ottos dying in dwarf puffer tank

supenguin · Post by **supenguin** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:41 pm

Over the past month or so, I've purchased two ottos. Algae is getting pretty nasty in my tank. Neither one has lasted very long. The first one latched right onto one of my aquarium ornaments and stayed there for a few hours. The next day he was in a corner, dead.

The second one went crazy eating all the algae he could stomach for an hour or two. Two days later he was dead too. Oddly enough, he was red and ribs were showing on one side.

This is a 20 gallon tank with 5 dwarf puffers, and aquarium gravel and plastic plants.

Is it possible the DP's are attacking the ottos? Or are they more sensitive to stuff in the water than DP's?

I also noticed both times the ottos died, the water seemed a bit warm, but the thermometer said 80 both times.

Not sure if this makes a difference, but we have a whole house water filter which includes a water softener.

I plan on getting our water tested - the fish store had a guarantee on fish, but you need to bring in a sample of the water.

Maybe we should get a bigger algae eater? How about one of the Chinese algae eaters?

vipervenom · Post by **vipervenom** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:43 pm

It sounds like a very odd problem, are you sure you are acclimatising them properly?

Maybe try purchasing some from a different store and see if that is the source.

As far as I know ottos are very hardy, or at least mine is. Could it be possible they are eating too much?

See if the ottos have bites on them, a bite from a dwarph puffer will definitely show.

Post by **RTR** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:14 pm

Otos are very hardy once established in a tank. As new introductions from the LFS, especially if newly received there, they have very poor survival records.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:43 pm

I agree with RTR - I tend to expect a few losses unless I've been watching the stock for a few weeks in the LFS and know they're hardy.

Eric

xautomaticflowersx · Post by **xautomaticflowersx** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:22 pm

Apparently most otos are emaciated when you get them from teh LFS, which is one of the reasons for the poor survival rate. Maybe yours was half-dying of starvation and then gorged itself to death? Take a look here and see what you think: http://www.otocinclus.com/newoto.html

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:22 pm

Always check the bellies on these fish, before purchasing. Same goes for plecos. Look for rounded bellies.

Post by **RTR** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:42 am

Many/most of the suckermoth catfish (Loricaridae) are fasted for substantial periods prior to shipping - the whole family are poop machines - and if they are fasted too long, they lose their gut flora and do not seem to be able to get it back in captivity, therefore they starve to death.

Toadman Z · Post by **Toadman Z** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:53 pm

I agree, it could just be a problem with poor shipping. I've personally never had an oto die, but my LFS requests that they be shipped half as many to a bag as normal. And is very good about making sure they have something to eat once in the store.
Also, you said you have a water softener in you house. Water softeners remove ions by replacing them with salts, right? I think otos are sensitive to salts and hard water in general. Am I right? This might be part of the problem.
Also, some people at the dwarfpuffers forum have reported that their DPs do attack otos. Some peoples' DPs kill them and they can't keep them together. You could try some Amano shrimp, but if your puffers are attacking otos, there's a good chance they'll attack the shrimp. Mine live happily with otos and shrimp, but again it depends on your particular DPs.

Malie · Post by **Malie** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:45 pm

Toadman Z wrote:Also, some people at the dwarfpuffers forum have reported that their DPs do attack otos. Some peoples' DPs kill them and they can't keep them together. You could try some Amano shrimp, but if your puffers are attacking otos, there's a good chance they'll attack the shrimp. Mine live happily with otos and shrimp, but again it depends on your particular DPs.

If you're going to go the shrimp route I would suggest getting a few of the really cheep ghost shrimp at first (may be the same as Amano, I did a web search and couldn't conclude either way). Theyre sold as feeders for carnivorous fish so they're dirt cheep. If you loose them it won't be a big loss.

My DPs wont let shrimp live with them. They chomp off the shrimps eyes since theyre just the right size for a puffer and the shrimp will eventually die. Not to be morbid or anything...

Tihsho · Post by **Tihsho** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:12 pm

Also, check your water parameters and relate them to those of your LFS when you QT them. I have had tons of ottos die from shock due to different PH ranges and the hardness of the water.

Toadman Z · Post by **Toadman Z** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 11:52 pm

Malie wrote:If you're going to go the shrimp route I would suggest getting a few of the really cheep ghost shrimp at first (may be the same as Amano, I did a web search and couldn't conclude either way). Theyre sold as feeders for carnivorous fish so they're dirt cheep. If you loose them it won't be a big loss.

That's a good idea. My DPs get along great with shrimp (actually mine get along great with everything so far; they even live with khulis and a rogue white cloud right now) but I've heard a lot of people have shrimp killers. Ghosts are quite different from Amano or Algae-eating shrimp. The ghosts won't eat a lot of algae, but do help clean up leftover food (and steal bloodworms from my puffers.) But it's a good idea to try the much cheaper ghosts first to see if your puffers will tolerate shrimp before spending the money on the Amanos.

Post by **RTR** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:02 am

I could not believe that my DPs ignored the Red-nosed Red-tailed shrimp I left in their tank by mistake, but they did totally.

Post by **RTR** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:45 am

LOL! Could be. The Palembang in question shares a tank with two left-over female Cherry Barbs and three species of snails. He at least is not fat.

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ottos dying in dwarf puffer tank

ottos dying in dwarf puffer tank