xXInkedPhoenixX

I am SO very sorry Lexi. How terrible. I think it wouldn't hurt to call them and see. Sometimes placing a craigslist or if you have it facebook ad might work too per others on the site. What state are you in?

OTOCINCLUS COCAMA (TIGER): D-day- move from the 2 gallon QT to The Accidental Oto Tank I had a 12 hour night shift behind me so I didn't start moving day quite as early as I'd hoped. I lost a lot of natural light for some of my pics so I apologize- I am not patient with camera phones and not a professional photographer. That being said I hope you enjoy today's entry. First, when someone new comes to stay we want to clean house right? That was top billing on this project. A thorough cleaning of The Accidental tank started with a good vacuum and HOB prefilter squeeze out. I don't really like doing this when I know there's possibilities of eggs/fry here but it did need to be done. I only plan to spot clean with basters from this point forward for a while. The lid got cleaned, the plants got trimmed and moved. There's always bits that escape you but it got done. While cleaning up the plants I spotted baby Vittatus #7 who quickly got caught and put in with their six siblings they were probably IN the Amazon when I was messing with it which prompted it to come out from hiding: Everything cleaning-wise got done and new foods put in the Oto bowl: Then it was time to start moving "furniture" into the new house. In order to hopefully make the Cocama more comfortable they had their own brand new Narrow Leaf Java Fern and piece of Spiderwood. So I pulled the Narrow leaf out first- there was a piece of Spiderwood in the Accidental tank I intended to use for a plant anchor so I glued the plant to that and placed it: The Cocama's English Cucumber clip got moved and new cucumber placed. Now there will be 2 clips in the tank one on each side: The Spiderwood was rather large for the 2 gallon QT (technically 1.72 gallons) and was the Cocamas' favorite place to hang out. Several of them were attached to it when I was moving it. The little buggers were very stubborn about coming off even when it was out of water. It took some coaxing then I placed it: Now everything was ready for their move in. Below are some after pictures and a link for those who can link to google photos of the release of one of the Otos. You will also see another already having been released sitting on the Amazon: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LeA5oBXwhFUV9paP9 (35 seconds) I was hoping at some point one of the Vittatus would be on the glass alongside one of the Cocama so you can see size difference. I got one where you can't see their whole bodies but you get the jist: This second one was taken when the lights went out so I had to modify the pic so you can at least see shape, more for reference of size than beauty here: This was an exciting day for me and Otos. They haven't been too active since I put them in the tank but they've been moving occassionally, appear to be calm and have no outward signs of stress. I feel like this is the point where I'm a little nervous- just in case the parameters from the QT and their new tank stress them some. I'm crossing my fingers they have a good night and all is well when I do morning patrol in the a.m. Here is one final short google linked video of a few in the tank: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wykZFDzBFJAGPJhG8 (13 seconds, 2 on the glass- one you can see briefly in the background inside the Amazon Sword) Hope all is well in your fishkeeping worlds!

Bettas do like veg too so maybe he just wants a bite or two. 🙂 Hope they play nice together during meals.

@CT_ Thanks for the compliment! I'm not sure what I am doing right but apparently it's right enough for them- of all my fish they are the only ones that spawn. There have been no babies in the Parent Tank but there are Rasboras that are very predatory of the little ones so it is possible they have existed recently but I've not seen any. However, now that the Accidental Oto Tank holds tank bred Vittatus, well maybe they're ok with whatever conditions I have even if it holds true others need "super pure water". I potentially could only be doing things half right- maybe if things were tweaked they'd breed more? Not a Scooby Doo.

😄That's funny! The nosey neighbor inviting themselves for dinner!

whatever it is it's pretty!!

@Minanora Thank you very much. I'm a big fan of scavenger animals and catfish are definitely one of those animals I love. Being a small fish keeper there's not a lot of small fish options in the category IMO and I've always loved "glass suckers". When I started out in the hobby this time around I was very happy to see this little fish. They're not very easy to keep as far as I'm concerned though apparently I've managed rather well- I can see where others might struggle. Hoping posts here will help others. The Tiger Otos are another level. My goal is to get them to spawn. I'm hoping that since the Vittatus do spawn for me that they will as well. Since they are spawning in the Accidental Oto Tank this proves to me conditions there are right. I'm crossing my fingers.

I have bacopa in my tank that was grown out of water, once submersed the growth changes and what was once above ground can drop off. Now that being said is this new Bacopa? What you can do is pull it, trim it, and replant it. I trim the tops of mine fairly frequently to popagate a bit more of a bushy look because it's not quite where I want it yet. It's a pretty resilient plant I'm finding and propogates well. Keep in mind I've only been growing Bacopa for a bit over 6 months. Others might have tips- there could be lighting or nutrient deficiency. I run low tech tanks with no heaters or fertilizers and it seems to do well with me.

Any further updates for this thread are now here with the rest of my Oto updates 🙂 The Accidental Oto Keeper

All further updates to this thread will now be here: The Accidental Oto Keeper

Hi, welcome to the forum. Firstly, beautiful betta. As you suspect it is hard to tell if there is fin rot. I see you are doing your best to mitigate any potential damage caused by water parameters. You might also want to check all area of your tanks and where your betta hangs out the most for anything that migh cause further damage to his fins. Keep the water clean and the stress low. Also here is a helpful video on treating betta fin rot:

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Accidental Oto Tank Morning Inspections: Before I do my daily cleaning I spot check the glass for babies (haven't seen the one I let stay in some days ago), hoping it still alive in there somewhere. The six 20 day old babies I have in the floating breeder are growing very nicely AND it was like a Rumplestiltskin moment- I left them food, they left me nothing but a pile of baby catfish poop. While not gold it's what I like to see. Also tells me I need to put a little more food in there as they ate every single morsel.

