Otocinclus affinis - sick?? what do I do?

[K. Elliot]

I have a 55 gallon fw lightly planted tank. No ammonia, no nitrites,
nitrates at approx 10ppm before weekly 20% water change. PH 7.0.

I have four ottos that have been in my tank for 2.5 to 3 months. They
all looked happy and healthy until yesterday. I noticed that one of
them has a belly that is just huge (in a bad way). It looks like he
ate so much algae and that he can process the waste. He seems
listless, but can swim when he wants. Has anyone seen this in their
ottos? Is there anything that I can do to help him. It looks like he
is gonna explode.

I lost two ottos approximately 7 or 8 months ago to this, but it
happened to them in the first two weeks of being introduced to my
tank.

No other fish look to be unhealthy (bleeding heart tetras, yoyo
loaches, clown pl*co, zebra danios, and three other ottos). I haven't
done anything unusual to my tank that would account for this (well, I
did put the tank into a blackout for a couple of days to combat some
algae...could this have caused it?)

Any help or comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Kevin

[Rick]

"K. Elliot" > wrote in message
om...
> I have a 55 gallon fw lightly planted tank. No ammonia, no nitrites,
> nitrates at approx 10ppm before weekly 20% water change. PH 7.0.
>
> I have four ottos that have been in my tank for 2.5 to 3 months. They
> all looked happy and healthy until yesterday. I noticed that one of
> them has a belly that is just huge (in a bad way). It looks like he
> ate so much algae and that he can process the waste. He seems
> listless, but can swim when he wants. Has anyone seen this in their
> ottos? Is there anything that I can do to help him. It looks like he
> is gonna explode.
>
> I lost two ottos approximately 7 or 8 months ago to this, but it
> happened to them in the first two weeks of being introduced to my
> tank.
>
> No other fish look to be unhealthy (bleeding heart tetras, yoyo
> loaches, clown pl*co, zebra danios, and three other ottos). I haven't
> done anything unusual to my tank that would account for this (well, I
> did put the tank into a blackout for a couple of days to combat some
> algae...could this have caused it?)
>
> Any help or comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Kevin


have not seen that in my Otto's however they do require clear well filtered
water and are quite susceptible to changes in water quality however with
weekly 20% changes that should not be a problem. It may be constipated and
although these fish do not like salt you could isolate it in a small tank,
and try Epsom salts, a tsp per 5 gallons ratio. I would get him out of the
tank just in case. For me I seldom try and treat my fish anymore with
antibiotics which just simply seem to create more problems as the fish build
up immunity. Unless it is an expensive or prized fish then I euthanasia
them. Where I am I can get Otto's for $2.00 (Cdn).

Rick

[NetMax]

"K. Elliot" > wrote in message
om...
> I have a 55 gallon fw lightly planted tank. No ammonia, no nitrites,
> nitrates at approx 10ppm before weekly 20% water change. PH 7.0.
>
> I have four ottos that have been in my tank for 2.5 to 3 months. They
> all looked happy and healthy until yesterday. I noticed that one of
> them has a belly that is just huge (in a bad way). It looks like he
> ate so much algae and that he can process the waste. He seems
> listless, but can swim when he wants. Has anyone seen this in their
> ottos? Is there anything that I can do to help him. It looks like he
> is gonna explode.
>
> I lost two ottos approximately 7 or 8 months ago to this, but it
> happened to them in the first two weeks of being introduced to my
> tank.
>
> No other fish look to be unhealthy (bleeding heart tetras, yoyo
> loaches, clown pl*co, zebra danios, and three other ottos). I haven't
> done anything unusual to my tank that would account for this (well, I
> did put the tank into a blackout for a couple of days to combat some
> algae...could this have caused it?)
>
> Any help or comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Kevin

I don't see how a blackout could be related. Swollen abdomen could be
constipation, dropsy (internal bacterial contagion) or eggs. I've never
seen an Oto bloated with eggs, so I can't advise you on that.
Constipation is treated with Epson salts in the water (in an iso tank),
and dropsy is usually fatal in small fish when it reaches an advanced
state. If Dropsy, isolate him (if you can catch him), and treat him with
anti-bacterial medication. Even if he does not survive, you do not want
a dropsy infected carcass releasing bacteria into the water. For most
fish, getting them to eat treated foods (either medicated for dropsy or
with something like cod liver oil) is the best course of action, but
wouldn't be so practical with an Oto.

NetMax

[K. Elliot]

"NetMax" > wrote in message >...

> I don't see how a blackout could be related. Swollen abdomen could be
> constipation, dropsy (internal bacterial contagion) or eggs. I've never
> seen an Oto bloated with eggs, so I can't advise you on that.
> Constipation is treated with Epson salts in the water (in an iso tank),
> and dropsy is usually fatal in small fish when it reaches an advanced
> state. If Dropsy, isolate him (if you can catch him), and treat him with
> anti-bacterial medication. Even if he does not survive, you do not want
> a dropsy infected carcass releasing bacteria into the water. For most
> fish, getting them to eat treated foods (either medicated for dropsy or
> with something like cod liver oil) is the best course of action, but
> wouldn't be so practical with an Oto.
>
> NetMax

Thanks everyone who replied. By the time I got back from work
yesterday my poor oto had expired :( Thankfully I had removed him to
an isolation tank.

I will keep a close eye on the remaining fish. At least now I will
know some possible remedies if this happens again in the future.
Thanks again.

Kevin