So I Have A Situation With My New Fishies, And I Need Help

[SunnySeth]

so today i got my first few fish (other than JB my betta ive had for a while), 1 male dalmation lyretail molly, 1 female silver molly, and 2 otocinclus...

my question, or problem is, i put a sinking waffer in for the otto's, but they can't seem to find it, they just stay on the sides instead of looking on the bottom, and while i watch and hope that they do find it, the two molly's keep peckin at it, and il shew the molly's away, and they'll go right back to it... what do i do... about both... theres deffinately not enough algae on the sides of my new tank for the otto's, and they're supposed to always be feeding right?

 

[bordercollie05]

so today i got my first few fish (other than JB my betta ive had for a while), 1 male dalmation lyretail molly, 1 female silver molly, and 2 otocinclus...

my question, or problem is, i put a sinking waffer in for the otto's, but they can't seem to find it, they just stay on the sides instead of looking on the bottom, and while i watch and hope that they do find it, the two molly's keep peckin at it, and il shew the molly's away, and they'll go right back to it... what do i do... about both... theres deffinately not enough algae on the sides of my new tank for the otto's, and they're supposed to always be feeding right?

I've had mollys with a snail before, and they like the algea tablets as much as my snail. I don't know if it was good for them but I would put one in just for them quite often. At first the snail couldn't find the pellets so I'd make an effort to be sure they would sink almost on top of him and that seemed to help. Good luck!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

All fish can benefit from a little algae in there diet. If you keep popin' em' in every once in a while they Oto should eventually go find them (it may take them getting pretty hungry.)


Do you know what the LFS was feeding them?


See if they would take some cucumber/zucchini. Cut a small circular piece, and stick a spoon through it (rinse it good before hand) This should sink it. After a few hours, you can take it out. You only have to feed them every few days.

 

[SunnySeth]

All fish can benefit from a little algae in there diet. If you keep popin' em' in every once in a while they Oto should eventually go find them (it may take them getting pretty hungry.)


Do you know what the LFS was feeding them?


See if they would take some cucumber/zucchini. Cut a small circular piece, and stick a spoon through it (rinse it good before hand) This should sink it. After a few hours, you can take it out. You only have to feed them every few days.

i thought otto's were supposed to be constantly sucking green? like always... well i didnt know what to do, so i went to get some cucumber, but it was old and mushy since we're not big cucumber eaters... but we love salad, so i a nice dark green lettuce leaf on a fork and dropped it in... il go back and check on em in a few minutes to see if its catching on...

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

All fish can benefit from a little algae in there diet. If you keep popin' em' in every once in a while they Oto should eventually go find them (it may take them getting pretty hungry.)


Do you know what the LFS was feeding them?


See if they would take some cucumber/zucchini. Cut a small circular piece, and stick a spoon through it (rinse it good before hand) This should sink it. After a few hours, you can take it out. You only have to feed them every few days.

i thought otto's were supposed to be constantly sucking green? like always... well i didnt know what to do, so i went to get some cucumber, but it was old and mushy since we're not big cucumber eaters... but we love salad, so i a nice dark green lettuce leaf on a fork and dropped it in... il go back and check on em in a few minutes to see if its catching on...

Sounds okay, although i'm not sure how readily they will take the leafy green. Either way, it's worth a shot. Oto don't really need to be constantly fed, most fish can live a while with out food, I have heard of in some cases up to a month! Although a week and a bit sounds more practical.

 

[SunnySeth]

All fish can benefit from a little algae in there diet. If you keep popin' em' in every once in a while they Oto should eventually go find them (it may take them getting pretty hungry.)


Do you know what the LFS was feeding them?


See if they would take some cucumber/zucchini. Cut a small circular piece, and stick a spoon through it (rinse it good before hand) This should sink it. After a few hours, you can take it out. You only have to feed them every few days.

i thought otto's were supposed to be constantly sucking green? like always... well i didnt know what to do, so i went to get some cucumber, but it was old and mushy since we're not big cucumber eaters... but we love salad, so i a nice dark green lettuce leaf on a fork and dropped it in... il go back and check on em in a few minutes to see if its catching on...

