New otto cat died first day we had it

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Tasha

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Feb 21, 2011
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BC Canada
My daughter bought a Otto cat to put in her 20 gallon tank with her mollies 24 hrs later it's dead! Water slightly brackish 78 degrees, ammonia 0 nitrates and nitrite 0 ph 8.2 high but always is cant get it down, any ideas why the Otto cat would have died so suddenly? We climatized it about 1/2 hour before adding to tank??
 
Slightly brackish water for the mollies? That and the high pH aren't suitable conditions for an Oto. They really do best in large, well-established planted tanks with a neutral-little acidic pH.
 
Actually, mollies can live in anything from FW to full salt, but salt isn't necessary for their health. Hard, alkaline water is, however, much better for mollies (and most livebearers) than soft or neutral-acidic conditions.
 
Tim Wheatley said:
But Ottos don't.

Ok original poster said why brackish for mollies, that's what I was wondering if Oto's liked brackish, thanks
 
Well, he probably wondered why you would put a fish which should not be in brackish into a brackish tank, sacrificing it's life as if it's some kind of science experiment. Just so you know, you don't need to do this kind of experimentation as the study has already been done and it's generally known what conditions fish can live in if you research first.

He probably also wondered why you did not make the tank freshwater (where a Molly can live just fine) before adding a totally freshwater fish so that the Otto and Molly could both continue to live.

Just a guess.
 
Ok well first of all you do NOT need to be an ***!! Second of all I trusted what the supposed "professionals" told me when I purchased the Oto that is was fine to go in with my mollies. And third and final I can assure you I'm not performing science experiments with my fish, if so I would assume it could die and then I wouldn't be on here asking why it died!!!

Something I have told my children that I'm not sure you've been told and that is if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all!!
 
What's the SG? It sounds like you may have been misinformed. Unfortunately, this happens a lot. Ottos definitely don't do well with salt. A pH of 8.2 should be considered normal for a brackish tank. The salt mix buffers the water. I think your best bet would be to slowly, very slowly, convert the tank to freshwater. Unless you have other brackish fish which cannot live in fw of course. If you're wanting otto's, that's what you'll need to do. As mentioned, mollies can live in fw, bw, or sw.
 
mfdrookie516 said:
What's the SG? It sounds like you may have been misinformed. Unfortunately, this happens a lot. Ottos definitely don't do well with salt. A pH of 8.2 should be considered normal for a brackish tank. The salt mix buffers the water. I think your best bet would be to slowly, very slowly, convert the tank to freshwater. Unless you have other brackish fish which cannot live in fw of course. If you're wanting otto's, that's what you'll need to do. As mentioned, mollies can live in fw, bw, or sw.

SG? I'm assuming salt? I'm not sure if my tank is true "brackish". I have been adding aquarium salt during water changes 1tbsp per 10 gallons as per directions on box to help treat ich, along with increased heat , well I slowly turned the heat the heat back down but continued to add the salt mainly because it says on the box it helps with this that and the other. So would this be alot is salinity or not? Also is my ph high because of the aquarium salt? It never fluctuates always been 8.2 in both my tanks. Thanks.
 
Oh... That's not brackish. Brackish is when you add marine salt. That changes everything. Ottos don't like aquarium salt either, but I doubt that killed it unless you put way too much salt in. I would stop putting the salt in at this point. It's a waste of money and doesn't play nice with most bottom dwellers like cories, plecos, ottos, etc.

The acclimation would be my guess. 30 minutes is not long enough IMO. Did you at least add water to the bag every 10 minutes or so? I prefer drip acclimating, but adding water every 15 minutes over the course of an hour should get the fish properly acclimated. Also, ottos are very finicky. Most people don't recommend getting them simply because they're so weak.
 
So the aquarium salt, does iit infact help gill function etc like it says or just no point? Glad to know about the Oto's. So when we do reduce the salt what alge type eater would you recommend with mollies. I liked the Oto because it's small and can't as easily eat the babies, and they told me it's easy going fish... And doesn't get big.
 
Ottos would be about the only fish I would put in there. But, as mentioned before, they're hit or miss as to whether they'll actually live. Nerite snails would be an option. Do you have an algae problem? Really, if you have an algae problem, you should fix it rather than getting a fish to eat it. If you want a fish, that's one thing. If you 'need' a fish, that's more like a bandaid on a cut that needs stiches IMO. I won't go in to details on fixing algae until we determine if there's a problem (too much typing if its for nothing).
 
mfdrookie516 said:
Ottos would be about the only fish I would put in there. But, as mentioned before, they're hit or miss as to whether they'll actually live. Nerite snails would be an option. Do you have an algae problem? Really, if you have an algae problem, you should fix it rather than getting a fish to eat it. If you want a fish, that's one thing. If you 'need' a fish, that's more like a bandaid on a cut that needs stiches IMO. I won't go in to details on fixing algae until we determine if there's a problem (too much typing if its for nothing).

Actually no neither of our tanks have alge, we just like the bottom fish. With one of my daughters new mollies awhile back she accidentally got a tiny snail in the bag, well while we were moving things around the other day it got squished, so we got her a bottom fish to replace the snail and the rest you know...
 
Ok. Cories would work. I think a 20g is too small for any plecos or other bottom fish. There are several smaller varieties of cories, all the way down to the wee little pygmy cories. I bet she would like panda cories. About 5 of them would be fun to watch. Tank is a little on the small side, but I think they'd be ok.
 
Thanks so much for your time and understanding, there's so much to learn and apparently I can't trust the pet store people!
 
1st: when your at a lfs and they say that two species of fish are compatible, what you should take away from that is that there is a low chance of them straight up murdering each other. Usually they will assume you have a straight freshwater tank unless you tell them otherwise. At the end of the day it is your responsibility to research your livestock purchases to ensure a suitable environment.

2nd: by the time otos reach most lfs they are starving, and are almost certainly by the time they are purchased. this combined with the stress of being netted and placed in a small bag can push them over the edge.

3rd: you do not technically reach brackish water until a specific gravity (SG) of 1.05 is reached. otos can live, dont know how happily, in tanks with up to a tbsp of salt per gallon.

4th: the reason it is wise to drip aclimate fish, especially when dealing with different salinity levels, is the risk of osmotic shock. osmotic shock is caused by a substantial difference in the total dissolved solids(TDS) in the water, such as dissolved salt. it causes the cell membranes of the gills to swell and burst or shrivel up, resulting in your fish suffocating.
 
Yeah, its hard to. Sometimes, they're just not educated. Sometimes they're trying to make a sale. Sometimes, its a misunderstanding. It's always a good idea to run stuff through a forum. You'll get several people stating their opinion and experience. We're all here because we love the hobby and care about everything involved. Most of us have been in the same situation as well. I know I have ;)
 
We practiced drip aclimate today and it worked really well we'll definitely do it next time, thanks for the info.
 
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