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The danders of Otocinclus Please read!

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rheann

Guest
Ok, as most of you know, I have two Otocinclus, and I had been planning to get a few more.

Something very terrible happened.

My husband yesterday noticed Grimace, my black Axolotl went up for air three times one right after another, and then lopped off to the bottom, but didn't mention this to me as he thought it was normal axolotl behavior. he has seen them crash into my plants, so thought that he was just being his lazy axie self.

This morning I looked into my tank and saw Grimace go up for three or four breaths of air right after another, then sink to the bottom and flop on his side. His head was very swollen like he had something stuck inside of it or his throat.

I removed him quickly and put him in a bucket with fresh declorinated water. I know normally one should not hold an axolotl, but I had to hold him to look into his mouth, and sure enough he had tried to eat one of my Otocinclus. Its sharp little fins has become lodged in his throat, so that he could neither swallow or spit the fish back out. He was suffocating. I successfully removed the fish, which took about two minutes with a smooth metal stick and now Grimace is in the fridge with a little salt and is doing much better. If I had not seen this happen this morning, I probably would not have noticed because I have been so busy, and he would have died. I feel so stupid and embarrassed right now.

The little fish survived, and I am glad for that. I am not sure how Grimace was able to catch it, but he did, and is suffering for it now.

For anyone wanting to get these fish... Don't. I finally see why. They are small, they stay small, and can get stuck inside of the axolotls mouth and cause death.

If you want to get a tank cleaner, get something that will be big enough not to get swallowed, yet small enough that it won't hurt your axolotl, or become territorial. If you get snails, get ones that are big. If you get fish, get something that does not have sharp spines, and that swims fast. For me, I need tank cleaners. I have hydra, brown algae, and other little critters in my tank that need constant clean up.

Ghost shrimp are good... and I might try Corydora catfish, but I need to find out more about them.

I feel so bad right now...
 
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theresa

Guest
Rheann, Thanks sooo much for sharing your story.
That must have been pretty horrible. I admire your removing the Otto yourself. How did you do it ? How did you use the metal to remove it? Forwards, backwards ?
i also have plants and algae and am trying to think of a way for removal. Will not use fish.... Thanks, and so happy you were there on time.
 
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jacco

Guest
Glad it all ended well!

The cynical thing is; I just took your advice today about removing the snails and take 2 or 3 Otocinclus. So I decided to buy them next week..... guess not
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You shouldn't feel bad. The good thing is you now save many lives by telling your story.
 
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rheann

Guest
Thanks guys for your concern...

Theresa - I used the smooth metal stick to gently push the Otocinclus from the back of the throat to the front until its tail was sticking out, and then I took the little tail between my fingers and held on. Grimace Naturally was able to spit the rest of it out then. The little fins are sharp because Otocinclus are a type of cat fish. The dorsal fin, and the pectoral fins were stuck in the throat. I'm so glad that I caught it in time.

It's horrible... Grimace doesn't seem to be doing very well right now. He's in the fridge, but he's sort of drooping to one side. I'm so worried about him and may call the vet, but it might not come to that as of yet. I don't want to risk him dieing however... I am just at a loss at what to do.

I hope I don't loose him. I have to put one of my cats down this month, and two deaths in the family I don't think I could handle very well. I love Grimace, and to loose him would be like losing one of my children... I hope he will be ok.
 
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joan

Guest
Rheann, I'm glad you found him when you did. Just keep him cool and dark with a little salt and I think he'll pull out of it. He's probably a little traumatized. It's tragic, but I hope it'll be a lesson that others take seriously. You should talk to Jenni Macke about posting that up on the species mixing disasters article on CC. I hope he's okay.
 
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alex

Guest
good to hear hes doing better!. is he still eating? i imagine there will be a few sores and cuts in his mouth which might prevent him from wanting to eat. is there anything else i can use apart from snails as cleaners? no pet stores here sell snails.
 
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rob

Guest
sorry to hear that Rheann
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hope he gets better soon, i'm sure he will with how much u love and care for ur axies
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i was gonna get a cpl of them after reading ur previous posts, glad i didnt now
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sherrisixxx

Member
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London,UK
Oh, poor Grimace. Really hope he will be ok! Well I myself had a common pleco. Him and my axie got on ok, even slept in the same hiding place. The pleco was good at cleaning the algae, but the reason I had to give him away for was cos my axie kept eating the pleco's food (algae pellets), which of course wasn't good for her. Don't ask me why she ate them, guess she was just greedy! On The Minnesota University axie site it says pleco's should be ok ,though. But make sure to get one the same size as your axie, not smaller
 
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rheann

Guest
Thanks everyone for your support.

Grimace is doing much better today! I am so relieved. I was so stressed thinking he might pass away.

I have some good news. I got a rubber Mouth Pleco yesterday. They stay under 10 cm's, 5 inches, or around that. They are gentle, and have a rouned funny looking mouth.

I also got a golden Mystery snail to help the rubber mouth, and two Albino Corydora catfish.