Sounds okay, although i'm not sure how readily they will take the leafy green. Either way, it's worth a shot. Oto don't really need to be constantly fed, most fish can live a while with out food, I have heard of in some cases up to a month! Although a week and a bit sounds more practical.

well ok... i understand the month thing, like with bettas... but i dont thing little one inch ottos could do that... the longest id let JB go without food is like three days (and thats only if he's like constipated... i feed him everyday)... its just that when theres nothing to stick to and suck on, the ottos just start flippin out and bouncing everywhere at high speeds... so i feel bad for the lil guys...

the molly's seem to be happyhealthy though... (though the poor male lyretail has the top extended peice of the lyre missing, like it was nipped off before the petstore got em... also petco had just got the new stock of fish today, so i may have got some weaklings, i gotta watch em, but id feel so horrible if any of em died... so lets all cross our fingers and hope for the best)

 

[TigerLotus]

I don't know if you have live plants or not but its usually suggested to have them with Ottos to get the benefit of algae which makes up there main diet. I'm sure many have been successfully with keeping them with out live plant, but I mostly here that they do have live plants or algae supply.

Some things that I could suggest is to break them up (wafers) into small pieces before "lights out" and scatter them around the tank, eventually your Ottos will find them. Also take some rocks and tank water and put it in direct sunlight to grow some algae on them. They will enjoy this a bunch and will keep natural algae in there diet. Other things I heard are that they eat lettuce and fresh spinach.

Two things that I have read very commonly is that Ottos may never take to wafers and/or supplied food, some just simply like to suck the algae off the glass and rocks and driftwood.
Another is that these fish a known to be sensitive to tanks that aren't well established and are know to have a 1 or 2 die off. I'm not saying this always happens just a heads up.

Good luck with you little guys, (Ottos are adorable little fish )

TigerLotus

 

[Meds081603]

I've never had an oto eat any commercial fish food. Mine always suck on the glass/plants/decorations.

 

[SunnySeth]

I don't know if you have live plants or not but its usually suggested to have them with Ottos to get the benefit of algae which makes up there main diet. I'm sure many have been successfully with keeping them with out live plant, but I mostly here that they do have live plants or algae supply.

Some things that I could suggest is to break them up (wafers) into small pieces before "lights out" and scatter them around the tank, eventually your Ottos will find them. Also take some rocks and tank water and put it in direct sunlight to grow some algae on them. They will enjoy this a bunch and will keep natural algae in there diet. Other things I heard are that they eat lettuce and fresh spinach.

Two things that I have read very commonly is that Ottos may never take to wafers and/or supplied food, some just simply like to suck the algae off the glass and rocks and driftwood.
Another is that these fish a known to be sensitive to tanks that aren't well established and are know to have a 1 or 2 die off. I'm not saying this always happens just a heads up.

Good luck with you little guys, (Ottos are adorable little fish )

TigerLotus

well im sad to say, first, my female silver molly died... i noticed when i got her that one of her side fins wasnt moving, and a red spot grew on it, and she eventually just started laying on her side at the bottom, so i put her in her own bowl of fresh clean dechlorinated water... and within minutes was dead... is there a fish disease that causes red spots?

also, cleaned the big tank after that, but im going to take the otto's back, and im gonna replace them with cory's... and get a new molly for the one thats still in there... and if everything goes well, next week il put in a couple yellow bar tetras

 

[KraKen]

I'm sorry your molly died

I might be wrong but I was under the impression that mollys are brackish, not freshwater, fish. This could be the reason that she died.

BTW how big is your tank?

 

[SunnySeth]

I'm sorry your molly died

I might be wrong but I was under the impression that mollys are brackish, not freshwater, fish. This could be the reason that she died.

BTW how big is your tank?

i have a 10g and a 1/2g... i dont believe molly's are brackish though... its possible that they could do both, but ive never heard that before... since they often go with tetras, ADF's, Guppies, Shrimp, Platys, Pleco's etc.

its all good though... how come your tank has been cycling for so long? i only let mine go for about a week and a half, had the water tested and it was perfect...

im still under the impression that the molly died for two reasons, one, they were a fresh shipment in that day, so the weaklings didnt have time to pass on yet, and two, cause of the big red spot on her inanimate fin...

i hope your tank is good to go soon though... what kinds of inhabitants are you planning?

