Otos

[LolaLouie]

My new oto (i got him a week ago) was strangely quiet last night so i checked the tank a few times today. He's been behind a rock all day so i decided to not disturb him until now... wasn't much of a suprise that he was dead.

I have 2 questions:

1) after much reading i found that otos die all the time within the 1st week of getting them.. why is this? Is there anything you can do to stop it? I have another oto who i've had for a month who's fine.

2) if there's not anything you can do to stop them dying what other very small algae eating fish are there?

Thanks

Gemma

 

[evilchild]

was the other otto bigger than your new one? have you got any more? may have been picked on? i have found it best to add fish at the same time, i,e 4-5 otto at the same time for example. fish are more likly to die in this time period due to the stress of being moved and other fish....

 

[cheesy feet]

1. I bought 5 ottos yesterday and acclimatised them carefully, in a few mintures though I found one dead.They must get easily stressed.I went back to he shop today and they replaced mine, even chucking in another one for free because there was only 2 left.
2. Bn's are probably the most commonly reconised.What size is your tank?

 

[LolaLouie]

The other oto was bigger but never went near the new one. The dead oto had no signs of damage either. I have been off on holiday for the past few weeks and my computer where i work is right next to the fish tank so i'm watching them all the time and i'd of noticed if he was being picked on. Just seems he died for no reason?!?

My tank is 24 US gallons but is fairly heavily stocked so don't have any room for larger algae eaters

Thanks

Gemma

 

[Scotty001]

Otos are an easily stressed fish when it comes to being moved around and because of this some may die within a week or two of purchase, when getting otts its best to get the roundest ones you can and get between 3-5 at a time if possible as theyre a sholing fish.

also try to get the roundest / fattest ones too as this shows he / she has a healthy eating habit and has been eating well since arrival at the lfs, a healthy eating (plump) otto is a good sign these guys could have been in transt for a fair bit of time already to get to the lfs, without much food and a fair bit of stress, to then handle another move on to yourself.
Scott