Tiny otto cat: I'm so sorry- what to do?

[Ionizer]

I put three small otto cats into our main tank about a month ago and
they immediately went about the business of cleaning the algae from all
surfaces. Last week I found one dead, way in the back behind a
decoration. It's such a hard-to-see spot and these guys are so small
and elusive that he may have been there for a while before I spotted
him. He seemed a bit long-dead.

This afternoon, just half an hour ago, I came home to find another otto
cat jammed into the intake slots of our filter tube, hanging
motionlessly. Over the months, this is where I've found most of our
small handful of fish losses- I assume that they drift lifelessly and
end up being pulled gradualy towards the tube. So I reached into the
tank and pulled the cat out from the slots- he was really jammed in
there. When I brought him towards the surface though, he wiggled and I
let him go.

He's alive, but I've hurt him by pulling him out of that slot and I am
honestly so f*cking sorry right now because of what I've done. He's
trying to cling to the glass, and sliding down. Then he swims
vigorously, but in circles- I've damaged his left eye somewhat
noticeably. Should I just let him be and keep apologizing to him while
hoping that he can recover, or what?

I hate this feeling.

--
Ian.

[Rocco Moretti]

Ionizer wrote:

> This afternoon, just half an hour ago, I came home to find another otto
> cat jammed into the intake slots of our filter tube, hanging
> motionlessly. Over the months, this is where I've found most of our
> small handful of fish losses- I assume that they drift lifelessly and
> end up being pulled gradualy towards the tube.

You don't say what filter you have, but I have an Aquaclear filter with
a conical dip tube intake with rather wide intake slots. To keep large
chunks & snails out, I've cut a hole in a small Aquaclear sponge filter
and put it over the intake tube. This keeps live things from being
sucked into the tube. (Previously the filter was sucking snails out of
their shells, but now my shrimp can land and take off from the sponge
with no problems.)

[Ionizer]

"Rocco Moretti" > wrote in message
...
> You don't say what filter you have, but I have an Aquaclear filter
> with a conical dip tube intake with rather wide intake slots. To keep
> large chunks & snails out, I've cut a hole in a small Aquaclear sponge
> filter and put it over the intake tube. This keeps live things from
> being sucked into the tube. (Previously the filter was sucking snails
> out of their shells, but now my shrimp can land and take off from the
> sponge with no problems.)

I've got the same Aquaclear filter setup here also. I'd begun
speculating about how I could modify a little piece of one of my wife's
nylons in order to prevent this from happening again, but your approach
is much better- thanks.

This little cat is now against the glass on his side at the bottom.
He's almost certainly not going to make it, but I'm not going to
intervene *again.* I'll make sure this never happens again, though.

Regards,
Ian.

[Gill Passman]

"Ionizer" > wrote in message
...
> "Rocco Moretti" > wrote in message
> ...
> > You don't say what filter you have, but I have an Aquaclear filter
> > with a conical dip tube intake with rather wide intake slots. To keep
> > large chunks & snails out, I've cut a hole in a small Aquaclear sponge
> > filter and put it over the intake tube. This keeps live things from
> > being sucked into the tube. (Previously the filter was sucking snails
> > out of their shells, but now my shrimp can land and take off from the
> > sponge with no problems.)
>
> I've got the same Aquaclear filter setup here also. I'd begun
> speculating about how I could modify a little piece of one of my wife's
> nylons in order to prevent this from happening again, but your approach
> is much better- thanks.
>
> This little cat is now against the glass on his side at the bottom.
> He's almost certainly not going to make it, but I'm not going to
> intervene *again.* I'll make sure this never happens again, though.
>
> Regards,
> Ian.
>
>
I also lost one of this little babies around 1 month after getting
them....he was at the bottom rather than stuck in any filter....I'm always
very sad when I lose a fish but it could well be there was a problem in the
first place

It sounds to me like he was weakened or ill in the first place - I now have
5 of these babies - 3 of which are in my main community tank and none of
them have been "sucked in"....

