Poorly Oto

Otos are notorious for problems. How long have you had them?

Otos are wild caught fish and the method used is to poison the water then scoop the fish out of the stream. Not all the fish that are still alive when caught make it.
Otos are finicky feeders. If they don't get the food they want in the holding tanks, then shipping, then the wholesaler's tanks, then the shop tank, they begin to starve. And with otos, once they reach a certain point no matter how much food they are fed they can't start processing food again.

With all that to contend with, otos very often die within a couple of months of getting them. If you've had yours less than that, I suspect it is the previous treatment catching up with your sick oto.


I said otos can be finicky about their food - do yours eat peas? You could also try a piece of courgette; some people find their otos eat sushi nori; and one person I read recently has has success with New Era plec pellets, no other brand just that one.

I hope your Oto pulls through Alex.

I didn't know they were all wild caught.
I had presumed that they would be farm bred by now.


I moved 6 Otos out of my QT tank on Friday, on Saturday one was floating dead.

Fingers crossed the others seem to be settling in and feeding, but I know I'll be fortunate if they all make it.

Fingers crossed for yours Alex.

... Maybe as a species they're more prone to high levels of stress problems.

I wondered if mine succumbed to the stress of being captured and transferred. She seemed to be doing fine in the QT tank.