floating bloated oto

[jollysue]

I bought 8 otos Friday night. One was having trouble; got him eating; seemed better. Today (my Monday morning he is floating, bloated, red nose. I have him in a hang on hospital. Should I do anything for the remaining fish (or him actually?)

 

[WILDER]

Only thing you can do is try him on some shelled peas and daphnia, is his anus red and inflamed.

 

[jollysue]

Hi Wilder

His front section is red. There is a red spot about where his anus might be.

Do they eat daphnia? I have jared Zooplankton I have been mixing it in with brine shrimp and bloodworms for everone but the otos. I have given Hikari algae pieces to them, They were at them at first but I started puting in grungy decore from my other tanks. they've cleaned them right up and ignored the wafers.

This one started on the bottom of the tank upside down the first day. I put him on a piece of wafer. He started licking it and slowly started to revive.

I'm worried about the rest of them.

Wilder, I think he's a goner. I'm going to take him to my lfs and see if they can id. But let me know what you think. I'll be back in about an hour.

 

[WILDER]

I would issolate him just to make sure he hasn't got internal parasites, can you see anything prutruding from the anus, also the red area does it looking like bleeding underneath the skin.

 

[jollysue]

Hi Wilder.

I did isolate him right away when I saw he was in trouble.

The lfs guy, who is one that has some experience, said that it looked like constipation. He was gone by the time I got there. I couldn't see anything protruding. The fish guy couldn't see anything that suggested desease. He said that it happens. I thought maybe when he got here he was starving. I fed him algae wafers, which revived him. But they were too much in his fasting and weakened state for him to digest properly. So he bloated.

On the other hand I will watch for parasites with the other seven. Let me know what to watch for. He didn't look red in the face by the time I got him to the lfs.

I will blanch and peal some frozen peas this morning before I go to bed. (It is actually afer 12 noon here and after my bed time.)

Too bad I didn't give him peas when suggested before he started licking the wafer. I didn't see a need then. I am one who needs to know why. )

Let me know my next step. I let the lfs take care of the little guy. They looked him over real good.

Of course all this assumes it's the same oto that was ill before.

I drowned my sorrow and celebrated probably no desease by buying an Amazon Sword mother plant for $10, what about seven pounds sterling?

 

[WILDER]

Red inflamed anus, worms prutruding from the anus, can be bloated or sunken skinny look, don't panic though it could of been constipation, but the red area's are not normal so i would observe the others one's, red patches on the stomach could of been septicemia to, sounds like he could of had a bacteria infection resulting in a second infection septicemia.Good luck.

 

[jollysue]

The stomach didn't look at all red. None now have red stomachs. Haven't seen any red anus on remaining fellows. I am assuming the anus is the spot at the base of the tail. I think I see where the gills are. Not sure what they should look like. No scary red any place they have let me get a good look at.

I put some mashed peas in. They all went to the filter. I suppose the oto who wants some will go lick the filter. They do go sit on the filter grill sometimes in the eclipse. The unmashed ones do go sit on the bottom. Can I just nuke them whole and drop them in?

I suppose it is silly to ask if there is any preventative?

Thanks, again, Wilder

 

[WILDER]

I would just do some daily water changes for now and observe them for a while, peas pop out of shell for smaller fish mush in between your fingers and add to the tank, good luck.

 

[jollysue]

Hi Wilder: Just to update: The remaining seven otos look good. I haven't seen any red butts or wiggly things. Their color looks good. I don't see anything suspicious. They couldn't be less interested in the pea.

But now the little Marthae Silvers have dropped like flies. They have been hiding in a floating plant. And the tank is in an awkward spot to see. Sigh! I called the shipper/supplier. He gave me credit for seven hatchetts. I have four left. He said not to do anymore water changes. Just test the water daily and do a 10% change if there was a problem with the water. He said the water changes disturb the developing bacteria. I think he said it could cause cycling to continue, and an ammonia spike to occur.

My water parameters by the way are testing ok. He said shipping in summer can be a problem. It has been over a 100-105 for many weeks here, even at night.

He told me to get some garlic stuff to soak their food in.

An excellent supplier to work with.

I think the red nose on the oto may have been related to thier pink sucker mouth

Thanks, again for your interest.

 

[WILDER]

Good luck, heard of using garlic for internal parasites.

 

[jollysue]

He said it helped stimulate appitite Maybe you can use the info. He suggested some brand name for soaking food in.

My otos still seem fine. I mastered the pea !!!

The BN are still fine. Most of any wafers or tabs are gone in the morning.

All the hatchets died. Water still testing good. I have to call again.

Hopefully thar's all. I've never lost fish like that. One here or there, never all at once. Sigh