dead ottos

[fishmommie]

Well darn. A week ago I brought home 4 little otto cats and put them in my 90 to help with the diatom. They were really going to town then all of a sudden seemed to stop. Today, I found 2 dead ottos stuck on the intake tube of my Aquean 55/75 HOB - so I guess I know why they stopped working.
I think I saw 1 alive today. Have no idea about the other since I've barely seen them since I got them, I've never known what was going on.

Is it possible the intake tube sucked them up against it while they were cleaning and trapped them and that's what killed them?
Or is it more likely a congo or one of my other fish killed them (see sig line) and I should have known it would happen?

Water perims are 0/0/<5. PH 7.2

Ideas?
Thanks

[Brhino]

intake tubes don't trap healthy fish. If they were alive and well, they'd be strong enough to swim away from it.

Did you quarantine the otos when you got them? Did you provide anything for them to eat besides diatoms?

[fishmommie]

hi thank for responding
yes - they were QT for 2 weeks. oh and I drip acclimated for 1 1/2 hours with a bubbler before I put them in as the LFS's PH is much higher than mine.
As for food - there is a ton of diatom in the tank plus some green algae on the driftwood. I also drop 2 - 3 algae wafers a day into the tank and there should be some left over food that the rest of fish miss.
a fresh zucchini round is always in the tank at the bottom.

So, I'm still puzzled.

[fishmommie]

Well, since I could only find one of the ottos after they sank to the bottom when I turned off the HOB, I tore into the tank as it was due for a W/C tomorrow anyway. Took out all rocks and plants and scrubbed in the tub, wiped down the inside walls of the tank and vac'd the substrate. never did find the other dead otto so I hope it got sucked up in the water changer.
DID find the other 2 ottos - both alive and wiggling. So that's the good news. Plus I got rid of a lot of diatom in this clean up.
Will watch for an ammonia spike in case the carcass is still in there rotting but don't know what to do about it because it just wasn't to be found. Poor little guys.Would feel better if I thought I knew what happened to them.

[MandyK]

It's really hit or miss with those guys. They are all wild caught and can be really sensitive to the environment change. I really doubt this happened because of something you did.

[fishmommie]

It's really hit or miss with those guys. They are all wild caught and can be really sensitive to the environment change. I really doubt this happened because of something you did.

thanks for that Mandy. The other two seem to be fine so hopefully, it's just as you said.

Sorry you had such a loss on your neons. Hope the next batch is healthier.

[bethyMT]

You will feel better in time. It just sucks when fish die like that...you feel guilty, you want to have a reason, and sometimes it just is. I lost four guppies in a couple of days and I just felt so terrible. It wasn't my fault (at least not as far as I could tell), but it was bad.

Sorry about your otos. I am considering them in the future, this is definitely a part of keeping them that needs to be realized...they are just sensitive fish.

[Taurus]

It's really hit or miss with those guys. They are all wild caught and can be really sensitive to the environment change. I really doubt this happened because of something you did.

Yes, this is what I've been told and read as well.

[MandyK]

Thanks dear. I lost another one today during a W/C. I'm down to four surviving neons from the new batch. I have no idea what' up.

[fishmommie]

Sorry about your otos. I am considering them in the future, this is definitely a part of keeping them that needs to be realized...they are just sensitive fish.

thanks Beth. I guess they must have been weak to start with.