Need help quick with Otocinclus catfish

[princess lady]

Hi everybody
I will put info on my profile and intruduce myself later. I'm in a hurry right now. But I will tell you about my tank it is a 10 gallon quarantine tank and it has been cycled for 3 weeks. The temp is 80,ph is at 7.6, ammonia 0,nitrite and nitrate is 10. I also do a water change of 25% every week the last water change was yesterday and I use tetra aqua safe plus. I have floating plastic plants and 2 decorations in the tank no rocks and I'm running a aqua clear 20 that is hanging on the back for filteration. I only have 4 fish in the tank which includes 1 small young Otocinclus catfish, 1 female drawf gourami, and 2 long fin serpae tetra. My question is it normal for young Otocinclus to poop white it is not stringy and it looks like normal poop except it is white in color.
I just bought him yesterday and his color looks great and he is very active and eating and pooping like crazy I also put a slice of zucchini in there for him yesterday he ate on it some but that is it. I did heat it some to get it soft it is also in a veggie clip on side of tank. When I bought him his belly was not sunken in but he was slim not fat.
This is my first time in keeping these little critters so I do not know much about them I have been reading the internet even before I bought one but I haven't found much on poop. I know if my other fish have white poop it is a sign of internal parasites is this true with Otocinclus catfish to? Do you guys think it could be a parasite b/c I have also noticed he has been eating but still looks skinny?
I also need a medicine that does not kill my biological and that I can use on Otocinclus I have Prazi pro will that work it is not old. Please help soon I do not what him to die. I like them very much they are so cute and plan on getting 2 more for a 44 gallon later on. Thanks in advance for any help and advice I have to go now but I will be back on later to see if I have any replies so I can get him treated if he needs to be as soon as possible.

 

[jlk]

Hi & welcome!!! Is the only thing your noticing odd about him is his poop? If he only ate zucchini (which is white except for the skin), he may be just pooping zucchini. Try feeding him something with a more definite color to it & see what happens. If he continues with the stange poop, treating with prazi is safe for everyone & will not harm your bacteria. Good luck!

 

[HN1]

Welcome to AA!

I would caution you against medicating with anything right now. If anything, move him to a QT and treat for internal parasites. Otos frequently come in "weak" and diseased. They are just about all wild caught and have a large loss rate (die a lot in route to end customer/soon after purchase). Your best bet will be to keep your water as clean as possible and hope your oto eats well. Don't mean to be a downer at all, JMO. Good luck!

 

[princess lady]

Hi & welcome!!! Is the only thing your noticing odd about him is his poop? If he only ate zucchini (which is white except for the skin), he may be just pooping zucchini. Try feeding him something with a more definite color to it & see what happens. If he continues with the stange poop, treating with prazi is safe for everyone & will not harm your bacteria. Good luck!

Yes that I can tell he is swimming around the tank right now like crazy he has also ate some more of the zucchini. But he was pooping white when I got him even before he ate the zucchini. Ok I will see if he will eat some algae wafers tomorrow. I sure hope he isn't sick he is such a cute little bugger. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[princess lady]

Welcome to AA!

I would caution you against medicating with anything right now. If anything, move him to a QT and treat for internal parasites. Otos frequently come in "weak" and diseased. They are just about all wild caught and have a large loss rate (die a lot in route to end customer/soon after purchase). Your best bet will be to keep your water as clean as possible and hope your oto eats well. Don't mean to be a downer at all, JMO. Good luck!

He is already in a quarantine tank. I will try feeding him some algae wafers tomorrow and see if his poop changes color if it doesn't I will go ahead and treat the tank with Prazi-pro. I change 25% of water every week do I need to up that since the readings are ammonia 0,nitrite 0,nitrate 10. Oh I know your just telling me like it is so don't feel bad for that. Thank you so much for your help.....

 

[Phranque]

Unfortunately, Otos are very delicate fish. And HN1 is right, they do have a relatively high mortality rate compared to others since they are stressed so easily. The big hurdle is one month.... if you can get tham to go longer than that, you're usually out of the woods. I bought four Otos about six weeks ago, and everyone seemed to be doing just fine, but one of them died after about three weeks with no obvious signs of stress whatsoever..... just happens.
The hard thing about Otos is that they need to go into well established tanks with some algae growth, or they may starve to death, even if they appear to be eating zuchini & tablets. Also, QT'ing them is a catch-22..... you don't want to risk bringing something into your main tank, but it's yet another move and continued stress, which is reducing their chances.

