Good Bacteria Up The Yinyang Oo

[soritan]

So, about a week ago, I tried my hand at a single otto. I know, I know, 'mature tank', but I had read that what they needed was a cycled tank, not a mature tank. He was very skittish and unhappy, I never asked about him because all my searches on google and the forum gave me enough info to realize there wasn't much I could do but wait.

He had a stress spot on his head, which was normal. The second day I owned him, he developed a red patch on his side, near his left eye. I rarely saw him, because he always hid under my bogwood, however I'd occasionally see him at 'night' sucking the glass. One day I caught a good look at him, and the red spot hadn't gone away, but the stress spot had, so I wasn't worried as he was simply acting stressed, not sick.

Then, one day, He swam out from under the bogwood, erratically, was bloated as he had never been before, and died right as I watched.


Honestly, I knew he didn't have a great shot at life, as he was in a new shipment at my LPS, and ottos have a reputation for being hard to acclimate. I added him after a water change and did the whole and-and-remove gig with his water for an hour and fifteen minutes.

When I went to go and remove him, after making sure he was dead, he had vanished entirely. I thought maybe the current got him and I'd find him after a bit of searching, he never reappeared.

AAAAaand, today I found him. He appeared right on top of my filter. Rotty, of course, and a little picked.

I checked my ammonia and nitrite levels, then, to make sure that not finding him all these days hadn't effected my tank...

ammonia and nitrites, 0ppm.




Ottos are on my very short list of fish to add to my tank next month, I'm thinking of getting 3. I hope I fare better this time, and I'm doubting wether or not I ought to get 'em at all -- as my tank isn't 'mature', it's just 'cycled'.

But man.

I'm impressed with my bacteria.

 

[Dubby]

Ottos are on my very short list of fish to add to my tank next month, I'm thinking of getting 3. I hope I fare better this time, and I'm doubting wether or not I ought to get 'em at all -- as my tank isn't 'mature', it's just 'cycled'.

But man.

I'm impressed with my bacteria.

Its sad to hear about your experience with the Otto. If you are keeping the Otto to help rid the algae, then why not try some other algae eaters? SAE, shrimp, etc.

 

[modernhamlet]

In my experience, otos should be at the LFS for at least 2 weeks before you purchase them. Having them go from importer tank > shipper > LFS tank > your car > Your tank within a short period is a recipe for dead otos.

I put 4 otos into a heavily planted tank within 2 weeks of setting it up and didn't have any problems. I'm convinced it was because of a) good stock from a good LFS and; b) they were the last 4 otos and had been there for a month.

 

[soritan]

Thanks. I know I hit 'post' and suddenly wondered what I'd done. *laugh* I don't know, I thought it was impressive I had 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites in there... it didn't occur to me that the post itself was a little tacky until after I hit 'enter'.

I might try my hand at ottos again next month. My tank will be a shade more mature, and I'll have lots more plants.

I know about the 2 week thing... I'm just not sure that it's possible for me to do here. My lps gets ottos often, and I am unable to point at certian fish and say, "that one." They aren't keen on that sort of treatment.

I am also debating the cherry shrimps or malasyain trumpet snails. The only problem with the shrimps is, I have so many already. Vacuuming my gravel while 3 curious ghost shrimps chase you about is already enough fun for me, adding small cherry shrimp might be too much excitment for my system. And if malasyian trumpet snails burrow, wouldn't that make water changes all the more difficult?

I liked ottos. I don't really have enough algea in there to feed 3, but I kinda suspect they'd be happier if I got 3, as opposed to one. I think part of my other ottos problem is, he was seperated from a large 'shoal' of 20, and was the only fish in that 10gal tank. Whenever he saw me he'd make a mad dash for the bogwood. I couldn't get within 2 feet of my tank without him spotting me and racing away.

 

[rdd1952]

Otos are notorious for just dying for no apparent reason. I have lost so many I won't buy any more. They are cute little fish and I love to see them tear into a leaf covered in algae but hate losing them. The 2 week thing is true. The main reason for that is that all otos are live caught and have traveled quite a ways. The stress is too much most of the time. Siamese algae eaters are great (make sure you don't get the look-a-likes that don't eat algae) and so are amano shrimp although they may not work with certain types of fish (they will become lunch).

As for getting more than one and not having enough algae, they love veggies like cucumbers and zuchini. the only problem I had though was that once I started giving them the occasional (once or twice a week), they quit eating algae.

 

[soritan]

Yup, I had read up on ottos before getting one. It's pretty much impossible for me to get an otto locally and know that it's been around for 2 weeks, so I sucked in, and got myself one. I came that close to getting two, before I chickened out.

 

[rdd1952]

One thing I forgot to comment on in my previous post was the malasian trumpet snails. They really don't effect the water changes at all other than if you over feed wyour fish, you will end up with a population explosion of them and be doing w/c a couple times a week to keep the water clear and the nitrate levels low. I went through that and had to complete change the sand to get rid of them.

They reason most people like them is that they do bore in the sand and keep it from becoming compacted and also keep gas pockets from building up. They are heavy enough that most gravel vacuums won't suck them up. You can however take the big end off the vacuum and just use the hose and it will suck up anything that gets near the end, including snails, fish and plants. It's amazing how much of a suction that creates.

 

[soritan]

actually, by 'water change', I meant 'gravel vac' (sorry about that), I imagine I'd accidently suck up quite a few in a 10gal tank.