Otocinclus help...

[Fish are friends]

I have 3 Otocinclus in my tank, 2 are behaving normally this one is just sitting at the bottom of the tank and breathing really rapidly. No idea what to do. I first thought that there wasn’t enough algae in the tank so I bought some algae pellets which it didn’t touch and even when I put som cucumber into the tank, the other 2 found it but this one wasn’t interested. Any ideas what it could be.. I must add that I have had 3 fish die in the last 2 weeks 2 dwarf gourami and a platy. All from the same store. Water parameters are good. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 40 nitrates. All the other fish are feeding and acting normally.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Those trAtes are high...what kind of test kit do you use?
Which water conditioner?
How long has the tank been set up?

 

[Fish are friends]

Those trAtes are high...what kind of test kit do you use?
Which water conditioner?
How long has the tank been set up?

The nitrates from my tap water are at 80ppm and I’ve just done a test and I’d say they are about 20ppm (been a while since I did a nitrate test and I have a nitrate reducing filter pad in the filter) the tank is about 6 weeks old and fairly heavily planted. Did a clean and water change today. The test kit is the API master test kit and the conditioner is API tap water conditioner.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Otos can be hard fish to keep for very long, they CONSTANTLY forage on algae in the wild, are usually wild-caught, and usually starving by the time they reach your LFS...which may not have the right tanks algae-wise to keep them healthy until they are sold...

 

[mbsqw1d]

Has a very sunken belly so hasnt been eating. They are tricky fish to keep, they dont always respond to algae wafers and prefer biofilm.. if it doesnt eat soon I doubt you'll save it im afraid

 

[Fish are friends]

Has a very sunken belly so hasnt been eating. They are tricky fish to keep, they dont always respond to algae wafers and prefer biofilm.. if it doesnt eat soon I doubt you'll save it im afraid

The crazy thing is the wood in my tank has biofilm all over it. unfortunately I can’t force it to eat..?

 

[JemZ]

The crazy thing is the wood in my tank has biofilm all over it. unfortunately I can’t force it to eat..?

It's a tough one. I had a couple of Otos.... they mainly cleaned the glass and when that ran out, both starved. I scattered algae wafer pieces in different places in the tank, including right in front of them, and yet they still didn't eat.

 

[mark4785]

You said the Oto is breathing quickly. Did your other fish die soon after breathing quickly too?

 

[Naughts]

A mature tank of 6+ months is best for otos so that they have a stable natural food supply. It's also important to have a tank large enough to provide the algae and biofilm that can support a shoal. We can increase the lighting to encourage algae growth for them to feed on. When an oto has not eaten for a long time (often after capture, in transit and in the store), the bacteria in the gut die off and it is thought that this can cause the oto to starve, even when homed in a suitable tank. The microorganisms in the gut are a crucial part of an otos digestive function.

The fact that other species have died though, suggests that there is a disease or contaminant in the water. Do the effected fish have any other symptoms? What is the temperature? What is the GH? Have ammonia or nitrite been present previously?

 

[Essjay]

The nitrates from my tap water are at 80ppm

Nitrate testers are notoriously inaccurate especially if not used properly - are you shaking bottle #2 and then the tube as the directions say?

What does the water quality report on your water company's website give your nitrate as? The highest level permitted in the UK is 50 ppm.

 

[Fish are friends]

The fact that other species have died though, suggests that there is a disease or contaminant in the water. Do the effected fish have any other symptoms? What is the temperature? What is the GH? Have ammonia or nitrite been present previously?

It’s a fairly new tank, less than 2 months old. He other fish that died were 2 dwarf gourami’s and a platy. No obvious signs of disease or symptoms and all the other fish are behaving normally. Ammonia and nitrite were present in the cycling process. Not sure what the GH value is but we live in a hard water area.

Nitrate testers are notoriously inaccurate especially if not used properly - are you shaking bottle #2 and then the tube as the directions say?

What does the water quality report on your water company's website give your nitrate as? The highest level permitted in the UK is 50 ppm.

I sit there with a stopwatch and time the shaking of the bottle and tube precisely. I know we have a fair amount of agricultural land around us and I think the nitrate is on the maximum but when I test it it’s hard to differentiate between 40 and 80 so it is probably 50ppm

 

[Naughts]

It’s a fairly new tank, less than 2 months old. He other fish that died were 2 dwarf gourami’s and a platy. No obvious signs of disease or symptoms and all the other fish are behaving normally. Ammonia and nitrite were present in the cycling process. Not sure what the GH value is but we live in a hard water area.


I sit there with a stopwatch and time the shaking of the bottle and tube precisely. I know we have a fair amount of agricultural land around us and I think the nitrate is on the maximum but when I test it it’s hard to differentiate between 40 and 80 so it is probably 50ppm

If you have cycled the tank with fish in, losses would be expected.
Hard water is not suitable for otos and I advise against purchasing any more.
You can research fish requirements on SeriouslyFish.

 

[Fish are friends]

It was a planted fishless cycle which took about 3 weeks. even when I added the first fish I monitored the levels with no spike. I’m running the boyu EF35 and is a 250l tank so the filter can handle it.. thing I don’t understand is that the LFS sells the ottos and they are in the same water area.

 

[mbsqw1d]

It was a planted fishless cycle which took about 3 weeks. even when I added the first fish I monitored the levels with no spike. I’m running the boyu EF35 and is a 250l tank so the filter can handle it.. thing I don’t understand is that the LFS sells the ottos and they are in the same water area.

LFS will sell as many type of fish as they can stock, or at least the most popular.
Unfortunately for us, LFS are very much in it for the £££ rather than welfare of the fish. Your LFS might keep their Ottos in RO water although I doubt it. Fact it, LFS lose a lot of Ottos themselves but they're cheap for them to buy and they always do well at selling with the 'algae eater' pitch.

 

[Fish are friends]

I kinda figured that’s the case because it’s a franchise. I’ll go to a small independent store I found where the tanks are spotless and have a chat. The Otto died so that’s 4 fish from the same store in the last 2 weeks.