Unlucky with Otos

[kradeij]

My Oto died on me yesternite!

Its the third one which died within the past 2 mths, my tank seems to be a graveyard for Otos. The Otos i bought never seems to last.

Here are some of my guess for the reason of death:

1) Old age (Oto was around 3.5cm when it became )
2) Stress due to constant haressment by yamatoes
3) Lack of food (the stomach of the Oto wasn't slightly buldging as in the case of a healthy one)

My tank specs are:
FivePlan 2ft tank, Magnum II 55W PL, Eheim Aquaball 2208 filter, 2DIY PC fan (temp shd b ard 26-28degrees)

Bioload:
10+ Yamatoes
1 Mosquito Rasbora( Rasbora Brigatte if I'm not wrong, its healthy and doing well)

Water parameters unkown cause dun have test kit

Can some1 shed some light on what happened so that I do not kill anymore Otos?

[diki]

For me, I bought 3 and now left 1.

From what I know, oto are stressed and starved from the time they are caught and put into the LFS. Somemore if your yamotos fight with it for food, how to survive? I do not have any yamotos but keep malayan in my 2 ft planted tank but have many fishes (cardinals, rummy nose, cherry barbs, flaming platy & guppies). I think mine feeds on rotting leaves of my tiger lily or hair grass since java fern, taiwan and java moss don't think they would eat. Either it has nothing to eat or died due to weak. Mine does not have much algae except BBA!

[michael lai]

Hi Kradeij,
Sorry about your otos, there could be a number of reasons for their demise. I usually do a simple procedure, 2-3 days after their introduction I would throw in a algae wafer. If your otos are feeding, they are ok if not they are in trouble( signs of sickness ). Otos also have a social order, so it would be preferable to get a couple of them like 6-8 pcs in a tank.
If your water parameters are ok you should not encounter any problems with them. In fact, I find them quite hardy for such a small fish. Err...not sure if I should share this with you, I usually buy about 10-15 pcs then I let nature takes its course, usually the strongest 8-12 pcs should survive. Hope the info helps

[kradeij]

Thanks for all the advice.

I will get about 5-6 Otos on my next trip down to LFS(most likely C328 ). I would be getting some algae wafer too, any suggestions on which brand to buy?

However the yamatoes are quite aggressive in fighting for food, any idea how I can let the Otos enjoy the algae wafers in peace?

[anttz]

Never have any luck with otos myself.

Longest survivor is 6 months.

[celticfish]

yes, nu mod michael, YES!!!
since you told me about your buying method i've been giving it good thought. and i have come to the conclusion that its an excellent method. please share with more people as it makes perfect sense to do as you suggest. hmmm... maybe you can consider putting it up as a stickie too.

Err...not sure if I should share this with you, I usually buy about 10-15 pcs then I let nature takes its course, usually the strongest 8-12 pcs should survive. Hope the info helps

[michael lai]

Thanks for all the advice.

I will get about 5-6 Otos on my next trip down to LFS(most likely C328 ). I would be getting some algae wafer too, any suggestions on which brand to buy?

However the yamatoes are quite aggressive in fighting for food, any idea how I can let the Otos enjoy the algae wafers in peace?

Hi Kradeij,
When you have 5-6 otos, they will know how to compete with the amano for food. Most of the brethren here use 'Hikari''s brand of algae wafer.
PS: Try not to scoop those with sunken in stomach and look for those active, like constantly sucking around the glass wall.

Hope the info helps.

[michael lai]

yes, nu mod michael, YES!!!
since you told me about your buying method i've been giving it good thought. and i have come to the conclusion that its an excellent method. please share with more people as it makes perfect sense to do as you suggest. hmmm... maybe you can consider putting it up as a stickie too.

Hi Erwin,( hope I didn't get your name wrong )
It's actually quite sensitive pertaining to this matter or method. I suppose not all people can accept survival of the fittest. I'm just glad you didn't take it the wrong way.

[kradeij]

Hi Kradeij,
When you have 5-6 otos, they will know how to compete with the amano for food. Most of the brethren here use 'Hikari''s brand of algae wafer.
PS: Try not to scoop those with sunken in stomach and look for those active, like constantly sucking around the glass wall.

Hope the info helps.

Will bear that in mind when I go LFS. Thanks!

Usually ask the uncle to scope for me cause lazy to scope
Maybe the uncle give me all the weak ones

Lesson learnt- SCOPE THE FISHES YOURSELF!

[bossteck]

I don't think any LFS owner will purposely sell weaken fishes to you.

But having said that, the living conditions for fishes in most LFS are poor to begin with, so the fishes are actually all in weaken state.

I actually prefer to buy fishes at places where the lifestock are selling at a slower rate... in a way, those survivors are the fitter ones.

[coryfav]

When there's one survivor from a shoal that you've bought, that one piece usually lives a long time in your tank.

[doublej]

my best record was it lived for 1yr 3 months
sumore i got it from a bro...
the oto quite speacial...
normal oto is grey colour
that 1 got abit of yellow tint like like golden colour de...
that is my best oto survivor...
the rest i got from lfs all died mysteriously...
now i got a new batch of otos..
5 otos..
so far so good...

[celticfish]

doublej,
don't be too concern about the oto.
sudden oto death imo is quite common.
some articles do point this out.
and as michael mentioned, once they past a certain critical adaptation timing they are generally very hardy fellas.
i too have the same experience.
the fishes i got from a tank set buy over lasted forever.
however, new fishes from the LFS usually have some causualties.

[kradeij]

I don't think any LFS owner will purposely sell weaken fishes to you.

But having said that, the living conditions for fishes in most LFS are poor to begin with, so the fishes are actually all in weaken state.

I actually prefer to buy fishes at places where the lifestock are selling at a slower rate... in a way, those survivors are the fitter ones.

Just mean it as a joke when I said the uncle take the weaker fishes...

Cause so far I bought my otos from C328, think the uncle too busy to pick gd 1s for me, so I supposed I shd be responsible myself for picking the healthier looking fishes.


So far I gathered that the average lifespan of an Oto is 9mth to 1yr+, am I correct or could the experts correct me?

[godprint]

hi guys,

my otos suddenly all died @ the same time today, i only realise it when i got home just now.

it's put together in a tank of discus.

i just did a 30% water change... is there anything i need to do?

please advice!

[Aquaculture]

There's a sticky on acclimating. I find it very useful and cheap method. Otos usually die as it isn't climatise properly...