Ok, so I know that otos are notorious for not lasting long, and I've done my research and understand that a lot of it probably has to do with the capture method, but before I start the search for some tank raised otos, I thought I'd check in here.
I've tried 4 otos from each of the large national pet store chains and have had 100% loss. Only 3 out of the 8 even made it out of QT and those lasted no more than a week in the main tank. All died with no signs of infection, but there were reddish areas on the belly. They didn't really want to eat much either, even the nice brown algae on the plants I moved into the QT tank for them. Algae tabs didn't garner much interest, although some did eat biofilm off of the driftwood. Am I doing something wrong or should the law of averages finally catch up with me and provide some survivors? If it is the issue of chemical use on wild caught fish, are there any reputable suppliers out there? What about breeders for tank raised?
Here's the skivvy on the setup:
The main tank is fully planted and kept at 78F for temperature has cured driftwood as well.
My water params are:
API Master Test Kit (liquid):
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 7.6
Nutrafin/Hagen Hardness Test Kit (liquid):
gH: 6.72
KH: 90
I dose every three days with Excel and Flourish and once per week with Flourish Potassium and Flourish Phosporous for the stem plants and use API root tabs once per month for the root plants. I keep the Flourish refrigerated as per the bottle instructions and have not seen any mold on it. Water change is once per week at 30% and temperature matched. The last batch of otos, I even drip acclimated to both the quarantine and the main.
I've tried 4 otos from each of the large national pet store chains and have had 100% loss. Only 3 out of the 8 even made it out of QT and those lasted no more than a week in the main tank. All died with no signs of infection, but there were reddish areas on the belly. They didn't really want to eat much either, even the nice brown algae on the plants I moved into the QT tank for them. Algae tabs didn't garner much interest, although some did eat biofilm off of the driftwood. Am I doing something wrong or should the law of averages finally catch up with me and provide some survivors? If it is the issue of chemical use on wild caught fish, are there any reputable suppliers out there? What about breeders for tank raised?
Here's the skivvy on the setup:
The main tank is fully planted and kept at 78F for temperature has cured driftwood as well.
My water params are:
API Master Test Kit (liquid):
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 7.6
Nutrafin/Hagen Hardness Test Kit (liquid):
gH: 6.72
KH: 90
I dose every three days with Excel and Flourish and once per week with Flourish Potassium and Flourish Phosporous for the stem plants and use API root tabs once per month for the root plants. I keep the Flourish refrigerated as per the bottle instructions and have not seen any mold on it. Water change is once per week at 30% and temperature matched. The last batch of otos, I even drip acclimated to both the quarantine and the main.
