Dead Oto

[Mikaila31]

I had 5 otos in my 55gal tank 2 of them i bought a couple of months ago 3 of them last friday. Today i got home and found one of them dead . It was floating at the top of the tank which is my main concern and it was one of the ones i bought on friday. Of the three i bought one of them was a little lighter in color but i didn't notice that until i got them home. I don't know if that is the on that died or not because they all look the same to me now . The other 2 that i bought on friday look fine but sometimes they dart up to the surface to get air which my older otos don't do. Does that mean there is something wrong with them?

 

[WILDER]

No they do dart up for air now and then, what are your water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, as being pale is a sign of stress.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35094

 

[Mikaila31]

Water stats:
ammonia - safe
Nitrate - 40
Nitrite - .5/1
ph - 7.2

My nitrite is high , don't know why though. what could of caused it to increase?, wednesday is water change day so should i just do a bigger water change to get rid of the nitrite?

 

[WILDER]

Has the tank cycled once, could be adding the new fish and your bacteria colony couldn't cope, but that explains the deaths and the one being pale, i would do an immediate water change, also read that for the survival of these fish they need live plants.

 

[Mikaila31]

yes the thank has cycled once when it was first setup about 7 months ago and i will go do the water change. I've never heard that they need live plants to two survive. i've just been told that they need alge and i always have some alge in my tank and i put cooked vegtables in the tank for them. Would that be good enough?

 

[Torrean]

Otto's die. It's normal, (but why they die isn't). How long (approx.) was he in the water after death. He could have caused the spike. How long after his death did you check your water stats. It seems odd that three little otto's could cause a dangerous NI spike in a 55. That's why I ask about how long he was dead.

 

[Mikaila31]

I was wondering that too, the last time i checked the tank was around 9:00 last night i fed them this morning, but i was running late so i didn't have any time to watch them/count them. I get home at around 3:00 in the afternoon, so at the very most he could of been in there for 18 hours . Also i thought i bought the 6 neons in the tank around 2 weeks ago, but i rechecked the calender and i guess i bought them 2 fridays ago. So that means i bought the neons then the ottos a week later. Did i give the tank enough time to adjust or did i add fish too fast?

 

[Torrean]

Oh didn't know anything about neons. I must've missed it. six neons and then three otto's in two weeks probably did cause the spike. My advice is to check your stats before you buy new fish. Especially if you've just gotten fish within the past month. If NI or AMMO exists then wait.

Are the neons ok? Any of them missing. They are fairly fragile fish too, or so i've heard.

Best thing to do know is a 25% water change. Check your stats in a couple days. If there is AMMO or NI or NA above 40-50 then do another water change. Don't do more than 25% in a day (or in my opinion within 3 days) With a fish tank it's best to go slow. It takes the fish a while to adjust to any changes caused by the water change. Alot of people apparently do 50% water changes regularly with discus and the more delicate fish, but that seems like a little bit of overkill to me.

 

[Mikaila31]

the neons r fine and seem to be OK, i did a water change and i will watch my water stats closely. And just a quick question if i got a spike in nitrite shouldn't i of gotten a spike in ammonia?

 

[Torrean]

You may have. How closely do you monitor your stats. It could have come and gone by now. Also perhaps ammo bacteria can process more or can reproduce more quickly than NI bacteria. SO it didn't show in your tests. Sorry for the non scientific names.

 

[Mikaila31]

I don't monitor my nitrite and nitrate that closely because i've never had a problem with them before. for ammonia i have this thing. I have one in each of my tanks i've gotten reading of my other one once before, but i added the one to my 55gal. after it cycled and haven't got a reading from it yet. i check the little thing every day so either it's not accurate or there wasn't one. also will i get more nitrites?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Mikaila31

Otos are very fragile little fish and the trick to keeping them alive and in good health is often buying ones that are that way to begin with. This is not always easy.

Here's a link to an old thread where another member had a similar problem. I think the answers there might give you some insight as to why some of your otos are doing well and others, from a different purchase, are not.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST&f=14&t=75879&st=0


Unless your 55 gallon tank is very unpopulated and therefore has very little beneficial bacteria to begin with, I don't know why the addition of a few neons and otos, over the period of two weeks, would cause much of a change in water parameters. These fish put very little strain on the system. Perhaps there is some other reason. Could you have accidentally forgotten to add dechlorinator, for example?

 

[AndyTaylor]

Ok, you need to get some test kits. I don't know about that ammonia indicator thing as I don't have one but my instinct tells me it's not working, or not accurate at least.
You can't say you've never had a problem with nitrates and nitrites if you don't test for them!
For a tank with no plants (is this right?) your nitrate is quite high at 40ppm, around 10 would be more like it.
Nitrite should read 0.
I have 10 or more ottos in my 45Gal....They've been in various tanks in the last few months before being moved to this one. They don't seem to need absolutely perfect water conditions but they are somewhat sensitive.
I don't know that they NEED live plants to survive but they're happier with them than without.
I would expect your neons to react badly to a spike before your ottos, TBH.....so i'm not sure whats going on.
Having said that, it's not unusual for otto's to die soon after being introduced to a tank, it hasn't happened to me but i believe that it does.
It could be that overfeeding caused a spike. How often do you feed, how much, what foods?
Keep up the water changes, keep testing the water and keep us posted on the results...

One last thing, what other fish do you have in the tank. My angels sometimes take a nip at my ottos and i'm sure they could kill them if they wanted too.....

 

[WILDER]

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...cincl/434_F.PHP

 

[Mikaila31]

ok i got a new test kit and here r my water stats:
ammonia - 0
nitrite - .25
nitrate in tap - 20
nitrate in tank - around 60

i think my other test kit was bad for nitrate because i normally got around 40 nitrate in the tank and 0-10 from the tap. I also bought some dechloranizer today, it says it also detoxifies nitrates and nitrites can i add it directly to the tank?. And i have some stuff called biozyme thats suppose to boost your biological filter should i also add some of this?.

The tank was lightly stocked with 3 long finned dainos, 1 swordtail, 2 corycats, 2 otos, and 2 sparkling gouramis before i got the new otos and neons. None of my fish every seem to bother me otos.