Dying otocinclus

[Asbestos]

I got 6 Otocinclus almost 2 weeks ago and i put them in my 27 gallon, but now they seem to be dying 2 so far. the first one was really lethargic and kept getting on its back but i could see it berthing. The second one had no symptoms and they died within 48 hours of each other. So should i scoop up all of my remaining 4 Otocinclus and put them in my 10gallon? becouse the 27 gallon has a bristle nose pleco that is a major glutton, but i have blanched some carrots that I have put at the bottom for the otocinclus. So are the ones that are dying just the slow learners or do they need to be put into a safer place.

Also they apparently had Ich when they first arrived at the store but they had just finished their treatment and seemed happy.

 

[dkpate]

I had the same problem with my H. Rasboras. Started with 7 and now I only have 2. Turns out they had some sort of fungus, which I treated with Melafix, and the 2 left are doing fantastic. I didn't even notice anything was wrong with them, cause they are so bitty, until I took a flashlight to them, and noticed their pectoral fins looked like someone had taken a lighter to them and they melted. Their fins have now grown back and they are happy.
I hope you find out what's wrong! It could be possible you got a bad batch too, it seems to be happening a lot lately.
Good luck!

BTW, they are super cute fish!!!

 

[mfdrookie516]

what did you treat them with? ottos are particularly sensitive to most ich medications, as well as salt. i almost wonder if they may be part of the problem

 

[DragonFish71]

I can tell you from experience that otos can be hard at first. We'll get a btach of 6 and all but 1 will die, so we get another batch, all but 2 will die, etc. Finally we have then all alive, fat and sassy.

As for treating them for ich. I've found the Jungle fizz tabs used at half strength is the best thing for them, neons, bettas and rams.

 

[Asbestos]

The pet store treated them, so i forgot to ask what they had treated it with.

 

[Asbestos]

Lost another today, ammonia is a little high about 0.15ppm.

 

[dkpate]

I think scaleless fish are more sensitive, so the ammonia could be some of the problem. Wouldn't be a bad idea to maybe do a pwc?

 

[joy13]

Otos are wild caught. They aren't handled gently and are usually nearly starved to death when they arrive. You will notice on the mouth they have little barbs and if they are damaged the fish seems to starve. The best place I have found to my otos is my local petsmart, they have actual food in there for them to eat not just wafers. YouTube - Collecting Otocinclus affinis in their natural habitat

 

[dkpate]

AH! Poor babies!

 

[mgamer20o0]

and thats when there is a lot of them. often the poison the water to make them easy to collect too.

 

[dkpate]

OMG! Well, I can tell you I will never buy any then. Don't tell me how they catch any more fish lol! No wonder they die so easily then. That sucks.

 

[mgamer20o0]

stick to farm or breeders lol the only wild caught fish i have are ones i got from someone moving or tearing down the tank.

 

[dkpate]

Oh I will if I can help it! My Kuhli's are pretty wild LMAO, but not the same wild haha!

 

[Asbestos]

PH is about 8.0, Ammonia .25, Nitrite .0, Nitrate 10. Lost another one they don't appear to have starved or anything obvious. I'm moving my Pleco out of that tank for a while because he is eating all of the food. I did not do a water change yesterday because i did one the day before, im going to do another later tonight. anything else i can do?

 

[dkpate]

You could go buy some SeaChems Prime, it will bind the ammonia, making it less toxic to your fish. But you should probably do pwc's every day until you can get your ammonia to 0.

 

[Asbestos]

Thats what I use as to dechlorinate, but another just died should i worry about the Nitrate or is 10 nothing to worry about.

 

[dkpate]

Nitrate between 5-20 in fine, over that I do a pwc. If you are already using Prime, it could be false ammonia readings too, just a thought. I would just keep up with the pwc's.

 

[mfdrookie516]

nitrate under 60-80ppm (depending on who you ask) is not that bad for fish... i keep mine under 40. the nitrites and ammonia is what you need to worry about... doesnt sound like the tank was cycled, or you added too many fish and caused it to mini cycle...

 

[dkpate]

I think you had a bad batch of fish.

 

[Asbestos]

I may have added to many to fast but the mini cycle was over and no other fish seem to be having any problems. I used gravel from my other aquarium to speed up the cycle.