 

[princess lady]

Unfortunately, Otos are very delicate fish. And HN1 is right, they do have a relatively high mortality rate compared to others since they are stressed so easily. The big hurdle is one month.... if you can get tham to go longer than that, you're usually out of the woods. I bought four Otos about six weeks ago, and everyone seemed to be doing just fine, but one of them died after about three weeks with no obvious signs of stress whatsoever..... just happens.
The hard thing about Otos is that they need to go into well established tanks with some algae growth, or they may starve to death, even if they appear to be eating zuchini & tablets. Also, QT'ing them is a catch-22..... you don't want to risk bringing something into your main tank, but it's yet another move and continued stress, which is reducing their chances.

Oh no that isn't good. He sure is eating a lot of zucchini though but I'm going to remove it tonight it has been in there since yesterday don't want it to rot. The tank has been cycled for 1 month I sure hope he makes it. The tank has some algae in it but I don't think it was enough but although he sure is a tiny young little feller. Will they still starve when eating other things like zucchini,algae wafers ect. (let me see if I understand correctly) when there isn't enough algae in the tank for them even when you give them other food they will starve? How much of the algae wafers do I need to feed him? He is already in a 10 gallon quarantine tank I usually leave them in there for 2 weeks but if I have to treat them it will longer so I can make sure there ok before putting them in the main tank. He doesn't seem to be stressed, I have been watching him very closely. Thanks for your help....

 

[Phranque]

Sorry. The way I stated that kinda came out wrong, didn't mean to scare you..... If you see him eating a lot, then obviously he won't starve. It's just recommended that they go into a well established tank (6 months or older) because their primary diet is naturally growing algae, and quite often they won't accept supplemental foods.

You can leave the zuchini in for upwards of 3-4 days with no problems. Do you blanch it (par-boil)? It makes it easier for them to consume. If he appears to be eating it, definitely don't take it away from him.... just keep refreshing it every few days. If you actually see him eating the algae tabs, then keep giving those as well. Mine won't touch either, so I had to extend my light cycle to maintain a decent amount of brown diatom for them.

Maintain a good pwc schedule for your QT tank (aim for <10ppm nitrates), and make sure you do a few back-to-back pwc's in your main tank before transferring him over.... It'll help with the stress level and increase your chances of keeping him alive.

 

[princess lady]

Sorry. The way I stated that kinda came out wrong, didn't mean to scare you..... If you see him eating a lot, then obviously he won't starve. It's just recommended that they go into a well established tank (6 months or older) because their primary diet is naturally growing algae, and quite often they won't accept supplemental foods.

You can leave the zuchini in for upwards of 3-4 days with no problems. Do you blanch it (par-boil)? It makes it easier for them to consume. If he appears to be eating it, definitely don't take it away from him.... just keep refreshing it every few days. If you actually see him eating the algae tabs, then keep giving those as well. Mine won't touch either, so I had to extend my light cycle to maintain a decent amount of brown diatom for them.

Maintain a good pwc schedule for your QT tank (aim for <10ppm nitrates), and make sure you do a few back-to-back pwc's in your main tank before transferring him over.... It'll help with the stress level and increase your chances of keeping him alive.

Oh that's ok it does come out sometimes wrong I have done it myself.... I have been keeping a close eye on all my fish I keep up on the testing and my water changes I check the water every day and if they need changing I do a 25% water change the readings in my 10 gallon was ammonia 0,nitrite 0,nitrates 5.0. and in my big tank which I'm hoping it has finally cycled today readings where ammonia 0,nitrite 0,nitrate 5.0. All fish seem to be happy and healthy thank god....Knock on wood! It will be 2 weeks or longer before I will put my Otto and other fish in the 44 gallon if there not sick it will be 2 weeks.

When I put the Otto in the 44 gallon even if the readings are great do I need to do the water changes anyway? If I can keep him alive I would like to get 2 more of them later. They are so cute and lively. Mine is just a baby though he is so tiny I have been watching the other fish to make sure they are not chasing him and there not but I did notice sometimes the Dwarf Gourami and the Long Fin Serpae Tetras will peak at him and it does scare him so I'm a little concerned about that but if I have to I went and bought a tank divider to keep him from the other fish until he gets bigger. Does that sound ok? I will put him another zucchini in there tomorrow and yes I do warm it for a couple of seconds to soften it up some. How much should I feed him per day? Don't want to over feed him but he does need a belly.... Thanks for all your advice and help.