Otocinculs have gone missing

French47 · Post by **French47** » 27 May 2012, 09:59

Hi To All,
Further to my last posting on High Nitrate, I have change 50% of the water very two days and that seems to be OK.
I now find I have lost 7 Otocinclus out of 8. I have never found any bodies ? The other fish are fine, they are White clouds, Akysis and Pepper cats. Could or would the Pepper cats eat the Oto's when they fall off the perch.
Any Ideas and finally should I replace the Otocinclus now or give it a month or two?
Thank you

Coriequest · Post by **Coriequest** » 27 May 2012, 16:33

That's a bummer! They can be good at hiding but you are not the first to report this kind of situation. The theory is that they are delicious. Sorry!

Flyfisher · Post by **Flyfisher** » 27 May 2012, 16:58

There's your high nitrates and fish behaving strange answer.
7 dead small fish will take its toll on the water. Do you know what the cause is though??? 2 of my ottos went missing recently. Around the same time as a bit of an algae breakout.

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Post by **Birger** » 27 May 2012, 17:09

and finally should I replace the Otocinclus now or give it a month or two?

Definitely leave it be and make sure the tank is stabilized before adding anything else that has the potential to change the parameters.

Otocinclus and close relatives most always do better when introduced into an established (more than a couple months) tank as well as making sure to find healthy stock to begin with.

Birger

French47 · Post by **French47** » 28 May 2012, 13:38

Thank you all, for your feed back. As was advised I will leave it a couple weeks before I put any new stock in my tank
Thank you once again