Cloudy water and a fat oto...

[FalconStorm]

Just a couple of questions. I have a ten gallon tank. It has ten neons, a betta, three corys and three otos in it. The tank is very heavily planted and I do water changes one to two times a week. I took my params last night: ammonia .25 (presumable because a new fish was added very recently, so the filter is adjusting to the heavier work load), nitrite is 0 and nitrate hovers around 40-60. The thing is, the water is a little bit cloudy and I'm not sure why. None of the fish are sickly at all. (Except for one oto, I'm going to ask about later in this post.) They all eat well and look normal. I have noticed that when I do a water change, I turn the filter off, but when I start it up again, when the water gets to running good, it spits out a lot of white stuff. I thought this was miniscule bubbles from the filter starting up, as it dissipates almost immediately. Could it be something else and could it be clouding the water? Also, I've thought that the water might be cloudy because of plant debris. I've got a lot of plants in there and sometimes I miss some dying leaves when I do a water change. The water was crystal clear before I put so many plants in, so I'm wondering if they're the cause. Is there some way I can test for what this is, and what can I do about it? I don't like using a lot of chemicals. The only chemicals that have gone into that tank is water conditioner and some extra stress coat, but not much.

Now, the oto I'm worried about. He doesn't act sick, but his belly has been swelling for the last few days. There are no unusual marks on his body and he swims around alertly and still feeds off of the tank walls and plant leaves. He doesn't school with the other two, but they're fairly new and he was used to being alone before they came. Really, he just looks fat, or pregnant. Is it possible that HE is really a SHE and she is full of eggs, or could it be something I need to be worried about? I don't know much about otos, so I'm not sure if I should be alarmed or not.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Your cloudy water is detritus coming from your filter media and/or filter compartment. This indicates to me that it may need a clean.

As your tank is 'small', you may need to consider getting a larger tank as it is: 1) causing you to change your water on a regular basis (not good for fishes as it disturbs them), 2) gives rise to hi-nitrite and nitrate levels, 3) makes it harder for the maturation cycle to work properly as it is over-crowded, 4) it is over-crowded, and 5) may increase aggression and stress levels within your tank.

Your 'ill' Oto seems to be affected more so than the others. A bad sign I'm afraid to say.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[FalconStorm]

The thing is, that tank has been stable for a couple of months. I test regularly and I don't have any chemical spikes. I understand the filter probably needs cleaning and I will take care of that tonight.

What, exactly, could the oto have? Like I said, he isn't acting sick or anything. Right now, it's not possible to upgrade to a larger tank, and from what I understand, everything in there except, possibly, the betta, are low waste producers. I'm also getting conflicting information about water changes. From what I understand, this number of water changes are not problematic, and even beneficial? The fish don't seem terribly freaked out by them. The neons will school closer together for a few minutes after I'm done, but everyone else just ignores me. The betta will even play in my fingers while I'm taking dead leaves out of the tank. Could this particular oto be more stressed by the attention? He was pretty skittish when we got him and he does stay in the back of the tank more. If so, I may be able to move him to another tank that doesn't require the high number of water changes, but it's smaller and he'd be alone, which I think might be even more stressful for him.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

I have three Oto's myself, so speak from experience, when I say they do like some territorial space.

Keep an eye on the unhealthy or egg-carrying Oto. If it had swelled quickly in the last few days, it may indicate a problem. It may need quarantining, so prepare your smaller tank.

Cleaning the filter may eliminate one problem area I feel your tank has.

Good luck and keep us all updated.

 

[FalconStorm]

Well, it isn't just a few days, more like a week or even two. I looked up a site online about oto's and they had some pics of healthy otos that looked a lot like him. I think he may have been starving when I got him, and now he's got plenty to eat, so he's a fat, healthy oto. He doesn't look fat from the top, just when you look at his belly, and he's still active and eating. I think I may pick up some zucchini today and see if they like it. I dropped an algae pellet in the other day, and the corys ate it. The oto's ignored it, so they may have plenty to eat in that tank, but I'm going to get some veggies just in case. I'll still keep an eye on him, though, and separate him if he shows any other illness symptoms or if his belly swells until it looks like he swallowed a marble.

Thanks for the advice. When I do manage to get a 20 gallon or larger tank, I'll probably move them into there, because I've become quite enamoured of these guys and would like a larger shoal of them eventually. They're so cute and active. I also like the idea that I can give them a much more ideal environment than they've been getting in the shipping and lfs ordeals.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Wyld-Fyre wrote:

"1) causing you to change your water on a regular basis (not good for fishes as it disturbs them)"

Sorry I don't get that bit. Most of us change part of the tank water on a regular basis, i.e. once a week; I've never heard that that stresses the fish out. Mine certainly seem to enjoy the water changes. It's what would happen in the wild anyway, isn't it?

 

[abstract]

i find it hard to believe that with a heavily planted tank you have an ammonia reading (at all) and such a high nitrate reading...the plants should do a great job of cleaning up these toxins and with 1-2 cleanings per week they should be just about zero each! there is something wrong with your biological filter overall...

be very careful about cleaning that filter - i'm sure you know about it but use tank water in a bucket and don't clean TOO much or you'll kill way too much bacteria

 

[FalconStorm]

Well, since the filter media with the majority of the bacteria is removeable, I'm probably going to take it out and leave it in the tank while I scrub the filter. I'm also going to remove the carbon. I think that might have something to do with it too.

I'm a little confused by that ammonia spike too. I think I'm going to test it again tonight. My tap water has a high nitrate reading, period, so I just have to keep up water changes on that front.

The tank is looking a little clearer after a 30% water change. It's not horribly cloudy, but I really like crystal clear water.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.