Octo catfish died

[b4owner]

hi all, i'm fairly new in the fishy business and just seeking some help
i had 2 guppies, 5 mollies, 5 neon tetras and 1 oto catfish, but it died today, the others are fine, is it because my water is too dirty??

5 gallon tank with driftwood and plant
ph level good, nitrate 0
but my water seems a little greenish to me, is this the reason my oto died?? i heard they're very hardy......

can anyone please help??

thanks

 

[dkpate]

Well, your tank is wayyy too small. All I would ever have in a 5 gallon tank is a betta.
What are your water readings? (Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)
How long have you had the tank?
Do you have a filter?
How often do you change part of the water?

 

[ChelseaLake]

This is most likely NOT the cause of death, but as an aside:

Did you get the wood from an established aquarium store? I've seen tanks that have had wood in them that hadn't soaked long enough and leached tannin into the water (interestingly enough, tannin adds flavor and color to tea). It makes the water murky and kind of brown. It's usually harmless, and activated charcoal usually takes care of it. I just thought that may be why your tank water was off-color.

 

[Crepe]

Green water is an algal bloom. Cyano algae to be exact. You're going to want to recheck those levels, most importantly for ammonia, not just nitrates. Also otos are notoriously hard to acclimate. In a tank of your over stocking levels, it had little to no hope. Even in established tanks, otos tend not to last the first month (but if they do they're good for a long long time).

 

[BigJim]

You definitely have too many fish in the tank if it's a 5g. A big male molly will get 4"-6" long.

Did you cycle the tank? You may see zero nitrates, but you can still have ammonia problems if the tank hasn't been cycled. Otos are sensitive to bad water parameters and green water is a sign of too much ammonia.