Oto with a really chubby belly

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LunchBox

LunchBox

Me fail english? that's unpossible!
Feb 7, 2006
645
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0
Kalamazoo, MI
so one of my Otos (these little guys have been nothing but trouble) has a really chubby belly. he swims fine, there are no unusual discolorations or anything, he's still grazing... he's just got a real chubby belly.

not sure what would cause this, but I looked at the disease article already and the only thing that stood out was the chronic dropsy. it has bee nslowly getting chubbier, but I figured he just had a lot to eat :duh:

anyway, if I can snap a pic of him tonight I'll post it and maybe someone has seen this kind of thing before.

Thanks!
 
jtruswell

jtruswell

AC Members
Jan 18, 2006
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Although COMPLETELY different species, I notice that this happens to my black widow tetras and danios when they are constipated (which normally happens if they've had too much protein in their diet). I find that peas work really well to clear it up for them. I use frozen peas which I defrost in a little bit of tank water left to sit. Then I peel them and smush them up and the fish love them.

So maybe he's just constipated? I don't have ANY experience with Otos, so I can hardly claim that this is the best advice you'd get (;)) and so maybe someone else has some advice. But, myself, I'd try some peas. That said, I would stay away from canned peas because some have additives that I don't think would be good for the fish, plus I believe they have a lot of added salt.

What else is in the tank that you might be feeding protein based foods? Is he/she eating that too? Sometimes my 'algae eating' pleco will eat bloodworms I give to my other fish.

Best of luck and I hope this helps!!

Jade
 
LunchBox

LunchBox

Me fail english? that's unpossible!
Feb 7, 2006
645
0
0
Kalamazoo, MI
well, now that you mention it, a couple times a week I will crush up a cube of tubiflex worm for my tetras, and some of it usually makes its way to the bottom of the tank.. maybe he got a hold of some of that?

otherwise I've been feeding flake food mostly for the tetras, and for a few days last week I had taken a green bean and cooked it a while to soften it up, sliced it in half so they could easily get to the stuff inside, and sunk it down with a rock for the otos.... could green beans be bad for them?

the first order of business is a water change (just in case) and then I think I'll try the peas :)

here's as good a pic as I could get. don't worry, he's not on the heater ;) he's hanging onto the bracket holding the heater to the tank.

oto belly.jpg
 
Last edited:
jtruswell

jtruswell

AC Members
Jan 18, 2006
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I just thought of something...is it possible 'she' is pregnant?? Given that you have three of them, probability dictates at least one is female....how long ago did the chubby belly start? If it was almost overnight or in a relatively short period of time, I'd say constipation. But given that you said it was occuring slowly over time....you might be on the way to becoming the proud godparent to baby otos....

Dunno. Like I said, I don't have any experience with Otos. Just my best guess!

Ciao!

Jade
 
LunchBox

LunchBox

Me fail english? that's unpossible!
Feb 7, 2006
645
0
0
Kalamazoo, MI
not sure if its female or not. the thought had crossed my mind ;)

it did come on gradually over the last couple weeks. I figure I've had them for a little more than 2 weeks and when I got them they all looked the same... then this one started looking a little on the pudgy side, and I tohught maybe I just had that much algae where they were getting fat ;)

niot sure though. changing out 30% of my water now in case its something with that. :)
 
C

cedwards

AC Members
Dec 29, 2005
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Georgia
I just posted about that less than a week ago, then searched the forums and found another post with similar pictures. In my case, the fat belly went away within a day or two. I think they just pig out and then need to process everything.
 
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