I think my otto cats are keeping my ammonia in my ten gallon up

[Shidohari]

I just checked my ammonia in my ten gallon today. I haven't fed them any recently. But i think the otto cats are the ones keeping my ammonia up in the ten gallon tank with the betta fish and assassin snail.

My ammonia is again .5 this evening.

I will have to do another 50 percent water change to keep it down.

I currently have 3 otto cats of the original 5 remaining the other two died of ammonia poisoning from all their wastes possibly and i know one died from stress.

Should i return them to the petstore and invest in another snail?

I can't put shrimp in this tank due to the betta, nor can i keep cory cats because pygmys are impossible to find in my area, if i did another snail it would have to be another assassin or a larger nerite or apple snail.

What do you think.

I would take them back tonight to one of the two places left open if necessary this evening if that is the general consensus. The only other option is the obvious one, daily fifty percent water changes.

Opinions wanted.

[Lady Hobbs]

Ott's probably have the smallest bio-load of any fish in the world. They should also not go in an uncycled tank.

[Shidohari]

They are in the cycled tank with the betta and the assassin snail.

I do know they produce a really long string of waste. I came home yesterday and i know one was going at it like one of those plecostimus vids only smaller and mini version of it.

That's why i think it's the ottos...The NitrItes aren't the problem...just Ammo and that's normally caused by waste correct.

Maybe i'm just freaking out and overthinking this. Lady hobbs and anyone else, what do you think?

[fishmommie]

can you please refresh the history of this tank?
Do I remember correctly that it was cycled at one time?
If so, when was that and what was in it then?

What fish (and how many) have you added after the cycle was complete and how long ago did you add them?

[Shidohari]

cycled with 3 cory cats and one betta, no snail at the time

[fishmommie]

cycled with 3 cory cats and one betta, no snail at the time

how long ago was that that you considered the tank cycled? And how long did it take you to cycle your tank?

Also, when you were cycling, did you take your water perimeter readings before or after you changed the water?

And I'm a little confused - are you talking cory cats or ottos or both?

Also - have you checked the assassin snail lately? Are you sure he's alive? A dead snail could cause a lot of ammonia?

[Shidohari]

i took the perameters tonight before waterchanges as well as last night.

When it was cycled with the cory cats (not the otos) i did take my perameters prior to any wc.

If you think my tank is still not cycled i'll remove the oto cats and return them. but it was cycled before, I remember seeing that algae growth on my decorative rocks at the time that you were talking to that guy about.

also it was cycled about beginning to mid november

[fishmommie]

sorry I edited when you were replying.

Did you see my question about the snail? Have you checked him lately to see if he's alive?

[Shidohari]

He should be alive, he was alive this morning and going back under to the shelter of the rock.

[fishmommie]

Well, if the snail is moving, he's not dead and not the cause of the ammonia.
As Lady hobbs said, the ottos should not be the problem either.

Did the ammonia just recently start showing up again?

I'm trying to remember but it seems you had very clearly cycled that tank with 0 ammonia,0 nitrites and low nitrates.

So, if the snail is alive and there are no other dead fish in the tank, then it's possible you are over feeding and that is causing a little ammonia spike - although generally, you'll see nitrates if you over feed

Are there live plants in the tank? any possibility there;s some decayed plant matter either in the tank or in your filter?

I know you keep up with your water changes but have you checked your filter lately to see if there is some dead plant mater in it?

And out of curiosity - what happened to the corys? Did they die and you replaced them with ottos?