New otos, one is different.

Hey guys, so a few days ago I bought 3 new otos. Right off the bat I just want to say that I LOVE these guys. Theyre fantastic.

Two of the three have acclimated really well, and right away were swimming around actively, chasing each other around the tank, and eating algae like its nobodys business. In fact, they had my anubias plant which was getting pretty much completely covered in algae cleared in a matter of 2 days.

However, the third one is a little different. Physically speaking, hes more darkly coloured than the other two, and his tail is stumpier (I'm sure other oto keepers know what I mean about this... my other two otos have full beautiful V shaped tails, while this one is a little less splendid). This guy acts a lot more sluggish and lethargic, he kind of just sits on the glass all day and hardly moves. When he does, he doesn't move swiftly and actively like the other two, nor does he chase the other two around like they do to each other. He just kind of bumbles lethargically from one place on the glass to the next. Ive seen him eat maybe once.

The interesting thing is that These aren't my first otos... I bought 2 of them several weeks ago (when my tank was only halfway done cycling, dumb idea, I know...) and they both died within 24 hours of purchase. They both looked a lot like this third oto. They were darker in colour and both had stumpy tails (even worse than the one I have now, one of their tail fins was eaten almost to the base of the fin. I'm thinking there's a correlation here. Could the stumpy tail thing be finrot, could it be an infection brought on by a failure to acclimate well at the store, if so this might explain what I'm seeing. Either way, this guy has lasted a lot longer than the last two. I'm wondering if anyone has had similar experiences with their otos.

 

Got any pictures?

 

No pictures at the moment sorry. I will try to get some later. One other difference I forgot to mention is that the third otos fins are ALWAYS clamped, especially noticeable on his dorsal and caudal fins, whereas the other twos dorsal fins are always sticking straight up even when eating or sucking on glass, and their caudal fins are always fully splayed. Aside from this, the odd one is breathing normally and doesn't seem to be particularly distressed (assuming sitting there doing next to nothing isn't a sign of distress).

 

So he was like this ever since you got him? Hopefully now that he's in better water he will get better.

 

Yeah he was like that since I got him, and he hasnt changed. But yes you're right, I'm hoping I will start to see some improvement over the next few days as the tank finishes its cycle. I want him to be as happy as the other two. Hes probably just a bit more sensitive.

 

Why'd you buy a fish that looked distressed in the first place?

 

I would also like to point out that there are several species of Otocinculus so you might of gotten a different one.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/otocinclus/different-otocinclus-species-t605.html

I didn't stock my tank with Otocinculus until it was 6 months old and I usually acclimate them for about 3 hours. I would like to think that a longer acclimation period is key to having Otocinculus live in your tank successfully.

 

If it helps, here's a picture of my flexilis (poor guy, the rest of his shoal has died off over the years, and the supplier here refuses to carry them anymore):



and one of my affinI (he really likes that spot behind the heater)



Is your guy like one of these or another type?

I've had the problem of wanting one kind of oto and getting a different one. Otocinclus affinI is uglier but does a better job with the algae--they're flatter and look clenched up a lot of the time. Otocinclus flexilis resembles a jullI cory and are more expressive. The affinI like to be in a group of 5 at least, but the flexilis become more obviously agitated if they're not.

 

You sure that first picture isn't just a Cory? Doesn't look like any otocinclus flexilis I've ever seen.

 

That's so funny! I thought he was a juliI when I first saw him and had an argument with the guy at the story who said that they were really flexilis! When the first shoal died back, I got some more a few years later, still labelled Flexilis. Then they stopped carrying them at all. Now, I'm going to call around looking for more julliI

You sure that first picture isn't just a Cory? Doesn't look like any otocinclus flexilis I've ever seen.

 

Why'd you buy a fish that looked distressed in the first place?

I didnt, I told the LFS girl I wanted 3 otos, and theyre otos so they all pretty much look incredibly similar especially in the store so I wasn't going to pick and choose. She just quickly caught 3 from the holding tank for me and that was that. Besides I think there were only 3-4 in the tank left anyway, she told me this batch had been in the store for at least a week.

