Dilemma With New Ottos

[snazy]

A few days ago I bought 3 ottos and a baby albino bristlenose pleco.
I was going to put them in my 30 gallon tank with a few platies and guppies and 3 pygmy corys but on the way back home, when looking at the bag of fish I noticed one of the ottos had a yellow/reddish sore on its belly. On top of that, my car broke down and had to be picked up by the insurance company so I just couldn't even go back to the shop. The poor guys spent a few good hours in the bag.
I was afraid to put them in my 30G, so I chucked them in with my new betta who was bought from the same shop in somewhat poor condition and I thought I should quarantine them although I don't do that with all fish. The problem is that there isn't algae in this tank and the poor guys don't seem to eat anything else. The tank is also a small 7g and is not established, just cycled a couple of weeks ago with mature media from my other tanks, so it is highly unsuitable for them. At least I found out that the picky betta that refused to eat other food, actually went mad for algae tablets, cory wafers and cucumber!!!

I am afraid that if I keep them in this tank for quarantine purposes the ottos will die of starvation or stress. They are not active during the day and I am not sure how active they should be. They hang around on the glass or a leave, however they do perk up in the evening when I turn the lights off. The betta is not paying any attention to them at all so at least that fear is off my chest.

Although one of the guys as I mentioned previously has a sore on his belly that is not reddish anymore and looks to be healing. There are no ill effects on the other fish from what I can tell and their tails and fins are in very good condition bar the betta who came with missing bits of his tail but I am certain now he doesn't have fin rot. So what do I do? Do I move them to the 30G, would that stress them again? Or should I leave them for a couple of weeks in the betta tank to make sure they are not sick or anything? I don't want to kill the poor guys but I don't want to kill the fish in the 30G either?

 

[Baccus]

Do you have any live plants in with the fighter? if so the oto's might be having a nibble on that. Also do you have even some fake plants in your other tank that might be growing some algae that you could put in with the fighter for the otos to clean for you? I know the conditons in the fighter tank are not ideal for the oto's but it would be best to ensure they are healthy and fighting fit before unleashing them into your main tank, maybe you could look at keeping the otos in with the fighter for just 2 weeks and then all going well move them across to the main tank. Usually if any illness is going to rear its head you will see the onset within the two weeks. Also by keeping them in with the fighter for a week or two you can encourage the otos to feed trying all sorts of vege tid bits and make sure they are eating well rather than have them starve to death in the main tank.

 

[snazy]

There are live plants in the 7g tank and I moved another big live plant from one of my tanks this morning to give them more cover at least. They are all hanging on the plants at the moment. I can see them from time to time sucking something on the glass and I saw one of them pooping(He must be eating something then?) They are not touching anything I put in the tank though. I tried peas today as well. I hope there is microscopic algae that I can't see on the plants or the glass. This tank is next to the window and hopefully will grow algae fast. The tank I intend to put them in used to have a bit of algae which cleared up itself So I would need to supplement them with food anyway. I am thinking I probably have to hang the veg on the glass instead of on the floor for them to eat? They don't seem to be bottom feeders?

 

[snazy]

A bit of a progress with the food. I put a piece of broccoli and I managed to hang it on the glass. I found one of the ottos sleeping on ti. He left it for a while and then went back to it. The other two ottos are yet to discover it I think though but still.....
The betta turns out to be a right pig. He eats peas too

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Quarantining newly purchased fish is not just about trying to ensure the new stock does not infect the existing fish in the main tank(s), it is also about ensuring the new ones are able to eat without minimal competition or agro from well established fish. This is especially true for fish like Otos, that are as good as starved from when caught until they arrive in the fish store, where they still do not always get suitable rations to give them a healthy little plump belly.

I recently bought some new stock, including some "ugly duckling" Euchilichthys spp. suckermouth catfish from the Zaire River, who were put in my recently freed up Rio240 as a quarantine period. I was trying all sorts of food, getting more and more concerned, because their bellies were so hollow. I then noticed a tankmate was "flicking," so I dosed the tank with Esha Exit which treats Ich and similar protozoa, prompting these guys to eat for the first time in 10 days... Now they do not hold back at all when food is added and will be shortly moved to my 5x2x2 providing all continues to be well.

