Just a fun Oto Story:

Mangala · 12-07-2006, 06:53 PM

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!

**fresh_lynny** · 12-08-2006, 02:36 PM

nice story and I couldn't agree more...

ianmoede · 12-08-2006, 04:37 PM

That is pretty amazing, if you look at mine the wrong way sometimes they die.

**dang** · 12-08-2006, 10:52 PM

Cockles duly warmed.

And there is something about ottos, maybe their "just minding my own business here" isness that seems so sweeeeet to me.

I am happy for the happy ending.

**RoseHawke** · 12-09-2006, 02:40 PM

Yup. I had one living in the input hose of a filter for a couple months where he apparently got sucked up one day when the screen had been accidentally knocked off the intake tube for a while.

The mystery of why that tube was so clean compared to the output tube was solved

.

bigb00 · 12-11-2006, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ianmoede

That is pretty amazing, if you look at mine the wrong way sometimes they die.

hahaha!!!
mine too!

steve.hes · 12-11-2006, 03:52 AM

I had a similar experience with an Amano shrimp.
Was switching to a new tank, emptied the old tank down to 6 inches of water, removed plants/rocks/wood, caught all the fish, shrimp and a few snails, then emptied out the rest of the water into buckets. Moved my substrate from old tank to new with a big plastic cup (fast food jumbo size).
I'm half way through dumping the eco into the new tank and I see something jumping around, grab it along with a handful of eco and put it in one of the water buckets. One healthy shrimp that's still around to this day

12-07-2006, 06:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mangala Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1) Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 545	Just a fun Oto Story: 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!

12-08-2006, 02:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
fresh_lynny Plant chick (View User Tanks) PTrader: (59) Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 3,238	nice story and I couldn't agree more... __________________ Eheim Chickie #203 Filstar Pimpette # 56 not-so-newby anymore? 90 gal acrylic, Coralife Aquapro 150x2 Metal Halides, 55x2 50/50 PC, 3 lunars, Hydor inline, 9w TurboTwist UV, Pressurized CO2, Rhinox 5000 glass co2 diffusor, Rex Grigg CO2 all-in-one, Milwaukee pH controller, 2 Eheim Pro II 2026's, Filstar XP3 backup, lilies, Eco Complete, Greg Watson dry ferts, EI mod http://web.mac.com/lynny_lynny/iWeb/Site/Velkommen.html http://www.paparazzi.com

12-08-2006, 10:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
dang Plant Lover (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Woodstock, VT Posts: 191	Cockles duly warmed. And there is something about ottos, maybe their "just minding my own business here" isness that seems so sweeeeet to me. I am happy for the happy ending. __________________ 29 gallon, pH controlled CO2, 110 watts PC, Eco-complete, suffering from Eheim envy. 20L gallon, same configuration with fewer watts, suffering from tank size envy. http://www.dangottsegen.com

12-09-2006, 02:40 PM	#5 (permalink)
RoseHawke Never Give Up! (View User Tanks) PTrader: (9) Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Central Alabama Posts: 1,879	Yup. I had one living in the input hose of a filter for a couple months where he apparently got sucked up one day when the screen had been accidentally knocked off the intake tube for a while. The mystery of why that tube was so clean compared to the output tube was solved . __________________ Sláinte! Cindy 55 gallon - Hi-Res — 2wpg CF lighting; pressurized CO2; 18 watt Turbo-twist UVS; Eheim Pro II 2028; eco-complete; 2 Pearl Gouramis; 7 Harlequin Rasboras; 3 Otocinclus catfish 10 gallon — lo-tech; 1.8 wpg DIY CF light; no CO2; Aquaclear mini; Schultz substrate; java fern; java moss; 7 Neon Tetras; 1 flame dwarf gourami

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12-08-2006, 04:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
ianmoede Banned (View User Tanks) PTrader: (12) Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Austin, Tx Posts: 579	That is pretty amazing, if you look at mine the wrong way sometimes they die.

12-11-2006, 03:52 AM	#7 (permalink)
steve.hes Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 52	I had a similar experience with an Amano shrimp. Was switching to a new tank, emptied the old tank down to 6 inches of water, removed plants/rocks/wood, caught all the fish, shrimp and a few snails, then emptied out the rest of the water into buckets. Moved my substrate from old tank to new with a big plastic cup (fast food jumbo size). I'm half way through dumping the eco into the new tank and I see something jumping around, grab it along with a handful of eco and put it in one of the water buckets. One healthy shrimp that's still around to this day