I know I probably shouldn't keep anything more than the snail and the pleco in with my axies, but my tank is turing so brown with the brown algae it is getting out of control. Algae scrubbers just aren't doing the trick, I hope my little fish will work as a team and keep the tank clean.
 
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charlotte

Guest
woah at least you had the thought to look inside it's mouth. you can pick up axolotls but i usually do it with a wet towel when i was looking in it's mouth for infection. silly thing, how on earth did it get that in it's throat? what are those big sucky fish called? they eat algae and stuff don't they? plecs? not sure of the name. i need to learn.

(Message edited by hollets on January 01, 2006)
 
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theresa

Guest
Aren't you worried the cory's will also be eaten? If you have a fish tank, i would put them in there. they are very sweet, funny , docile fish who hang out on the bottom of a tank. they do NOT eat algae, but eat up the left over food on the bottom. they will not move out of the way of your axies. maybe you could move them to another tank, soon ?
So glad Grimace is doing better!
 
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rheann

Guest
Thanks again guys
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Charlotte - I have a rubber mouth Plecostomous (spelling?). He will stay small, but large enough not to get eaten luckily. Much too big to even fit into an axolotl's mouth lol, and thank goodness!
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.

Theresa - Oh my gosh, I had no idea! I am go glad that you told me about the Cory's. A clerk at Petsmart - the only one I trust told me that the Cory's would eat brown algae, which is really rapidly taking over my tank, and he also mentioned to me that they swim very fast and are shy. Boy now do I feel conned! However, they are also too big to get eaten. I got a type that will grow around 4 inches, and will be fat, so too much of a mouthful.

I don't have any other tank set -up at the moment. I plan to have a community tropical fish tank set up here in the near future. It has been a project I have been meaning to start. When it is all set-up, I will move my little Cory's into that tank.

I'm having a hideous problem with brown algae. It is taking over regardless if I leave the light on or not. I left the light off for three days, and it still grew, it was so pathetic. Leaving the light off made my plants shrink but didn't kill them luckily, but I was willing to risk it. I guess I am just really desperate to get rid of this algae.

I wonder if there are any algae busters I could get that won't hurt my critters. Algae scrubbers just don't do the trick. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
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tina

Guest
Maybe you could do a thorough 50% waterchange and remove all your algae infested plants one by one and use your hands to rub the algae of in a bucket of waste water, so a temperature drop or rise won't kill your micro organismes. The waste water will also contain micro organismes from your tank, and they will stay attatched to the objects you clean in the bucket.....
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andrew

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Joined
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Thats quite a story Rheann.

I must thank you. You are doing some great mixed species experimentation. I do hope you find a winning combination, as the brown algae is starting to grow in my tank. And yes it is a bugger to get rid of. Its staining everything.
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Please correct me if im wrong, arn't pleco's those little sucker fish type things? Don't they hang off of axies slime coats? I'm probably wrong, just thought i'd ask.
 
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rheann

Guest
Thanks Tina, I might try what you suggested if my Pleco and snail can't do a very good job lol.
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Andrew - Some species are ok to keep in with axolotls, as long as they are around the same size of the axolotl, and do not get much bigger.

I will monitor to see if my Rubber mouth gets nasty towards my axolotls, as I'm not ruling it out that it might not happen
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, but at the moment I am willing to take the risk. Rubber mouths like cucumbers and fresh cuts, so I will make sure that he gets fed enough. I know that they don't just like to eat algae alone.

Update: Since I put the rubber mouth and the snail into the tank, I have noticed trails all over the glass, both snail and Pleco, so both of them are doing their job
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. I'll see how it is in a weeks time and report back how it is
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.
 
R

rheann

Guest
Hi Isobel, Yes, he is all better now and back in the tank with the others
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. Thank you very much for asking
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A

a

Guest
I'm glad he's ok! What a story.

I had a goldfish once who ate a dead Oto, and got it stuck in her throat as well. It took me an hour of pulling with pliers to get it out (and it came out in two halves, disgusting).

My Cory (he's a bachelor, oops) never eats algae, except the discs of it. He's a fascinating little bugger, but yes, he won't move if a bigger fish gets in his way.

Also, most snails would rather eat anything but algae, which makes them way less effective than people think they will be. They will live a lot longer and be more active and happy if they ate veggies... they especially like the older, softer ones. Just a warning that snails aren't the best at eating algae.. my snail tank won't stop growing algae, and it's full of the buggers!

Airwen
 
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rheann

Guest
Thanks A W
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.

Yes... I noticed that neither my Rubber mouth Pleco or the snail are eating the brown algae. It is taking completely over and my tank is just a disgusting mess from it! I don't have the strength in my arms to scrub it off very well, so I've taken out all my axolotls and put them in a big green container and tomorrow I am just going to take out all the plants and decorations, scrub everything down and just do a complete super cleaning. that algae is terrible, and it is just making me so mad! I wish I knew how to get rid of it!
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