Gill

[Daniel Morrow]

"Ionizer" > wrote in message
...
> "Rocco Moretti" > wrote in message
> ...
> > You don't say what filter you have, but I have an Aquaclear filter
> > with a conical dip tube intake with rather wide intake slots. To keep
> > large chunks & snails out, I've cut a hole in a small Aquaclear sponge
> > filter and put it over the intake tube. This keeps live things from
> > being sucked into the tube. (Previously the filter was sucking snails
> > out of their shells, but now my shrimp can land and take off from the
> > sponge with no problems.)
>
> I've got the same Aquaclear filter setup here also. I'd begun
> speculating about how I could modify a little piece of one of my wife's
> nylons in order to prevent this from happening again, but your approach
> is much better- thanks.
>
> This little cat is now against the glass on his side at the bottom.
> He's almost certainly not going to make it, but I'm not going to
> intervene *again.* I'll make sure this never happens again, though.
>
> Regards,
> Ian.
>
>

I use a sponge pre filter called the filter max III that can be bought for
around $10.00 each and I use one wherever any fry would otherwise be sucked
in (or small fish for that matter), the kit comes with various adapters to
allow connection to most if not all filters/powerheads. I did need to cut
the tip of my aquaclear off (I use one aquaclear for my hospital tank) on
it's intake tube because of the tip having those small holes in the group
shape of a tapering cone in order to get a good sponge prefilter connection
(I used a fiberglass cutting disc with my dremel clone) and I have had
perfect results so far and I as said previously have used the sponge
prefilters with other filters without issues. The only thing I have
experienced negatively with sponge prefilters is that they need to soak in
10 parts water 1 part bleach overnight once a year to get rid of the fish
slime "glue" effect which is explained a tid bit in the online manual for
the vortex xl filter online (do a search for "diatom filter" and make your
selection). I've only needed to do this once so far and it was recent, the
sponge material doesn't stay fluffy like when it's new and restricts flow
significantly until you use the water/bleach cleaning method. Good luck and
later!

[Mean_Chlorine]

Thusly "Ionizer" > Spake Unto All:


>This afternoon, just half an hour ago, I came home to find another otto
>cat jammed into the intake slots of our filter tube, hanging
>motionlessly. Over the months, this is where I've found most of our
>small handful of fish losses- I assume that they drift lifelessly and
>end up being pulled gradualy towards the tube.

That's guaranteed to be the case. Otos are outstanding swimmers and
capable of navigating *any* current you can throw at them - he was not
sucked in the filter by mistake, he was almost certainly already
dying, and no longer able to navigate.
Once a loricariid (such as an oto) finds himself in danger, for
instance being sick and sucked against a filter, they react by raising
their barbed & spiny fins and locking them in upright position. The
reaction is really intended to make it hard for bigger fish to swallow
them, but in this case it may have got him really stuck.

As to why your oto was apparently dying... they're very sensitive
fish, and they also tend to have difficulties finding enough food,
even in aquaria with lots of algae. Starvation is probably the #1
killer of otos, at least those who manage to acclimatise and survive
the first month in a new aquarium.

However, that you've had more fish die suggests there may be some
other, more fundamental, problem than the inherent sensitivity of
otos.

[coolchinchilla]

Ionizer wrote:
> This little cat is now against the glass on his side at the bottom.
> He's almost certainly not going to make it, but I'm not going to
> intervene *again.* I'll make sure this never happens again, though.

I'm so so sorry about your fish. I heard somewhere that the kindest
thing to do for a fish that isn't going to make it is to take them
out and immediately put them in the freezer. They die very quickly
there -- a humane form of euthanasia. I've had to do that for a few
of my fish.

You might think it's silly but I bury them out in my garden along
with other pets of mine who have died. It honors their lives rather
than simply flushing them down the toilet -- but that's just me.
:-) Sentimental for sure.

