krazykid933

My otto is seriously sick! He was fine 2 days ago, but now he lying sideways and when he swims he twirls, but he only swam when I put him into the breeding cage (my Q-Tank?). Any ideas?

Here's some pics:

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Alessa

what are your water parameters? ive heard little otos are VERY sensitive of high nitrate...

krazykid933

Well... err... I haven't had my water tested in a while (I don't buy any kits).

Alessa

you need to get yourself a kit. in your aquarium info it says "cycling" and otos are not cycling fish (no fish are for cycling but otos are specially sensitive). Besides your tank is overstocked for what I can see... while you get yourself the test kit (API master test kit). You need to do 50%+ water changes daily, preferibly with Prime. otherwise your fish will start dying one by one because you have too many in the tank to be cycling...

krazykid933

My tank is 3 weeks 2 days old, so I guess it's still cycling...

Alessa

Yes... a 3 week old tank is most likely still cycling...

You have WAY too many fish even for a fully cycled tank. you should have only like 5 fishes. Overstocking in a non-cycled tank is almost a certain death for all of the tank inhabitants. the steps you should follow:

1) order a master test kit
2) 50%+ daily water changes with prime
3) bring back as many fishes as you can to the fish store

if you dont do this your fish will inevitably die. You have 20 inches of fish in a 10 gallon tank and even if your tank was cycled this amount of fishes is double of the tank capacity.

in your profile it says you know about the nitrogen cycle... so...

krazykid933

Hopefully this 10g tank is temporary. I'm planning on upgrading to 29g and letting it cycle before adding fish. That of course is going to be a long-term project. All of my fish are mostly-hardy fish and no bigger than an inch.

Alessa

they will grow to be bigger than one inch. but you need to do what I told you or you will lose them. I had a 29 gallon cycling with three fish (one platy and 2 DG) and I did water changes every day 50% with prime and I still lost the 2 dwarf gouramis. Trust me, you are overstocked and on an uncycled tank that means a certain death for the tank population.

going back to the poor oto, you should keep him on clean water, preferibly on a cycled tank with no ammonia or nitrite. He is most likely suffering of ammonia/nitrite poisoning.

Shawnie

great advice alessa!

sorry your otto is sick...but as alessa said, you arent cycled and are way overstocked...you have to buy fish at the size they will be as adults and not as juvies...

goodluck!

krazykid933

Hehe, they won't grow too fast... I plan to have my tank set-up within a year. Thanks for the luck, but I think my otto is a goner.

Shawnie

its not a matter of how fast they grow, as it is how much bio-load they give off...a year is too long for them to survive..but its your tank, and your fish, we just give you the advice we think is best

Alessa

these fishes will reach their adult sizes in less than a month (if they survive the month). and if you dont do what i told you they are going to die. at the very least you should do the water changes and get the test kit as no serious aquarist would leave a severely overstocked tank cycle without testing the water or doing daily 50%+ water changes.

but as shawnie said it is your tank... good luck and i hope you decide to do the right thing for the aquarium inhabitants.

COBettaCouple

Since you have fish in the tank, really the treatment for your Oto is what would be the best way to cycle with fish. Do daily water changes of 50% and treat all water with Prime. If you don't have aeration in the tank, add aeration.

Otos and platys are social fish and should be in groups of at least 2 or 3. Danios in groups of 6. Although, as mentioned, the tank is overstocked at 17" of adult sized fish already. Even when it's cycled, I'd recommend 2 or 3 water changes per week to keep the cycle from breaking.

krazykid933

My poor otto is gone now, but I have been doing lots of planning for my 29G (too bad my computer crashed...). Thanks everyone!

COBettaCouple

I'm sorry that you lost your oto.