Faeriel
Hello! First tank newbie here in dire need of assistance!! By the time this is posted it will be DIRE!!
I have an Otto in a 20gal tank that has been set up for about two months now, with the Otto being in the tank since around June 13th. He usually zips across the tank feeding all day on the algae growing on the plants or on the glass, though we haven’t been able to get him to eat the algae thins we had bought for him. He had been doing great, though the last two days he has been exhibiting strange hiding behaviour. We did not think much of it as he occasionally has a day or two which we don’t see him as often, but today we found him on the gravel of the tank, somewhat on his side and extremely lethargic. His breathing has already declined slightly and I believe he might be on his deathbed unless I manage to do something ASAP. I’ve done some research and looked through forums regarding similar topics but all of the cases I had read about the Otto was somewhat new to the tank. We did do about a 50% water change over the weekend, (I believe on Friday?) and changed two of our four cartridges in our filter the next day, and it had been a couple of days before his symptoms appeared. We have turned the lights in the tank off in hopes it might rejuvenate him? Help please!!! TIA!!!!
tank specs (from standard PH testing strip):
20 gal
Nitrate: 40
Nitrite: 0.5
pH: 7 (down from 7.5)
KH: 180
GH: 120
Ammonia (from standard testing strip): 0.5
I have an Otto in a 20gal tank that has been set up for about two months now, with the Otto being in the tank since around June 13th. He usually zips across the tank feeding all day on the algae growing on the plants or on the glass, though we haven’t been able to get him to eat the algae thins we had bought for him. He had been doing great, though the last two days he has been exhibiting strange hiding behaviour. We did not think much of it as he occasionally has a day or two which we don’t see him as often, but today we found him on the gravel of the tank, somewhat on his side and extremely lethargic. His breathing has already declined slightly and I believe he might be on his deathbed unless I manage to do something ASAP. I’ve done some research and looked through forums regarding similar topics but all of the cases I had read about the Otto was somewhat new to the tank. We did do about a 50% water change over the weekend, (I believe on Friday?) and changed two of our four cartridges in our filter the next day, and it had been a couple of days before his symptoms appeared. We have turned the lights in the tank off in hopes it might rejuvenate him? Help please!!! TIA!!!!
tank specs (from standard PH testing strip):
20 gal
Nitrate: 40
Nitrite: 0.5
pH: 7 (down from 7.5)
KH: 180
GH: 120
Ammonia (from standard testing strip): 0.5