Sydney:D

I had an otocinclus catfish and it died 15 days after I got. I have 1 more and it is healthy. Before the other one died though its stomach swelled up.Does anyone know what happened to it and will it happen to any of my other fish? please help!

10gallonmadness

There's alot of reasons for this. Did you have really small fine gravel or sand he could have eaten?

Sydney:D

yes i have brown aquarium gravel

btate617

Most people who have oto's end up starving them to death. If the tank isn't established there just isn't enough for them to eat. The gravel would have to be very small for it to eat but could be a possiblity. If it was dead for awhile before you found it it also could have bloated up just a bit.

Brian

Sydney:D

i just hope whatever happened isnt a contagious disease

Regal

They are really sensitive and known to be difficult to keep alive. usually a round belly is a good thing as it shows they are getting enough to eat.

MizRamzi

I happen to have 2 at the moment and the larger of the two is very aggressive towards my other fishes. I add an algae disc every now and then for supplements also some sinking carnivore pellets. This is like the fifth time I've tried to keep them and finally they seem happy and healthy.

Sydney:D

Is it possible to have too much algae in the tank and it didnt know when to stop eating? And do they get lonley,because when it died my other oto stayed in one corner of the tank. Now i have two and they dont swim anywhere without the other.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!

im sorry for the loss of your otto Otto's are super sensitive to new tanks as has been suggested...your tank is very new and I was wondering how it was cycled and what are the readings for ammonia , nitrites, and nitrates? also, using pH chemicals to adjust it could have effected him as well....when they pass, they bloat up after from being in the water so that could have been his belly being bloated...

Sydney:D

Well this is my first tank and i didnt know about cycling. But my tank came with a begginers guide and it said to set up the tank for about a week before you put the fish in. So I did and the first few fish i got was 2 guppies and 2 otos. And I still dont have anything to check the ammonia with,but i do check the nitrites and nitrates.(nitrites-0,nitrate-0) Well I use strips and thats what they say. But one more thing though, its stomach was swelled up several days before it passed and so i thought it was pregnant.

Shawnie

I can offer some things you should get to help....

either prime, ammo lock, or amquel+ is needed for daily 40% water changes...one of those products will neutralize ammonia for 24 hours until your next water change....if you can get an API liquid master test kit, it will do 100's of tests for you are its very accurate..it has everything you need from ph up to all the cycle testing kits....the strips are very inaccurate most of the time...cycling with fish will take a few weeks..took me 9 weeks in my bigger tank I hope things get better and the rest of the fish make it well! but I do not think your otto died from a contagious disease but an uncycled tank ...

Sydney:D

Thanks for all your help

Sydney:D

one of my ottos has been hiding in this little boat thing for about 5 weeks it dosent come out much . If anyone thinks there is something wrong with it please tell me, it seems healthy but i think its depressed or something. My other otto likes to swim alot (i just thought i would put that out there: )