[nchmi28]

My 7 year old son's betta "Little Mack" finally got his tank upgraded after over a year living in this bowl.

(If you want the back story on why he was in the bowl, it's here)
Here's his new 10 gallon home right after it was setup.

And here is how it looks now that I just bought way too many plants at a swap meet.

(The view he sees when he's lying in bed)
Little Mack seems so much happier in his new digs, and he's going to be getting some roommates for a while. I'm planning on quarantining some otos with him until they are ready to go into the family room tank.

 

[WaterLife]

Otos prefer cooler water and higher dissolved oxygen levels. Especially with them being toted as sensitive fish, I'm not so sure how well they will adjust to living (surviving) in the Betta's tank conditions. Just wanted to point that out.

But I'm glad the Betta is enjoying his larger real estate

 

[patfat]

Otos prefer cooler water and higher dissolved oxygen levels. Especially with them being toted as sensitive fish, I'm not so sure how well they will adjust to living (surviving) in the Betta's tank conditions. Just wanted to point that out.

But I'm glad the Betta is enjoying his larger real estate

you actually be surprised that they can live in most conditions. I have 5 in my tank right now with inject co2, high light, good amount of plants, and heat set to 78. They have all been living happy, healthy, full. With two rams and acara corys shrimp and others.. Given most people do a broad spectrum on types of fish. you never know what your really going to get in the sense of the way it acting, what it eats, or in the way in can survive in a healthy tank. just saying =]

 

[WaterLife]

@patfat
No doubt fish can survive out of their comfort zone, but that still doesn't mean they are thriving. It does depend on the species as some are more hardy/adaptable than others. I know people have kept otos in tanks with low flow (unfiltered/no flow tanks even) and they live. It's known that keeping fish out of their normal range does indeed reduce their immune system strength and shorten their lifespan, especially at warmer temps. How much of a factor that difference is does depend.

Main reason I wanted to note that to the OP, is that especially if the fish is newly acclimating and the water conditions are more of a significant change from their previous water conditions (even a bigger deal if the fish are wild caught), the greater load/stress that puts on the fish (any fish species, but even more so with otos being a sensitive fish) and the lower the chances of even surviving initial acclimation.

 

[patfat]

@WaterLife

True true..Good info and examples..carry on..just erase my comment off the post lol...

 

[nchmi28]

The thing is that my local Pet Supplies Plus has a tank full of them for cheep. I want to take advantage of the good price, but not at the expense of the otos and other fish in my family room tank. The plan is just to keep them in there for 2-4 weeks until I'm comfortable that they are not going down hill. Any advice for keeping them in there for such a short time?

 

[nchmi28]

Little Mack has been living up to his fighters name. After a long drip acclamation the 6 new otos went into the tank. They all scattered in different directions and he looked like a puppy that just jumped into a flock of birds. Then all of the otos settled into a spot and he ignored them and focused his attention on me, like he always does when I'm around. Then one of the otos left the glass and swam across the tank. I guess this made Little Mack realize that this was indeed a fish. He flared at it and nailed it twice. The oto went back to the glass and Little Mack ignored it once again. I turned out the lights and left the tank in the dark for the rest of the day. When I checked back in the evening Little Mack was swimming around with his chest puffed out.

Does anyone know if this is just an aggression display, or is it a sign of a health problem? (I'm going to post a separate thread just about this) The otos don't seem to be injured by his hits, but I might need to separate them if it continues. I talked to my son about getting Little Mack a time out box for being naughty and hitting his friends. He seemed receptive to the idea. It looks like I might be needing to go and buy a breeder box. If I do put him in the breeder box I am planning on putting some stem plants in there with him, should I try to make it so he can't see the otos?

 

[nchmi28]

I sat in a dark room and watched the tank for about 20 minutes. In that time I saw the betta go down to the spirulina wafer, that's in there for the otos, 4 times to munch. I don't think there is anything wrong with him other than he's a piggy who found a large piece of food. The good news is while I was watching the tank the otos were flitting all over and the betta didn't bother them at all. I guess he's decided that he likes their food and their not worth bothering with. I didn't see the otos go near the wafers at all, but they were very interested in the crystals on top of the substrate. I bet the crystals have a tasty layer of bio film on them after being in the bowl for a year.