Otto Cats... Internal Paracites?

[BettaBum873]

My 2 ottos seem to be getting awfully fat lately. There isn't a whole lot of algae in my tank and beside an occasional cucumber, they live off of the algae. But lately they've been getting pretty chubby, more then ever before. Do u think they're just getting fat, or could it be internal paracites?

 

[TammyLiz]

Parasites normally make them lose weight because they use up the nutrition, rather than gain weight. They're probably just getting chubby. How often are you feeding the cucumber?

Tammy

 

[BettaBum873]

Once a week or so

 

[Tempestuousfury]

How long have you had them? Generally newer and wild-caught fish have parasites--captive-bred should generally not have any parasites. They might just be female and laden with eggs. *shrugs*

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

When you buy otto's they are usually starved from all the transport they've been through, this is what makes them so fragile and difficult to acclimatise to tanks. Usually after a week or even a couple of weeks they've started to regain their weight, so may appear unusually fat that what you were previously accustomed to seeing them as.
If you've had them more than 2months they may have just found a good algae or plant matter source in the tank you've missed, a fat otto though is a sign of a healthy one though .

 

[Neal]

"The sign of a good otto, is a chubby one." I have heard this being said quite alot, so I don't think there is anything to be worried about, but don't necceseraly take my word for it...

Neal

 

[Griz]

How so they compare with these pics? http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35094

Generally with otos, fat is good.