Help! My Otos (vittatus) are scraped up

[lizcateyes]

1. Water parameters
a) Temperature range. 78* F
b) pH. 6.8
c) GH. 25
d) KH 80
e)Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, levels. 0,0, 0
f) Water change frequency: 20-25% weekly
(Most LFS's will check your water and give a list of readings).

2. Tank set up
a) Size. 10 gal
b) Substrate. gravel + some larger smooth river rocks
c) Filtration. whispersomething
d) Furnishings. mainly plants of various types, java fern duckweed some anubias & driftwood
e) Other tank mates. nerites
f) How long has it been set-up? 4 months
g) When was the last new fish added? a month ago
h) Foods used and frequency? algae wafers, blanched veggies 2x a week or whenever I see the last of it is gone

3. Symptoms / Problem description: One oto dead this AM. Remaining 4 have visible scrapes/cuts, one is now resting on its side/upside down but not dead yet. Had some cave ornament I threw in recently, Have since removed it, since I suspect it's responsible for the cuts on them

4. Action taken (if any): removed ornament

5. Medications used (if any): None, don't know what would be safe?

What can I use to safely treat their wounds? I have Pimafix, Melafix, and tetracycline on hand. I want them to heal up but know they're sensitive fish, first time owner of these guys any help or advise would be much welcomed!

[Richard B]

My initial thoughts are that the fish have been scraping themselves on some décor deliberately to try to alleviate some skin irritation. Oto's would not normally scratch themselves by accident.

I would increase temperature & oxygenation, do a 25% waterchange with temperature matched treated water & add melafix as a precautionary measure. If there is some sort of parasite/disease on the skin we need to identify what it actually is in order to treat it correctly.

[lizcateyes]

Thank you for getting back to me, Richard!

I'll watch them more carefully, one more passed away last night so I'm down to 3 now How should I raise the temp? gradually?

[lizcateyes]

Sadly, 2 more had passed by yesterday evening after I'd gradually raised the temp to 80*F after I dosed w/melafix and then this morning the last one was gone :'(

I'm feeling like a bad fish mom now, not sure what I could have done differently, other than maybe not have added a new ornament?I'd had them in my QT for 2 weeks and they were looking good and eating so I moved them to the 10 gal I'd set up for them.

[bekateen]

Hi Lizcateyes,

Sorry to hear about your Otos. Losing a few fish doesn't make you a bad fish mom. I know how you feel because I just lost a bunch of tetras in QT last week while treating them for ich (see this thread). All you can do is learn from your mistakes, keep a stiff upper lip, and try again.

Good luck, Eric

[lizcateyes]

Thanks, Eric, I'm sorry to hear about your losses, too. You're right about this, I'll learn from it and try again.

[Barbie]

I would honestly worry that the ornament had something irritating them. I would do a couple large volume water changes to be on the safe side and get rid of that ornament.

Barbie

[dpm1]

I would also suggest stripping the tank back removing anything that is easily lifted. Also additional water changes is rarely a bad move (rarely!...but that's a whole other story of multiple fish losses!).

Also check for anything like skin and gill parasites that may not be obvious with fish that spend much of their time out of plain sight.

Unlikely but there are other critters that can be found occasionally in tanks that aren't afraid to bite at fish so keep an eye out for hitchhikers such as fly larvae (esp dragon/damsels, both of which can nip fish and even kill ones larger than themselves. A static oto is an easy taget)