Otto the Otocinclus died :-(

[norcalg]

10 gallon
whisper 5-15 filter
temp: 78F
PWC weekly, 50% last week, 20% usually but I had a really good siphon going and figured it wouldn't hurt. :?
on Saturday, day of PWC:
ammonia:0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10-20, pH 8.0-8.2
Today, 4 days later:
ammonia:0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20-40, pH 8.0-8.2

stock:
6 platies
1 long-finned danio
no plants

What happened? I noticed that Otto was less active and seemed to be hanging on to things by his belly rather than his mouth but I didn't attribute any crisis to the behavior. There were algae tabs in the tank every 3 days or so as there wasn't much algae growth in the tank. The nitrates are high but I'm not sure why. Overfeeding by the husband? Otto being dead in there for a few hours? We've gone from three danios to one over the past few weeks but I attributed that to the poor danios going through the cycle (I know better now and fishless cycled my 55, I promise) but is there something else going on?

I'm such a newb. The platies seem happy and thriving but I'm doubting my judgment at this point. I know the pH is high but it's stable.

Thanks,
~g

 

[Zagz]

Sorry for your loss. How long has the tank been set up and how long did you have the oto? It may be the oto was sick from the lfs if he is recent. 50% pwc on tanks is fine. I do 50% a week on all my tanks. The increase in nitrates in 4 days could be caused by overfeeding. The dead oto would not cause an increase in nitrate, perhaps ammonia. Are you using dechlorinator with every water change? Do you add anything else to the tank as far as chemicals go? What kind of test kit are you using? Otos can be sensitive, maybe you were having small ammonia spikes from the deaths of the danios and you were unaware of them and that contributed to the death of the oto.

 

[norcalg]

Sorry for your loss. How long has the tank been set up and how long did you have the oto? It may be the oto was sick from the lfs if he is recent. 50% pwc on tanks is fine. I do 50% a week on all my tanks. The increase in nitrates in 4 days could be caused by overfeeding. The dead oto would not cause an increase in nitrate, perhaps ammonia. Are you using dechlorinator with every water change? Do you add anything else to the tank as far as chemicals go? What kind of test kit are you using? Otos can be sensitive, maybe you were having small ammonia spikes from the deaths of the danios and you were unaware of them and that contributed to the death of the oto.

Thank you. The tank has been set up since July, the danios came in then for the cycle and then we added five of the platies and the oto on Aug 31. One danio died that day and the other died +-2 weeks ago. We use well water, bypassing the softener and don't add anything to it. I'm using the API reagent kit. We added one more platy a couple weeks ago, from a different LFS. He's not the most attractive fish (to me, my son adored him and insisted) and his tail fin seems ragged but I assumed he was getting nipped at the LFS.

~g

 

[Zagz]

With otos it can be difficult to tell the cause of death. I would not try too hard to figure it out, you sometimes don't know the reason why. Part of being a fish keeper. Hopefully the rest of your fish will do well.

 

[norcalg]

With otos it can be difficult to tell the cause of death. I would not try too hard to figure it out, you sometimes don't know the reason why. Part of being a fish keeper. Hopefully the rest of your fish will do well.

Thank you. I hope so too, or else there will be many pleas for help.

~g

 

[An t-iasg]

I'm sorry for your loss

I agree that overfeeding could cause a rise in the nitrates. I read that otos prefer a nitrate level of 10 ppm or less. The spike in your nitrate level from 20-40 ppm was not good for the oto, but I don't know if only a few days would kill him. It would stress him, though, and stress isn't good. I have read over and over again that otos are very sensitive fish, and I also agree with Zagz that sometimes we just don't know the cause of death.

Here is an article about otos: http://www.otocinclus.com/newoto.html

At the end of that article, click on "Back to Main" and there is a list of more articles.

 

[norcalg]

I'm sorry for your loss

I agree that overfeeding could cause a rise in the nitrates. I read that otos prefer a nitrate level of 10 ppm or less. The spike in your nitrate level from 20-40 ppm was not good for the oto, but I don't know if only a few days would kill him. It would stress him, though, and stress isn't good. I have read over and over again that otos are very sensitive fish, and I also agree with Zagz that sometimes we just don't know the cause of death.

Here is an article about otos: http://www.otocinclus.com/newoto.html

At the end of that article, click on "Back to Main" and there is a list of more articles.

Thank you for the article. I wish I'd read it before bringing Otto home. I'm better prepared for the next one though.

~g

 

[gheitman]

I would actually recommend getting 2 otos next time even for a tank your size. They do better when you have more than just 1.