Trouble with Otto

[Moe]

I have a 20G heavily planted tank it is about a year old. I am having trouble keeping ottos in the tank every time I get some they die within a month or so. I try to keep three in the tank but rarely have more that one live one. All levels are fine and all other fish are fine. ph is a bit high 7.6. I occasionally put malifix in the tank could that be it? They don't die right after I put the malifix in so I don't think that is the problem. I feed algae pellets but I've never seen the otto eating them. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Sasha]

I have 3 ottos in my tank and they do fine. I try feeding them algae tables, but they ignore and let the fish eat them. The pH in my tank is 7.0. Maybe the Malifix is the problem, but I'm not sure!

 

[Mustang5L5]

Feed them at night. I usually toss in some algae disks for my cleanup crew about 30 mins after lights out. This way all the other fish go to "sleep". Nighttime is when the ottos really go to town and it's when my snails go to work as well. I've turned on the lights a few times to see the ottos swarming a disk at night.

DOn't feel bad about losing ottos. They are pretty sensitive fish when you first get them. I lost 1 out of 6 that i bought. If they live a few months they usually live for a while

 

[cutechic]

Otos are really hard to acclimate to new tanks. I've read countless articles that say unless you have water conditions extremely close to what the otos were living in at the lfs, they probably will die.

I spend 4-5 hours acclimatizing otos to their new tank, so they have plenty of time to adjust. I also add a bit of water conditioner, which is supposed to help with stress.

Providing caves and plenty of plants will help the otos adjust once they're in their new home. Too many fish and too few hiding places can stress them out even more if they're new to the tank.

P.S. I feed my otos right before I go to bed, once all the lights are out. That way, my greedy platies don't eat the algae wafers!

 

[cherrybarbbaby]

Yup- I have platies to and they are greedy!
When I put my algae waffers in for my ottos, if they are awake-4-get it.
Not to mention if I put in a piece of veggie! That piece of veggie gets tossed around the tank like a ping pong.
I always worry about my little ottos becasue everyone(my platies and barbs) steals their food

 

[susangc]

After my betta divebombed my oto's algae tab, I started feeding the betta in the morning and the oto at night

Susan

 

[Moe]

I do feed algae tabs at night. I've never seen the otto go near them. I turn off the lights, wait 1/2 hour and drop in an two algae tabs. My pleco finds one, the other will just melt. The otto don't go near it. I may just give up if this last otto dies.

 

[cherrybarbbaby]

have you tried Veggies, I hear they love zuccini!
I put a piece in and by morning their was nothing left but the skin,
But its hard to tell who ate what in my tank.

 

[cutechic]

Me too. I've never actually seen my otos eat anything I've given them, but they're still alive today so they must be getting something!