OTOCINCLUS COCAMA (TIGER): The 2 Gallon QT Morning Maintenance: Did daily clean up here using a coral feeder or syringe like a baster. Helps me clean up around the edges get the old food out. Then I scoop out a least a half gallon or more of water. The water is very foggy due to the piece of spiderwood and its debris so it's hard to keep a tag on all the Otos. While cleaning today I heard a small splash then a muffled splat. I swear I saw something out of the corner of my eye- it happened in less than the time it would take to blink. I looked around the counter first (this is at the edge of my kitchen) and sure enough one of the Tiger Otos had jumped out, apparently a bit freaked by whatever I was doing at the time) and landed perfectly centered and belly down on my cable organizer box nearby. I about had a panic attack but it thankfully the little one very patiently waited for me to pull the lid off and tip them gently back into the tank. *whew*. I've decided tomorrow is the end of their QT period, today's incident just solidfied it for me but it was already a plan. I may or may not be taking a risk as it's been 32 days so not quite the 5 weeks but since my LFS had them for 2 weeks and they've been really great for the time I've had them I figured it would be a good time- and I'll be on vacation starting tomorrow to be able to observe them and their adjustment to another change. Since I didn't get any opinions on my tank options I have decided I'm going with the tank I lean more towards putting them into: The Accidental Oto Tank. Though it's only a 10 gallon it's well filtered and established, is a species only tank so there are no potential aggressors if they choose to spawn- which I'm really hoping for. IF for some reason they don't work out in there it will be a lot easier to catch them out of the Accidental Tank than it would be to catch them out of my Parent Tank. I'm not great at picture documentation but I'm hoping to get some good journal pictures for tomorrow's move. Wish them luck. 🙂

@Nik_n well Congrats on being able to keep a Betta alive for 3 years I'd call that a success. Every betta will be different of course and I'm sure since your last betta their genetics have changed, lots of different kinds of bettas seem to have come out in the last few years. He may be seeing his reflection that's true but I'd be concerned with the flaring all the time. When you get a chance I think adding a heater will be beneficial for this particular betta. Glad he's building a nest that's a positive sign.

I like to see updates on these because it's nice to know for A) a positive thing to celebrate on the forum and B) for those who search before they post and find remedies that others have had success with!

Aww @Atitagain great post, and so true. I have to get up early for my 10-12 hour shift to do daily maintenance/feeding on my 5 (7 if you count my 2 working 2 gallon QT tanks right now) and spend an hour at least on that before it's done, if I'm really speedy and do the minimum it's still 45 minutes. Though it takes so much of my daily life I live by myself so it's all me which can be gratifying. Having other little souls in my house to keep me company is comforting. Maintentance/routine is a meditative thing for me. While I'm doing it I don't think about the bad things in my life or that are going on in the world. There are days I think about combining inhabitants and stop plans for filling out my tanks (as I have plans but have been patient with transitions). THEN you do exactly as you said. Stop, and watch your water pets and you are instantly at peace with the world.

Hahah nope, it takes a little bit to say, well, that was worth it. Unless it's sarcastic.

I am positive I will love it. It helps *I* don't have to do any of the work but that's beside the point. Some things are just a bit more gratifying because of the time involved in getting it there. I have no doubt in your abilities. ...also I can see where bow fronts are a pain. My flex9 has odd angles. Thankfully it's small.

No help here but at least it's pretty hair algae (green). I get the ugly brown stuffs. Constant manual removal.

Small tip: when you don't have access to one medication so you're trying to find an alternative with the same active ingredients: go to the manufacturer's website. API, Seachem, etc- it's not always apparent on the product page but they have to post a "safety sheet" per OSHA for handling/hazards etc. The ingredients are listed usually about half way in the report under "mixtures". That's what I did when I was looking up meds to treat a fish of mine this week. Sometimes the clue is in the name but if you don't know what say Nitrofurazone is, FURAn isn't going to clue you in.

I guess this is one time small tanks are a blessing. I removed duckweed once when I figured out my Betta at the time hated it. After one good clean up and a couple spot cleanings I was duckweed free.

Active ingredient is Nitrofurazone, interesting treatment I looked up the other day (humans used to use it). Also has Doxycycline (antibiotic) and Socium Chloride.

Test your water parameters and post them if you can. It might just be an injury, keep a close eye on it for any changes. You could put it in QT and treat with a bacterial med or aquarium salt to prevent bacterial infection if it's an injury, but since we still don't know what it is it's hard to say for sure. I would test the water first and go from there.

Hi @Nik_n. I'm not used to Betta's flaring because they're happy (by themselves, maybe with a mate they would). I would tend to think this is actually a sign of stress if you see them doing it a lot. 20c = 68f, that in my experience is FAR, FAR too low for a Betta. I'd say 27c=80.6 is a much better temp. What babies do you have in here that wouldn't be able to tolerate higher temps? Is the Betta flaring at them?

Hi, poor bettas, always getting sick. If you really think she has dropsy you should be treating ASAP if there is any chance at all of recovery- or just continue treating the tank since she's the only one in there. I can't tell from the pictures if she has the telltale pineconing. Are there any other signs or symptoms visible or otherwise? If you think she might be constipated have you tried feeding bits of thawed frozen peas? That is a good method for clearing up constipation issues and can be looked up in a quick search for a betta. I hope for you that's all it is but that's an awful long time not to eat and the white stringy poop is usually is a sign of a parasitic infection, Kanaplex does not treat that (but treats Dropsy). So it's a rough call. You might also try raising the temperature- I'm starting to think that Bettas definitely require the 80 degree range to be comfortable.