Oto Cat Discoloration

[Aysvin]

Hello, I could use some help with my 3 oto cats. Two seem darker than they were and the other is a lot lighter. I'll post pics of two and then explain what's been going on.

Now

A few days ago

Now

A few days ago

Ok, so here's the story. Two days ago my tank sprung a leak so I moved my otos to the 2 gallon bucket I use for water changes and my betta (who at the very most stalks the otos but never goes after them) in the 1.7 gallon tank I used to have for a female betta. So I had them in there for two nights and changed the water 50% once a day. Their water temperature wasn't ideal, but it was low 70s and high 60s since I had a red lamp shinning down on them to keep it as high as I could.


I resealed the tank using DAP silicone sealant (aquarium safe) and let is set for about 36 hours. The smell was gone and when I filled the tank with water there was no leak and after a while the pH was still where it had been before. So I emptied out the water again then washed out the tank to get little bits of silicone out from when I scraped it off for resealing then filled it with water again. Conditioner in, temp mid 70s, plants and decor all set up, so basically everything is back to where it had been.


I felt safe putting the fish back in so the otos went first then a few minutes later the betta. Now, though, they're not colored correctly and I'm worried. They're swimming around like crazy, but the lights were out and it's nighttime so I'm chalking that up to their nocturnal habits. They've always been active.



pH: 7.6


Alkalinity: ~80


Hardness: ~7


NO2: .5


NO3: 0


If someone could help me out, and quickly, I would be very thankful. I really don't want to put them under more stress then I have to.

 

[hecurcia]

The first pic gives the impression that he is not longer eating. Have you seen them eating? His tummy seems flat which is a bad sign.

 

[hecurcia]

What is the ammonia reading? Ottos need stablished tanks and it seems that your starting the nitrogen cycle all over again ( by your parameters).

 

[Aysvin]

The first pic gives the impression that he is not longer eating. Have you seen them eating? His tummy seems flat which is a bad sign.

The angle isn't too great in that pic, but he's still a little round. I put small bits of algae wafers in the tank so that 1) when the spread out it's not a huge mass 2) there's food throughout the tanks and 3) it helps to keep from over feeding them it they're just itty bits.

I'll keep an eye on them, but the possible lack of eating could be the stress of trying to catch them in the bucket, it was a little harder then I would have liked

 

[Aysvin]

What is the ammonia reading? Ottos need stablished tanks and it seems that your starting the nitrogen cycle all over again ( by your parameters).

Yeah the cycling is new again (but I didn't switch the filter or rinse the decor so some BB could still be there) BUT before the tank had only been cycling a few days anyway. I looked up everything except for the fact they need a stable tank, but I was doing 50% changes twice a day, if not more to make sure the ammonia was no higher than .25. They were doing well, eating, swimming, pairing up and pretty much thriving despite that.

 

[hecurcia]

You have nitrites but no nitrates. According to your water parameters ( what is the ammonia reading?) your cycle has started all over again or a mini cycle has started. What is your water temperature? Mid 70's are a bit low for bettas.

 

[hecurcia]

Yeah the cycling is new again (but I didn't switch the filter or rinse the decor so some BB could still be there) BUT before the tank had only been cycling a few days anyway. I looked up everything except for the fact they need a stable tank, but I was doing 50% changes twice a day, if not more to make sure the ammonia was no higher than .25. They were doing well, eating, swimming, pairing up and pretty much thriving despite that.

Sorry, I did not see this. Did you keep your filter wet? And with an ammonia source?

 

[Aysvin]

You have nitrites but no nitrates. According to your water parameters ( what is the ammonia reading?) your cycle has started all over again or a mini cycle has started. What is your water temperature? Mid 70's are a bit low for bettas.

It's in the mid 70's because my AC is on. My room gets really hot, even at night. I leave it off for the most part during the day so the temp goes up to high 70's then.

 

[Aysvin]

Sorry, I did not see this. Did you keep your filter wet? And with an ammonia source?

No, it didn't even occur to me. I had some of the decor in the bucket with the otos and put a pinch of dried BB cultures from Biozyme in each day. The two live amazon swords, a fake plant, and a rock structure from there immediately went back into the tank. They never dried out.

 

[hecurcia]

As i said before, the nitrogen cycle has started all over again. If you still have the byozime, pour some directly into the filter. Check the water parameters daily and do the respective water changes whenever are necessary. I hope the ottos can take it.

 

[Aysvin]

They all have slightly rounded bellies, like they've eaten a while ago and should eat again soon...but the one that was yellow before is now normal colored and the darker colored one is now lighter.

I don't think I got them confused before, but maybe I did...either way...I should probably look up if otos can change color a bit

The ammonia is also at ~.35 or so

 

[Aysvin]

The lighter colored one (Auto) just ate. I watched him do it. The other two (Berite and Bots) are swimming together around the tank. The betta is just chilling by himself near the baffled filter.

The water's gotten a bit cloudy, though, but it's probably because it's a new cycle. That's what happened a few days ago and it cleared up in less than 24 hours.

 

[hecurcia]

Good to hear that.

 

[Aysvin]

Tank decided to leak again. This time I put the filter in the bucket too so it's filtering the oto's water. The BB there should survive.

 

[hecurcia]

Did you remove the old silicone?

 

[Aysvin]

Did you remove the old silicone?

First time, yes, but it's leaking again. I need to think of what to do now.