Be gentle with yourself.
coolchinchilla

[Ionizer]

"Ionizer" > wrote in message
...
> He's alive, but I've hurt him by pulling him out of that slot and I am
> honestly so f*cking sorry right now because of what I've done...

Thanks to all for your responses and to coolchinchilla for the
comforting words.

Amazingly, now 24 hours later, that little cat is still alive and
looking remarkably better than he was when I first posted. I haven't
actually seen him swim while watching the tank, but every other time I
go over and look, both cats are in different locations than they had
been earlier. A very good sign, I think.

I've put a chunk of filter foam over the end of the intake tube but
tomorrow I'll head out and buy a prefilter just for aesthetic reasons-
it looks like a big, white fuzzy dice hanging back there right now.

Regards,
Ian.
(Now Playing: The Kids Are Alright - The Who)

[Angrie.Woman]

"Ionizer" > wrote in message
...
> "Ionizer" > wrote in message
> I've put a chunk of filter foam over the end of the intake tube but
> tomorrow I'll head out and buy a prefilter just for aesthetic reasons- it
> looks like a big, white fuzzy dice hanging back there right now.

Or you could get a bobbing headed dog to go with them.


A

[NetMax]

"Ionizer" > wrote in message
...
>I put three small otto cats into our main tank about a month ago and
>they immediately went about the business of cleaning the algae from all
>surfaces. Last week I found one dead, way in the back behind a
>decoration. It's such a hard-to-see spot and these guys are so small
>and elusive that he may have been there for a while before I spotted
>him. He seemed a bit long-dead.
>
> This afternoon, just half an hour ago, I came home to find another otto
> cat jammed into the intake slots of our filter tube, hanging
> motionlessly. Over the months, this is where I've found most of our
> small handful of fish losses- I assume that they drift lifelessly and
> end up being pulled gradualy towards the tube. So I reached into the
> tank and pulled the cat out from the slots- he was really jammed in
> there. When I brought him towards the surface though, he wiggled and I
> let him go.
>
> He's alive, but I've hurt him by pulling him out of that slot and I am
> honestly so f*cking sorry right now because of what I've done. He's
> trying to cling to the glass, and sliding down. Then he swims
> vigorously, but in circles- I've damaged his left eye somewhat
> noticeably. Should I just let him be and keep apologizing to him while
> hoping that he can recover, or what?
>
> I hate this feeling.
>
> --
> Ian.


I know that feeling, having done similar things before. What I do?
Curse, cross my fingers, pace, worry and curse some more. It's easier
when they die or recover quickly. Accidents happen and my conciliation
is that I learn and I don't repeat them.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Gail Futoran]

"Ionizer" > wrote in message
...
>I put three small otto cats into our main tank about a month ago and they
>immediately went about the business of cleaning the algae from all
>surfaces. Last week I found one dead, way in the back behind a decoration.
>It's such a hard-to-see spot and these guys are so small and elusive that
>he may have been there for a while before I spotted him. He seemed a bit
>long-dead.
>
> This afternoon, just half an hour ago, I came home to find another otto
> cat jammed into the intake slots of our filter tube, hanging motionlessly.
> Over the months, this is where I've found most of our small handful of
> fish losses- I assume that they drift lifelessly and end up being pulled
> gradualy towards the tube. So I reached into the tank and pulled the cat
> out from the slots- he was really jammed in there. When I brought him
> towards the surface though, he wiggled and I let him go.
>
> He's alive, but I've hurt him by pulling him out of that slot and I am
> honestly so f*cking sorry right now because of what I've done. He's
> trying to cling to the glass, and sliding down. Then he swims vigorously,
> but in circles- I've damaged his left eye somewhat noticeably. Should I
> just let him be and keep apologizing to him while hoping that he can
> recover, or what?
>
> I hate this feeling.
>
> --
> Ian.

I know what you mean (the feeling...). I would let
him alone and hope for the best. Otos can be awfully
fragile - except for the few that survive pretty much
anything and seem to live forever.

Gail