 

[TigerLotus]

I'm sorry from your loss. Yes I wouldn't doubt that you molly died because you got her/him the same day the shipment came in. When this happens the best way I think of this is that, that little fish came from place that it was raised, placed in a bag with a bunch of different fish, driven or flown for a long time, dumped into a small tank with foreign water with other fish that it may not have known, then had large people moving past it and kids most likely tapping on its new foreign home, then getting chased around with a large net and put into an even smaller bag with other fish, then put in new water all over again.
That's why most wait a few days if the fish is from a new stock, but if the fish go fast I can understand why you got them when you did.
The spot on your fish was more than likely induced by the stress of all the moving. Your new one will hopefully do better since its been in the shop for longer.
Also good luck on the cories these are little cuties to, do you know how many your gonna get? I pretty sure that there schoolers so I not sure how many you can get in a 10 gallon. Never the less I wish you the best.


Good Luck


TigerLotus

 

[SunnySeth]

I'm sorry from your loss. Yes I wouldn't doubt that you molly died because you got her/him the same day the shipment came in. When this happens the best way I think of this is that, that little fish came from place that it was raised, placed in a bag with a bunch of different fish, driven or flown for a long time, dumped into a small tank with foreign water with other fish that it may not have known, then had large people moving past it and kids most likely tapping on its new foreign home, then getting chased around with a large net and put into an even smaller bag with other fish, then put in new water all over again.
That's why most wait a few days if the fish is from a new stock, but if the fish go fast I can understand why you got them when you did.
The spot on your fish was more than likely induced by the stress of all the moving. Your new one will hopefully do better since its been in the shop for longer.
Also good luck on the cories these are little cuties to, do you know how many your gonna get? I pretty sure that there schoolers so I not sure how many you can get in a 10 gallon. Never the less I wish you the best.


Good Luck


TigerLotus

well its not that the fish go fast, i didnt know they came in fresh that day, the reason i went in was, i found something thats been worrying me for the past like month and a half, so i finally went to the doctor yesterday, he checked it out, had me get and ultrasound, and it turns out its nothing, so i was really really excited and celebrated by finally getting some inhabitants for the tank...

and my favorite animal is sharks, specifically reef sharks... which is why i love otto's, cause they look like super tiny reef sharks... but i dont want to have to worry about them not eating, so im gonna put about two cory's in... then wait about a week, and put one or two more cory's in... OH and the last thing i put on my last reply was yellow bar tetras, well i meant im gonna get a couple yellow bar platys... and lets not forget i need a new playmate for the molly... i think il get another male this time... i dont want no hanky panky in my tanky...

do corys mostly stay on the bottom, or all over? cause if they're all over, i dont think i can get that many fish... would two cory's be ok? and two platys and two mollys? thats like my ideal tank... for right now

 

[rowdyburns21]

Give your otos time and they will start to feed, mine love cucumber and wont touch anything else, corys are bottom feeders and preferably should be kept in groups of 5+ though 3 or more is usually fine.

 

[TigerLotus]

Well im glad that every thing turned out alright at the doctors

I think that the stock that you want should be okay. As long as you maintain it well and have good filtration. Molly's get around 3 inches and platys get about 2 inches. One thing that I would worry about when having two males is that in a small tank they may show aggression. I would suggest maybe having some type of plant were the one that "loses" can go and hide if a scuffle breaks out.

The cories I think will be fine, they usually stay towards the bottom depending on which type you get but most usually do. I have heard of people being successful with having only 1-3 corys, but they do prefer to be in larger schools and really have "the more the merrier" label with them. I guess ultimately its up to you...I suppose 2 would be fine, just provide some cave like hiding spots because I don't doubt with there small numbers it may take a little time to get used to only two. Anyway's good luck I hope everything turns out for the best in you tank and I'm glad your okay.

TigerLotus