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A couple of weeks ago, one of our three ottos died kind of suddenly , and I'm wondering if this has happened to anyone else.

She (?) looked like she was pregnant for several days, with an enlarged, dark-coloured belly, but was behaving normally. Then, one morning we found her dead on the bottom of the tank. There was no sign of any problems, other than the pregnant appearance. All of the other fish (2 other ottos, some lemon tetras, harlies, and Amano shrimp) are all fine.

Any thoughts? I'd really hate to loose my other ottos.
Thanks!

PS forgot to say - all water quality parameters were (and still are) good, we check every week minimum. We also do 20% water changes every week, and vacuum the gravel at the same time.

Last edited by misty7 at 16-Feb-2005 20:08

ummm ottos don't get pregnant , i'm thinking either bloat or dropsy, what size tank and what were the water parameter?

Daka<<<<

Let's see...the day the otto died, the pH was 7.6, ammonia was either 0 or just a trace (hard to tell with our test kit), nitrate and nitrite were both 0.
Its a 20 gallon tank, planted.

And, I just re-tested - Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, pH 7.6, and nitrate is 5ppm. Oh ya and the temp is always about 74-76.
Thanks!!

Last edited by misty7 at 16-Feb-2005 20:35

otto sometimes die out of nowhere
not the most hardy fish:#(

Might have been an egg bound female. Sometimes happens with any egglaying species.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

What does egg bound mean?

And, oops I just realized that I probably should have put this in the Hospital forum - apologies for the inappropriately placed posting...

Last edited by misty7 at 17-Feb-2005 19:24

Don't worry about that - it'll do here nicely for now.

"Egg-bound" means that a female has developed a large batch of eggs, but can't expel them for some reason. Which means that they end up being stuck inside the female fish, die, start decaying, and all kinds of nasty septicaemic complications set in pretty quick. It is possible to manually remove eggs from a fish, by applying pressure carefully and in the right direction, but on a fish as small as an Otocinclus you'll need surgeon's hands to do the job without crushing the poor little critter. Expelling eggs by hand (known rather oddly as 'stripping') is something that's usually done to big salmon on fish farms, or big Koi. It's a lot easier to do on a 5Kg salmon than a small aquarium fish weighing in at around 100 millgrams ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I think that must have been it. Before she died, all of the ottos were displaying mating behaviour (I learnt that on this website, too ). Then she developed that large tummy and died. Guess there wasn't much I could have done about that.
Thanks!!!!

Oh, this sometimes happens with livebearers too - pregnant female gets 'stuck'. Babies die, momma follows soon afterwards. With big livebearers such as female swordtails, you can try expressing the babies out, but momma is going to hurt a lot while you're doing it.

I once had a Lemon Tetra suffer the same fate. She ended up all bent and twisted. Horrible to watch. And I don't have the surgical skills to perform a caesarean on a 30mm fish.

Better luck with your remaining Otocinclus ... and here's hoping that the next female actually lays eggs!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Another thing to take into consideration is the otos age. How long have you had her? Was she full size when you bought her? She just might have died of old age.

Hmmm, good point. I'm not sure how old she was. I've only had them for about 2 months, but she was full size when I bought her.

I'm quite relieved that I didn't have to watch what your Lemon Tetra went through, Calilasseia, I wouldn't have dealt with that well. Must have been awful for you.

It amazes me how attached I've gotten to all of my fish! They all have real personalities, which I did not expect when I first started this...but I think everyone here already knows that

Thanks again for all of your help, everyone!

As for old age, well, one of my Otocinclus was over 9 years old when it finally went to the great aquarium in the sky ... if looked after properly, they can live a decent life. I'm still running with the 'egg bound' diagnosis ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yeah, I didn't realize they could live that long. I highly doubt that the LFS would have her for several years before I picked her up...
Nice to know that I could have the others for that long, though. I really like the cuties.

The otos might have been an older fish used for breeding. When people who breed have fish that are getting a bit old they sell them before they die.Older fish produce less fry.