Missing Octo cats

**phatchuck** · 01-09-2013, 01:48 AM

I finally found some octo cats for my 55g and got three of them. They were small - about an inch and half at most. Immediately after the acclimation process one of them looked like he was definitely about to die. He was very pale and laying in a weird position on the bottom, but definitely still alive. I know that they are very delicate, so I wasn't surprised. I had to leave the house for about an hour and I was convinced I would find him dead. The other two were doing fine. I came back to find one of them stuck on the filter tube (Aqueon 75) The funny thing was he was not pale like the dying one was. I have found a couple of dead small fish in that position in the past because I'm thinking they are small and the suction is pretty good. I put the net in to scoop him out and and soon as he saw it he darted away very quickly. Anyway, the point of this is that since that moment I have only seen one of them happily swimming around with a full belly. I did a major water change last night and a carcass popped up from under a piece of wood I moved. Before I could grab it, the damn thing disappeared and I have not been able to find it for the life of me. I looked in and under everything. So here we are three days after being introduced to the tank, only one octo cat swimming happily around and two missing fish - one definitely dead.

The only thing I can think of is one of my pictus cats ate the bodies? They were pretty small. Would they eat a dead small fish? It still seems like a stretch since the pictus cats are only about three inches at best. I also have two paradise fish (one male) and a male dwarf gourami which believe it or not don't bother each other. Could one of those guys possibly have eaten them? Is this weird or what??

**Brhino** · 01-09-2013, 01:54 AM

nearly any fish will eat a dead fish. If it's not big enough to swallow it whole it will nibble on the corpse until it's just bones... and oto bones are very small indeed.

I take it you did not quarantine these fish? Otos are notoriously sensitive in the first few weeks after purchase since they are all wild caught and often starving in the pet store.

**phatchuck** · 01-09-2013, 02:01 AM

Originally Posted by Brhino

nearly any fish will eat a dead fish. If it's not big enough to swallow it whole it will nibble on the corpse until it's just bones... and oto bones are very small indeed.

I take it you did not quarantine these fish? Otos are notoriously sensitive in the first few weeks after purchase since they are all wild caught and often starving in the pet store.

No, I don't have a quarantine tank yet. Based on what you said, I guess they were eaten. I have a few small gold barbs that are very aggressive eaters and i wouldn't put it past them.