 

[snazy]

The guy in the shop said they were there for 4 weeks before I bought them. Not sure if it's bad or good as they may as well have starved for that period of time, who knows. He had them all in different tanks. The tanks are quite dirty and definately had algae which is unusual for fish shops and was a plus for the ottos I guess.

One of them has a bruise on its belly as I mentioned before which concerns me a lot and I have no idea what it is. I think he was injured. But he is actually the most active of the three ottos and it doesn't seem to bother him at the moment. I have no idea whether he needs treatment or what to treat with, and is it not gonna stress all of them if I do treat. It could as well be bacterial, or maybe not as it's getting better, I think.... I lost my camera charger, just ordered another one so if they are still alive in a few days, I'll upload some pictures. I keep looking at their bellies, if anything, they are not yet sunken. The biggest one of the three is the less active and more skittish. He gave me a scare yesterday when he was hanging on the coconut face down with his mouth in the sand. I really thought he was dying but he's been fine since, swam away normally and perfectly hanging on the edge of a leaf without being knocked down by the filter flow.
I siphoned a lot of poop today(easy to see on the sand) so someone is making a lot of it. I suspected the baby pleco, but he is 2cm long, 1cm wide(though it wouldn't surprise me if it's all his )but I noticed one of the ottos pooping yesterday the same colour so they maybe finding something to eat I hope. So far, they are absolutely not active during the day but get a bit better at night.

 

[snazy]

The one with the bruise on its belly died. Found it today, some of the other fish seemed to had eaten its insides. There was a hole in its belly
I've got the feeling the other two won't last either. Two ottos and the pleco left.The betta had done a bubble nest. I damaged it with the water change

 

[snazy]

Well, not going well....Another otto found dead today. One left.

 

[xingumike]

Sorry to hear, it was unlikely to end well putting them in a new, small tank.

 

[snazy]

Sorry to hear, it was unlikely to end well putting them in a new, small tank.

Yeah, I agree. Wonder if they would have survived if I put them in one of my older tanks instead but too late now?I still have the one left that I can move but I don't know if they died from stress or sickness.

The strange thing is that the surviving otto was a bit different in colour than the other two from the start, more brownish rather than the black/greyish ones that died. I thought he was the most likely one to die first as he was the less active of the three too.
The one that died, spent his last few hours on a cucumber I had hanging but I guess he was not eating it.

The pleco is flying it so far, got in an argument with the betta over an algae wafer, the betta won and he went on to munch the cucumber instead.

 

[Cazgar]

Sadly Oto's are already stressed & possibly starving before making it to an Lfs.
They really need to be introduced to an established mature tank as they can take a while to be introduced to wafers or greens such as courgette or cucumber, & often starve to death as they don't eat plants & need a reliable algae source to start with, you can grow some for them on a sunny window ledge
Also when feeding wafers, always add them to the same place as they eventually realise it's food

 

[snazy]

The third one is still alive, but can't really see it eating or moving too much besides when it gets scared. It's probably starving itself to death but I can't make myself move it to my other tanks in case they were sick or carry something I can't see. I really don't have high hopes for it, poor little thing. If he is alive in a week, I'll move him. The pleco and betta are doing fine though.

 

[Cazgar]

I don't hold out too much hope for the remaining one, they stress very easily & being on it's own won't help.

 

[snazy]

I don't hold out too much hope for the remaining one, they stress very easily & being on it's own won't help.

I give up. Don't know if they'll be enough algae in my other tanks to keep it going but honestly, this one hasn't even tried checking for algae by the looks of it. It was the less active of the three and from the moment I put it in, it attached itself to the coconut and is spending most of its time there.
Maybe they need higher flow too? I've increased the flow in the betta tank to the max but it's nothing compared to my other tanks. The only other thing is temperature, I have it at 27 C because of the betta.
I am not even convinced that moving it to another tank will not stress it even more now.

 

[Cazgar]

27 is a bit high for Oto's
Mine are at 24 with a gentle filter flow
Tbh putting them in a non mature tank is the main problem
Any google research tells you that they are sensitive & need mature tanks