Not sure where I went wrong.

[Aquaticfrog32]

Hi. On Saturday I bought 1 more otocinclus catfish so I would have a group of 3.
There was nothing wrong-looking about him. So on sunday, I started noticing how oddly he was swimming; on his side or just drifting. That night, just as I was going to bed, I took a look at my 20L tank, and there he was, on his back clearly dead, nothing looked wrong with him. I'm panicking! What if I just introduced some awful disease?
Nothing seems wrong with the rest of my fish, but still.
Could someone please tell me where I went wrong?

Thanks,
-Aquaticfrog32

 

[myswtsins]

Short answer - You didn't quarantine.

Long answer - So many things could have gone wrong here and without more details it's impossible to tell what it could have been. Although even with more info it is still hard to determine the cause for sure.
Factors
What were the parameters of the LFS?
What are your parameters?
How did you acclimate?
For how long?
Did he/she have a fat belly? (something to try to get in otos, shows they've been eating and is generally a good sign of health)

But could have been a sick/bad fish or acclimation shock or something else entirely. Otos are known to be sensitive fish and just one oto could be extra stressed by being alone even just for the trip home and acclimation. Otos really like the company of others, I'd suggest at least 6 but more is always better. Is the tank too small for a group?

 

[tanker]

Chances are you did not introduce an "awful disease", but would have been better if you quarantine. I know not everyone can.
Yes, just saying a fish died, and asking what happened without anymore info, we can only guess.

 

[dougall]

I will go along with the most likely thing being whether or not the oto had been eating.

as far as I know they are still not farmed and still come wild caught unless coming direct from a breeder.

Do you know how long they had been at the LFS? And where they may have come from before that? (it doesn't matter if not... it is only part of the puzzle)

If the fish was not eating well from being collected and shipped, that will cause stress, adding this onto the stress of acclimation if your water is different from that at the LFS, then this will all add up and possibly end up badly.

obviously quarantine is important ... the risk is that infection/disease will affect your existing fish; but lots of people get away with this all the time, and it all seems to be a little quick in my book.

Everyone will have their preferred methods, personally I buy predominantly from MsJinkzd, I know she quarantines all new fish for at least 2 weeks or longer if needed; and to be honest I am more than happy to let her experienced self deal with new potential fish problems (which reminds me to check her stovk, I want 15 more otos)

The only other thing I can think to mention is making sure you have food for the new oto, if they are hungry and havent eaten then they will need food that is plentiful and easy for them to eat... using unprepared repashy can be used, just put some of the powder on the water, but having lots of diatoms or bacterial film can be terribly important for new fish.

 

[Aquaticfrog32]

I'm not sure what you mean by "LFS" and how would one quarantine?
I did have algae in the tank for him to eat, and no, he did not have a fat belly. Maybe he was underfed?

 

[dougall]

LFS - Local Fish Store, where you bought the fish.

To quarantine fish, you are keeping them in a different tank before you put them with other fish, so you can better observe their behaviour, well being, and in case of disease you dont introduce it to your main tank, and it is generally easier to treat as you are dealing with a smaller volume of water.

A fat belly would likely indicate he was eating well, a sunken belly would not. The probkem is, especially with Otos, that they are not necessarily eating from the time of collection until they hit the distributer in the US (or wherever) due to the food not being available. This can lead to their digestive systems shutting down and they basically forget how to eat and then waste away. Hence trying to buy ones that look to be eating.

As for algae, IME they have only been good with softer food, like diatoms or biofilm... I have never seen them eat brush or spot algaes.

 

[Aquaticfrog32]

Ok. Thank you. I will quarantine for in the future before adding to my 20gal. Anyway, I'm getting that new fish today. It died before the health warranty expired.