oto caught in breeders net

[smilla4]

I'm not quite sure how he did it. I managed to cut him loose, but there's still a piece stuck to his nose. I think he's still capable of eating, but I would have liked to trim the piece down a bit more, it was kinda hard with him struggling. He seems pretty freaked out, lying in the corner panting rapidly, and I'm worried about him.

 

[savga]

Oto's have tiny backward pointing spines all over their bodies, and they seem to stick to nets like velcro. Let him recover a little, but then I think you should try to get that piece of net of of him. You might get it to unhook by gently tugging it toward the tail of the fish, then out to get it off the spines. Be careful and good luck!

 

[smilla4]

Well I managed to catch him and tried gently tugging on the net a little as you suggested, but it seems like it's on there pretty good. Think there's any chance that it will fray apart work itself out on its own? In the meantime I guess all I can do is keep an eye on him and see if it loosens up a little and try again... thanks for the help btw.

 

[flipz]

I had the same thing happen to my columbian shark the day i got her! 8O one of her barbs got caught in the net. what i ended up having to do was put her in a shallow bowl, and use tweezers to gently pull it off.

she didn't use that fin for a little bit, but a couple days later she was perfectly fine! good luck

-brent

 

[smilla4]

I'm happy to report when I had checked the tank this morning I found neither of my otos had a net attached to its nose.