeding? Presumably the fungus is secondary to this.

I don’t like adding chemicals and don’t really want to dose the tank with the NT Labs anti-fungus again, but if it could save him then I definitely would. Am at a loss what to do? The option of getting a QT tank together this afternoon and trying to catch the oto in a heavily planted tank is not an option (I don’t have access or funds for the whole set up).

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