[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

I've got two otos lying on their side breathing heavily. I raised the spray bar to get some oxygen in their. But what does it look like when a fish gets gassed or is poisoned by ammonia? Will either kill a fish immediately?

 

[ADJAquariums]

try a water change and increase the amount of oxygen getting in the tank like you have done, if its not enough oxygen the fish should bounce back, if theres Ammonia poisoning i dont know what to tell you.

 

[TexasCichlid]

Sometimes I feel like I have too much CO2 by the way my fish are acting. Sometimes they will be in a tight school near the bottom. But then an Amano trots by like nothing is wrong and shrimp are supposed to be more sensitive than fish.

 

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

Sometimes I feel like I have too much CO2 by the way my fish are acting. Sometimes they will be in a tight school near the bottom. But then an Amano trots by like nothing is wrong and shrimp are supposed to be more sensitive than fish.

Well, do the fish ever lie on the bottom motionless? And I've had this happen to amanos before, too. I just added them, btw.

 

[TexasCichlid]

Well, do the fish ever lie on the bottom motionless? And I've had this happen to amanos before, too. I just added them, btw.

Never motionless. Suddenly they will just decide to tightly school near the bottom and do a lurching forward motion like they are swimming in place against some current. Makes it look like they are breathing heavy. Walk up to the tank and they are happy as clams though.

 

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

Hm, one died, but the other one is now hanging on the glass like a normal oto. I will drip acclimate them next time for sure.

 

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

Alright my oto survived the night. But how will I figure out what happened?

 

[CatSoup]

Test for ammonia levels...
If that's not it, turn down the CO2.

 

[PlantedRich]

I hope you won't take this as a pick at you personally but there is one thing I've noticed about our hobby.
The new person is one who will have less experience and of cousre be more likely to have a hard time figuring what is happening. But then the new person is also the most likely to not be well stocked and skilled on test kits. I've found that the best way to prevent trouble that can be hard to diagnose is to keep test kits on hand and use them often enough to feel I'm getting the right answer.
Your question is hard to pin down for a "right" answer but if you were testing and there was no question about ammonia build up, the answer would be much clearer to you.
When I see my fish acting goofy, I do some testing on the normal things before I spend any time debating what other causes might be working against me. It is just a lot easier to tell when you have some facts on hand from the testing.

 

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

Ammonia tests won't tell me anything because I had just used prime. I did have some ammonia problems, but I hope the addition of my filter will take care of that. So it could be ammonia.

I think it might be CO2 because the oto has been acting oddly and is staying at the top. But can ammonia or CO2 kill an oto in just a few hours?