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i did the research before buying the otos to make sure my water chemistry is compatible. it is. the temp was kept correct. there was algae on the walls for them to eat. i was also dropping spirulina algae wafers for them. what did i do wrong?

i think i know what i did wrong. i didnt know that otos are very sensitive fish to acclimate. i probably acclimated them too quickly.

Ottos can indeed be sensitive to being transported and acclimated. They may have been ailing when you got them from the trip from wild to wholesaler to retailer. It's hard to tell. Once you've gotten some acclimated successfully, they are decently hardy, and though they often "disappear", they'll reappear eventually. They're very good at hiding, and this and their armor plating makes them pretty tough in the face of fish that might eat other similarly-sized fish.

To prevent this acclimation shock on your end, it's pretty simple to set up a drip acclimation. To do this, get a bucket or similar container that is at least large enough to hold twice the amount of water that the fish are bagged in. (In a small bag with mostly air as you might find with fish at an auction or similar situation, you may need a pitcher or something narrower as the water will be too shallow in most buckets.) You'll also need a length of airline tubing long enough to comfortably reach from the tank to the floor or a surface you can set the water container on. For most fish (although I've never had a problem with ottos jumping), I'll also use a 3-ring binder or something like that to cover the bucket while acclimating. The last piece of equipment you'll need is a net appropriate for the species you're acclimating (ottos have spines in their fins, so you'll actually want a hard-sided container instead like a cup or jar).

Dump the bag and its contents into the bucket. Put one end of the airline tubing in the tank, weighted down with the tank lid/cover. Suck a little bit of air out of the other end to get it started (you don't need to let the water go down all the way to your mouth, and that's not recommended anyway). Then pinch your end and tie it in a knot. Tighten the knot until the water is just slowly dripping. Then let it drip into the bucket until you have at least double the water you started with (more is better). Take the tubing out and un-knot it if you want to use it again. Then scoop the fish out and put it in the tank!

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thank you very much. you actually saved me a post asking how to set up a drip acclimation system. i actually got one more last night after doing yet further research on them and discovered how sensitive they are. when i acclimated this one i left him in the beg in the tank for about an hour to let temperatures match, and then about every half hour or so i added a single turkey baster full of tank water to the bag. after doing this 5 or 6 times i finally felt comfortable releasing him into the tank. right now hes hiding from the betta (which surprisingly is going for him rather than the 2 guppies hes with) but he seems to be doing fine this morning. i blanched a cucumber for him that he hasnt discovered yet. he isnt gasping for air as far as i can tell, and his gills are solid white. no stress at all.