So, 'round December 1st, I moved to a new apartment in the city. I was tearing down my 30 gallon and fishing out my fish, and of course, the otos refused to come out of hiding. I eventually drained the tank to find them and fish them out! But, being the lazy person that I am, I didn't remove any substrate or plants or anything, so I just scooped them up off the rocks. To my dismay, I only found five (out of the former six). "Aw," thought I, "I lost one! He's probably been eaten by snails long long ago! Poor little guy..." And then I picked up my tank, threw it in the back of the car (the fish all went in little containers in a cooler, to keep the temp the same) and moved in to my new place. The tank stayed on the floor for about 24-36 hours while I tried to make sure I had a good place for it to be set up, and it got quite cold. there was maybe 1 puddle of water roughly 1/8th of an inch deep where there was a dip in the gravel, and it was filled with mucky water. So... then I move my old tank into it's new place and look inside, and lo-and-behold, if the sixth oto wasn't in that tiny, mucky puddle, hanging on to life! I filled the tank up a little, and watched him... he perked up immediately! I filled the tank, and watched him explore the surroundings all by his lonesome while I waited for it to clear before I put the rest of the fish back in. He's still doing fine today.
I tell ya, these little guys are just flippin' amazing!
