A bit of sad news :( Advice wanted please.

849 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Aquatic Delight, Apr 30, 2014

philipraposo1982

Discussion Starter · Apr 30, 2014

This morning went to go do a small wc and noticed a dead oto in the tank

I am pretty sure I know why this happened BUT I didn't think it would cause the fish to die. Here is the background story.

About a day and a half ago I noticed one the same oto that died a 3-4mm gash on the side of his/her head/face. right side. The flesh was pure white when I first saw it and must of just happened. I believe the cause of this was the piece of slate I used to attack a piece of cucumber to, it did have a sharp side to it. I don't know how else the gash would of happened outside of this.

The fish seemed fish that day and yesterday I was gone all day and didn't have a chance to check on the fish. But by the smell of it this morning I would assume it had been dead for a while. maybe sometime yesterday.

So my question is would a pretty big gash be able to kill the fish so quickly? I have since removed the piece of stone and replaced it was a smooth rounded stone. All other fish are fine.

Let me know what you guys think.

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sharko

· #2 · Apr 30, 2014

I guess it's possible it was due to injury, but my experience is that most of the time when a fish appears to have an injury it is really an ulcer/fin-rot/hole-in-head/other sign of systemic disease. I hope yours was just an injury, but check all the others carefully and make sure you don't have an outbreak of something.

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philipraposo1982

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 30, 2014

I am 99% sure it wasn't a disease and was indeed a cut of flesh. But I will keep watch.

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Aquatic Delight

· #4 · Apr 30, 2014

otos are kind of sensitive

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philipraposo1982

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 30, 2014

Stupid mistake that should of never happened on my part.

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Bushkill

· #6 · Apr 30, 2014

Aquatic Delight said:
otos are kind of sensitive

I have to agree with this statement from personal experience. Not the toughest and seem to just kick for no obvious reasons.

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Lucubration

· #7 · Apr 30, 2014

I've had six out of six otos die in my tanks in the last six months. Bought at different times, short ride home from a pet store, gently acclimated, kept in different tanks, ate and swam well for a few weeks/months, then one day - BAM - dead.

If you're certain it was an actual injury, I would guess that it would just exacerbate their natural tendency to die in captivity. Unfortunately, with these fish, I don't think there necessarily has to be anything else wrong with their conditions for them to just keel over.

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PlantedRich

· #8 · Apr 30, 2014

Sorry about the loss. Sometimes it happens.
One small point if you want to keep using the slate. It is not usually too hard to grind the sharp edges off by rubbing it on semi rough concrete. Might be a quick way to make it usable?

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Aquatic Delight

· #9 · Apr 30, 2014

i used to work in a LFS and we would lose about half of the otos we ordered just from putting them in our tanks. now i recommend you wait to purchase otos from a LFS until they have in the stores tank at least a week, that way you lesson the risk of losing otos.

PlantedRich said:
Sorry about the loss. Sometimes it happens.
One small point if you want to keep using the slate. It is not usually too hard to grind the sharp edges off by rubbing it on semi rough concrete. Might be a quick way to make it usable?

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