I think my Otto might be sick

sharkbait23

Since I got my Otto about a week ago, it has been not eating very much. I have tried the algae wafers. I noticed that under its mouth has been getting very red lately. Any help about this would be appreciate it.

zof

Ottos are not a fish that will take quickly to prepared foods, which is why its only recommended to add them to an established tank will enough algae for them to live on. On that note I had a otto not to long ago develop the same red mark and with in about a week it died, but its also not uncommon for them to have a slight reddish color in that area but not to the level in your picture which kind of looked like what mine had. Unsure what causes it, what it is or how to treat it, maybe someone else can chime in on that, but from my experience so far it doesn't look good.

Edit: I would also like to add that he has a pretty healthy size belly so I don't think lack of nutrition is the cause.

sik80

i've had my ottos a month or so. I was worried about them getting enough food in my tank so I got some algae pellets, however when I put them in the ottos woud rarely eat directly from them. I found a better solution was to break off a small piece of algae pellet, soak it in a little cup until soft, break it up into a mush and add that to the tank. That way there is more of a fine coating of alage over my plants and substrate rather than big chunks. The ottos seem to like this though it can be a bit messy, which is why i only do this once or twice per week

also i have some rocks in bowl in direct sunlight that grows algae on which i use to feed the ottos

sharkbait23

Thank you for the tip. He seems to be getting better. The redness is starting to fade away it looks like.

sharkbait23

Afterabout a week and a half he is doing much better. I don't know what was wrong with him, but it seems he has gotten over whatever he had.

Romad

I'm glad to hear he's doing better.

Welcome to the forum :)

Inga

I hope he continues to get better. Is he active and eating? Also, Welcome to the forum.

sharkbait23

He has been alot more active and is eating pretty regular. He is more active during the evening time. But is definately moving around the tank more.