DannyMac

I have had very little success with otos. I started with a batch of 3 and lost em all. Then I restocked with 4 can all but one died. That one however had lasted nearly two months and appeared to be thriving. But yesterday I found him on the floor dead and it appears that his stomach burst. He did have a very rounded belly in the weeks leading up to his death, but I was told this is the sign of a healthy oto. Not sure if he eat himself to death or what.

Upon closer examination it appeared that some eggs were coming our of the hole in oto's stomach. Could it have been complications during birth? I have not idea what happened, but I thought I finally had one that was gonna make it. Back to the drawing board. Anyone seen the bursting belly from oto's?

Shawnie

aww im so sorry about your ottos rip fellas

im going to say your pictus had a snack with him..they are notorious for eating smaller fish and especially if they pass....although it could have been pregnant, from the eggs you saw, I dont think it exploded per say....

ottos are one fish that are very hard to keep..your info says you have ammonia and nitrites so that would have killed them fast...and if the info just isnt updated, ottos do much better in tanks that have been totally established for afew months as they are just to sensitive for newly cycled tanks....

DannyMac

Ya my info wasn't up to date, I just changed it. My tank has been cycled for about three weeks, I struggled the first couple months with low pH levels that hindered the cycle, but its perfect now.

I don't know if the pictus was the culprit, the oto was actually rather big, too big to fit in the pictus' mouth. Is it possible for the oto too have too much to eat? I do have a good amount of algae available for them and they seem to be eating constantly.

Is it normal for a pregnant fish to die like that? Are they especially vulnerable during that time?

Shawnie

IMO ottos are too sensitive for a 3 week cycled tank...but maybe others have had luck in the new tanks..I have not.....pictus will eat ANYTHING that passes ..they are scavengers...I dont think the otto would explode from eating algae but I guess one can never say never....