A bit of sad news :( Advice wanted please.

[philipraposo198]

This morning went to go do a small wc and noticed a dead oto in the tank

I am pretty sure I know why this happened BUT I didn't think it would cause the fish to die. Here is the background story.

About a day and a half ago I noticed one the same oto that died a 3-4mm gash on the side of his/her head/face. right side. The flesh was pure white when I first saw it and must of just happened. I believe the cause of this was the piece of slate I used to attack a piece of cucumber to, it did have a sharp side to it. I don't know how else the gash would of happened outside of this.

The fish seemed fish that day and yesterday I was gone all day and didn't have a chance to check on the fish. But by the smell of it this morning I would assume it had been dead for a while. maybe sometime yesterday.

So my question is would a pretty big gash be able to kill the fish so quickly? I have since removed the piece of stone and replaced it was a smooth rounded stone. All other fish are fine.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Pandicorn]

Probably. Imagine running across a knife, that slides across your entire body. Would you die without any treatment while still getting attacked by bigger humans?

 

[philipraposo198]

Well your making it sound very severe, it was a small gash in his face. I just thought it could heal up.

 

[Pandicorn]

Oh on its face, sorry. Misread the siZe of the scratch... Eh, oto's are known to be pretty sensitive, just try to avoid sharp decorations

 

[philipraposo198]

So this morning I woke up and went to check on my tank as I always do, I immediately notice an otos with a chuck missing from his tail end of his body. Top of the body way back right before the tail.

Since the other incident which I originally thought it was caused by a sharp rock I have removed it and there is no other shape things in the tank.

I am now starting to turn my attention to my big pearl gouramis... I am suspecting one of them as the culprit. I really didn't think they would bother the otos but in both cases the incident occurred overnight, so I really have no clue.

He is now in a breeder net in the tank with his own food. I dunno if he will make it. Again I am really upset at the idea of losing my oto.

Do you guys think my theory is correct? How else could something like this happen?

 

[Brookster123]

What else is in the tank? A ram and cardnals?? That sounds pretty bad man., I'd say otos would have a tougher skin than one would think, they are catfish after all.. I'm not familiar with gouramis but I've heard they can get nasty when provoked..

 

[philipraposo198]

1 smaller ram and 25 cards. The thing is my gouramis are not that aggressive at all.

I don't see how else this could happen.

 

[anteatergoanna]

Have you treated the fish with anything to help it heal?

 

[philipraposo198]

The first otos with the face injury died shortly after.

The otos from last night has been in the fry net and I have been at work all day. Heading home to see if he is still alive.

I am thinking about rehoming all my healthy otos before they face the same demise.

 

[Brookster123]

Might make more sense to remove the culprit rather than the victim.. Once it's current target is gone it could turn it's attention on sonething else???

 

[philipraposo198]

The thing is I don't know who it is. I am suspecting pearl but I have 4 and I never see it.

 

[Mitchafishaboo]

How about you revoke all of the Otos to a small cheap tank for now, if nothing happens then suspect it's something that the Otos are doing, they may be fighting, if a cardinal or the ram gets any injuries the re home the gouramis and return the Otos, sounds like effort but it's something's life to be fair.