Help my otto please!

[Stacey269]

Help, I had 2 ottos. One I've had for a very long time, the other I just got about a month ago. The new one has all of a sudden died, and the old one is laying listless and has been for a couple of days. Can anyone tell me what is going on? All my chemicals are normal. I got the second one because the first one wasn't keeping up with the aglae growth. I have a 10-gal tank with 2 black mollies, 3 neon tetras, 1 catfish and 1 guppy. Are ottos particularly sensitive or anything, or does anyone know what the problem is?

 

[smithrc]

from what i've read its quite usual for ottos to give up and die

I bought 3 about 4 weeks back... lots 1 in 12hours and another 2 weeks later...

the one that was left just sat and sulked

I've since gone to a different shop and they checked ther computers and theirs had been in the shop for nearly 5 weeks... i bought 3 more and they are mad! loads more active that the others ever were... the lone one has now joined in and cheered up

They are a scocial fish and should be kept in groups so pick up a few more if you can -- hopefully the older one will cheerup a bit then

 

[J_acon]

I am not sure with your old Oto, it could be a disease that came with the new guy. Or maybe he is just sad.

Anway this guys are very delicate, many give up too easily. I was lucky that the 3 i bought are still alive. Usually i lose half the group i buy.

 

[tstenback]

Like smithrc mentioned these guys are social creatures and need to have company. Also they dont handle shipping very well. So find a place that has had them in the tank for a couple of weeks or more and then when you get them home take your time acclimating them to your tank. I have found, after many deaths, that if you take care picking them out at the LFS and then float them for a half hour or so then add some tank water to the bag and leave for another 15 mins and then add some more water and another 15 mins then quickly net them into the tank you will have better luck. But i believe the key point with these guys is how long have they been at the LFS. It seems to make a lot of difference in the success rate with these guys. Good Luck

 

[Stacey269]

Thanks for your response. My 2nd one died this morning. Why do ottos die so quickly? What is their normal life span?

 

[tstenback]

Here's a link that has an explanation of why ottos are sometiimes hard to keep alive. HTH

 

[Stacey269]

Thanks so much for that link of info. I'm guessing that maybe after adding the 2nd one, they both cleaned up the tank so well that maybe there wasn't much left for them to feed on. I wasn't think about adding algae wafers or anything. Maybe I should have. I didn't realize they were so hard to keep alive, as my first one had been fine for a long time. He just couldn't keep up with the growth, and the algae got way out of hand, so that's why I got the 2nd one. When I first got the 2nd one, he was eating like crazying while the 1st one just rested most of the time. Thanks. Now I know better for the future.

 

[smithrc]

I'm glad i got some more after the others died.... they are really great fish