Oto died...

I have (or HAD) two and they was both doing really well but looked today and ones dead. Do you think it could be from stress from all the new fish in there or the dwarf puffers have picked on him?? Someone said they're little b*ggers at night when the lights are off even though mine are fine in the day

Ah no, sorry to that Phishy. I have eight Otos (four in each planted tank) and they're lovely little fish and busy little workers. How long after the tank had been set up did you add them as apparently they're quite sensitive to water chemistry?

It was cycled properly with amonnia and they was added about 2 weeks after first lot of fish went in. Its been set up for 3 months though with no probs and rummy noses are fine and theyre REALLY sensitive

Well I've read that Otos shouldn't be added for at least six months after the initial tank setup to make sure that the tank is mature and also so that there's a plentiful supply of algae for them to graze on. Were you adding additional veg - cucumber, courgette etc. - for them to eat?

Did the tank have algae in?? They must have green stuff! Otherwise my bet is on the puffers. They may be tiny but are right terrors!

Yeah, i put algae tablets in and they also eat bloodworm.

How about the veg? Although if they were well fed, it's possible that the puffer was the culprit. Did the dead oto have any marks on it?

didnt see any marks cos thats the first thing i looked for. could it have been stress from being overstocked?

Well overstocking would only be a problem if it affected water quality. Did you test the ammonia and nitrite levels?

yeah when i do my water change i change 25% instead of usual 10, stats was fine few days ago

I might be wrong but I think overstocking can cause problems even if the water stats are fine. I am sure I have read that it puts the fish under stress, but I will try and find the info and confirm that

Thats what i thought but thought id check, if it is then good job it wont be for longer than a week.

Well it's possible that it could be stress related but only if the Oto was being outcompeted for food and space which is unlikely as IME Otos tend to keep to themselves and just hang around the plants and glass or wherever the algae is.

I would still go with the puffers. Some can go with otos but others just terrorise them