Otto trouble

[cobb12]

I just have a single betta and i decided to go get an 2 ottos to go with it today. So i went to pets mart and picked out to tiny ottos(since im pretty sure they work better in pairs) and while she was trying to grab one out of the tank some type of catfish swam over and ate it... bummer. So i went home with one since those 2 were all they had. I started the drip acclimation after floating him in my tank to adjust temp. I left him in there for 1 and 50 mins and was about to take him out when he flipped upside down and died.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what i did wrong or why he could have died.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

1st question what is your PH? Is the store where you got them have the same PH?(ask them). I called all the LFS and LPS around me to see if they used tap water and what teh PH was, luckily everyone is the same as mine(8.0)

I know from some reading that many people have had trouble acclimating otto's. One guy said he had like 8/10 die. He said that he attributed it to the people chasing them around with nets trying to catch them and stressing them out. Then he said the next 4-5 he got he told the people that he was not going to buy them if they did not quickly net it with 2 nets, they all survived. I was looking at these recently and most of the posts are from a couple years ago(since 2005-now) and lots and lots of people had issues with them. I'm not sure if they have been breed in aquariums yet as last I saw they were wild caught, so thats part of it.

Its also recommended to have 2max in a 10g, because they eat algae so you should have a good bit of algae supply, so a tank that has been up for awhile.

Personally I would try to look into corry's, unless you having algae issues

 

[cobb12]

how many corys should i put in my 10 gl. to keep them happy

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

3-4, if you your only going to have the Betta and corry's then you may be able to do 5( I would not add all at once), if you are trying to pack more other fish in then just get 3. Now I'm talking about small ones 2" full size, like panda or pygmy corry's, a couple other are pretty small.

Check here for good info
Home • PlanetCatfish

The betta may very well not like other fish, just be prepared, many say if you want a betta with other fish, add the betta last. But you can move decorations and keep the lights off while adding the new fish to help.

 

[cobb12]

thanks for the info

 

[haykay]

I have 2 ottos in with my betta, I was aprehinsive to purchase them do to all the hyp. around them. But i bit the bullet and did.. my ph is 1 degree higher than the stores, and a bit harder (not much at all though) I took them home after they were netted fairly quickley floated them for 15minutes, and then added 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag until it was full, dumped half the bag and did it again (adding every 5 minutes) then netted them out again and into my tank (qt) they went. have grown a ton and kept bettas tank virtually clear of all the algea he was growing..
They are wild caught and there for hard to work with and MUCT be QTd so as not to bring any nastys to your tank, more worisome than even tank breds.. really a must with ALL wild fish (and anything you put in you tank be in flora or fauna)

Small cories will be a great investment also so it's all up to you cories tend to be much easier and I never see my ottos unless i am looking..hard

 

[saffikeagan]

My LFS guy recommended that I take my Betta out of the tank for a day or two when I added some White Clouds because he was chasing them around incessantly. It's a good thing they swim faster than he does. So I would definitely suggest hiding places or fast swimmers if he's already in the tank...I don't know how fast the Ottos and Corys swim.

 

[haykay]

my ottos move like lightning and hide incredibly well, cories can also move fast but not the best hiders

 

[new2betas]

I have a 10g tank with one male betta and three peppered cories. At first, my betta chased them and bullied them, but they have lots of hiding places and I feed them in a separate part of the tank than my betta. For the most part, they now live in harmony. Every once in a while I will see a cory completely invade my bettas space or vice versa and he will chase one of them....but not near as bad as he did at first.