Poor Oto. May he rest in peace.

[chasgood]

Got the little fellow on Friday. Looked healthy to me in the lfs. He never did eat much. By Sunday he wasnt active at all. Tonight when I got home from work he was taking the eternal nap.

ph 7.6
ammonia 0.0
nitrite 0.0
nitrate 10.0ppm
All the other fish seem just fine.

I was afraid this might happen after reading up on them. What other algae eaters will eat the brown stuff and not get more than 3 or 4 inches long?

 

[Bioworldmaker]

That is so sad... So sorry for your loss.

 

[BrianNY]

Don't give up on otos just yet. Once they've survived and adapted they make such good additions to an aquarium. The problem is (as you already know), quite a few won't survive captivity. What I would do is let the lfs have the waiting period and buy them after they've been there for 3 weeks.

 

[TankGirl]

When I have gotten them I check with the LFS and take a talley of how many they have lost from a particular shipment. Sometimes they tell me just to forget it and not buy any at all, suggesting I wait until the next batch. Then, like BrianNY mentioned, wait until they have been there in the store for a couple of weeks at least. Those tend to be remarkably hardy.

 

[cginflorida]

Sorry for your loss, chasgood, it's always so sad to lose a fish.

If you decide to try otos again, get 3 or 4, they seem to do better in groups. I originally had 2, one died shortly after I got him, like yours. The other one hid all the time, I never saw him. Then I got 3 more to keep him company, and he comes out a lot now. I love to watch them in the early morning when they're most active, all zipping around the tank. They're very cool fish.

 

[chasgood]

Well I might give them another shot. Have to wait on another batch or try a different lfs. the brown algae is coating the plant leaves.and gravel pretty thick. Need to do something.

 

[Madame_X]

Try to find a pitbull pleco. They don't get much bigger than an oto and mine is a little eating machine. He never stops! And he's not shy or skittish like some of the larger plecos can be. He's always out in the open.

As for otos, I bought seven from one batch (four in one tank and three in another) that I've had for 8 or 9 months. I've twice tried adding to the 29 gallon tank and all the new ones have died off (some quick, some within a few weeks or so). So it really does pay to wait and see how long they last at the LFS before buying them.