Ive got pictures of them now, so Ill include them. The first is an incredibly bad picture of my weird oto on the back of the tank, and the second one is one of my quote on quote normal otos sucking on a crinum natans leaf.





Endlercollector, by the looks of it I have the affinI ones.

 

That's so funny! I thought he was a juliI when I first saw him and had an argument with the guy at the story who said that they were really flexilis! When the first shoal died back, I got some more a few years later, still labelled Flexilis. Then they stopped carrying them at all. Now, I'm going to call around looking for more julliI

That would explain why it's so much more agitated without friends lol. Gotta love pet store advice.

I didnt, I told the LFS girl I wanted 3 otos, and theyre otos so they all pretty much look incredibly similar especially in the store so I wasn't going to pick and choose. She just quickly caught 3 from the holding tank for me and that was that. Besides I think there were only 3-4 in the tank left anyway, she told me this batch had been in the store for at least a week.

I feel it's pretty important to personally select which fish you're going to get if you're there in person anyway. Maybe that's why I have better luck with some of more sensitive fish than some people.

Even if they all look essentially the same (which is the case with a vast majority of fish), I want to see exactly what I'm getting. If they don't look like the very picture of health they aren't coming home with me. I'd rather end up with one less fish than I wanted than to bring home a sick one.

A lot of otos in the trade are still wild caught and some take to captivity a lot better than others. If it looks stressed in the store it probably isn't going to do as well elsewhere either (as compared to a fish that looks happy and healthy).

Of course I'm also the kind of guy that would buy 20 neons and make the employee swap out two or three of them because they seem a little skinny or more pale than the others.

 

Fair enough. For certain fish I will do this. My rams for example... I made sure I got the two best looking fish in that tank, and I couldnt be happier, theyre absolutely gorgeous. Guppies too, they all look different so I pick the ones I like that look the healthiest. But for neons, cories or fish that I can hardly ever tell apart in most cases I won't bother, especially if I'm getting a large number of them. Can you imagine asking for 20 neons and then pointing at random ones saying I want this one, and that one, and that one... out of the hundred or so in the tank? Lol

 

Well I wouldn't do that to the poor employees but I would ask to see the ones they place into the specimen container before they bag them up so I could reject ones that don't look great.

 

I wish I could do that but at my LFS they just put them directly in the bag and then tie the bag up. I know in certain stores like petsmart they put them in a little plastic container first before pouring them in the bag.

Edit: and I no longer trust petsmart for several reasons

 

Even if they don't put them in the container you can always have them pin the net to the front of the tank so you can get a good look at what you're buying. Is it a little more of a hassle for the employees? Sure, but I'm the one spending the money and they're the one getting paid to get me the fish I want, not just the easiest ones to catch.

 

Please keep in mind otos require a well established tank that has been cycled for a long time(6months+). Considering your tank has not yet finished the cycle, it is possible they may not make it. They're very sensitive to water conditions, some more than others. Hopefully your little guy makes it! If he's still goin after a week more, he'll probably make it. Could you try putting a slice of cucumber/zucinnI in the tank? He may decide to suck on it. It would give him and all other fish a bit of a tasty snack just stay on top of the wc ande keep your eye out on high levels. Hope your oto makes it! Sometimes they die or get sick for no reason.. goodluck with them!!

 

Thanks Scouts! Yes I did put some zucchinI in and I did notice the oddball oto resting on it for a while. I'm not sure if he was eating it or not. All 3 have been living in the tank for 4 days or so now. I know that the critical periods are 24 hours, a week, and a month, so Ill be stoked if they make it to a week! I'm almost certain the other two will, not sure about this little guy.

 

Well, he died. I noticed last night that he had some type of fungal infection on his side so I knew he was on his way out. This morning he was dead on the gravel (in one of the most inconvenient spots in a tank to extract the body, I might add, surrounded by delicate plants, argh... it's almost like it was his last spiteful act against me for letting him die). I'm going to go replace him probably tomorrow so that I still have a trio of them cause I hear they like to be in 3's minimum. The other 2 are still swimming around and happily sucking on the zucchinI I put in there for em, no signs of any problems. This time I will take Eric's advice and make sure I get a super healthy one at the store.