I've Lost Two Otos

[Mikaila31]

I bought three otos about a week ago, i've had three in my thank for a couple of months. All of them were acting fine until 2 days ago i found one dead(it had been dead for awhile). I checked my nitrates and nitrites and they where normal. Then tonight at 8:00 another one died i don't know if it was one of the ones i bought on friday or not. It had died very recently and it looked perfectly fine i examined it but i still can't find anything wrong with it .
I put the tank on a anti-bacterial fishfood went the first oto died. I'm also concerned that another oto has some red at the bottom of one of it's side fins , it's acting normal and eating though.

i know these can be sensitive fish, so could they of die from the adjustment into the tank or is something wrong with them?

 

[steelhealr]

Sorry for your loss. Oto's die. Some have very good luck with them. There are lots of posts on this if you search it out.....a common theory is that they lose the ability to digest some foods.

Overall, I think they are not easy fish to keep. Some may differ. In the marine world, we generally list the fish as easy, moderate, difficult, expert. If I had to rate oto's based on MY experience, I'd list them as moderate to difficult to keep. Try a true siamese flying fox. Much easier in my opinion if you are looking for an algae eater. SH

 

[love_fish]

Sometimes otos die from no good reason, even when they appear healthy.

 

[Torrean]

I can't give you a source on this cause it's been a long time since i've read it but I believe part of the problem with ottos is how they are caught. I think they put some kinda sedative in the water to slow them down. Then they scoop them up. Another issue is that they are not fed properly once in stores and especially during shipping and the bacteria in there stomachs die. So they can't digest anything.

 

[Nina]

We have managed to successfully keep three ottos (out of about eight) for about a year now. The others died over a few weeks from when they were first introduced into the tanks.

I have been told that when buying ottos you should make sure that they are in the LFS for as long as possible before buying them as when they are transported they lose their ability to digest their food as Torrean said.

When they are in your tank they do appear to eat and look healthy but their stomaches become shurnken and then they die for what appears to be no apparent reason. They should have nice round tummys.

With the ones we have had it appears to be complete hit and miss on them. Some we have been lucky with the others not so.