Ruptured (?) Oto

[nabokovfan87]

@Odd Duck

Any ideas?

I didn't forget about this, I've been eyeing my otos and trying to get a good angle or photo.

The photos above are awesome. Hopefully we can find an answer.

[Odd Duck]

That no longer looks like a divot in the skin with the multiple angles in the new pics.  I think this one could have a few different things going on.

1. Could be a she and could be gravid - carrying eggs in this case, of course, not babies yet.

2. Could be eating a bit more than other otos or eating more algae where others are eating more mixed foods that aren’t as dark.

3. Could just have a slightly thinner body wall or another subtle difference in the anatomy that makes the intestines/internal organs a bit more visible from the side.

4. It could be something more serious like a tumor or possibly something like liver or kidney disease causing enlargement of internal organs.

Now, all that said, since it is clearly less visible than previous, I would say do nothing but wait and see what happens.  Monitor closely as best you can and reach out if you see it increasing again.  If you have any tiny oto babies pop up, that’s probably your answer and that one is most likely a female.  If this happens, the dark spot increasing may be a sign she’s about to lay eggs again.  Provide more cover and a cool water change and wait for more babies.

[nabokovfan87]

I checked one of my male otos and it had the same thing where you could see the dark spot.  Very small, but it's definitely there.



I think it's just a gravid female or some sort of internal issue like fluid buildup causing that spot to be more visual,

On 3/3/2023 at 2:53 PM, Odd Duck said:

Now, all that said, since it is clearly less visible than previous, I would say do nothing but wait and see what happens.

100%

Edited March 3, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I've been MIA but I agree with the above. The new pics were not showing me anything of concern. Female Otos are longer in body than males- they get weirdly shaped when they are carrying eggs. My Otos are starting to have babies again and I swear it's always around this time of year so you never know! But it could just be a super fat Oto. I'd do nothing and keep an eye on them. 

[aquatoid]

Thank you for the input everyone. I did not try to medicate this issue, just medicated the actually diagnosed chilodonella in the tank. The oto is still doing what otos do, seemingly not affected by whatever the dark spot is. Definitely good to know about this oto spawning stuff. To me it just seemed like something out of the ordinary, so must be wrong.

Next water change I will make a cooler one, to see if something magical happens with it. To my knowledge the otos have never procreated in my tank, but I would welcome it happily. Although I'm not sure whether any of the eggs would be able to survive the army of snails I have in the tank. There are some thick bushes of anubias nana in the tank for the babies to take cover in, should there be any that hatch.

The cories I have have been spawning again this week, but then again it seems they do it every other week... One or two of the eggs and eventually babies have made it to adulthood, so maybe some otos will too.

With this experience I've added some Seachem Garlic Guard and Sera Bactopur Direct to my arsenal just in case something actually goes wrong in the future. Additionally it seems even the Bactopur Direct is getting pulled from shops due to some EU directive, so I though I'd get some while I can.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@aquatoid Otos tend to lay eggs on the underside of broad leaf plants in my experience. It's rare for most hobbyists to have successful spawns for whatever reason (IME, at least I've not seen anyone here really document success but myself on my Oto journal). I have Nerites in my tank and they don't seem to be a problem for the spawns (I've also had Mystery Snails) but yes I have a feeling if I had other types of snails I'd have issues. The other thing is Oto babies don't hide. The first few days/first week they hang out along the top 4 inches of the tank- so if there are other fish in the tank (I had Rasboras) they will make a meal out of them if they can spot them (they are pretty transluscent- easy to miss).