# Planted Tanks > Beginners' Corner >  oto with bloated stomach

## green palette

Hi bros, 

I have an otto sucker with a bloated stomach. It is still alive and breathing but it has a bloated tummy and is just resting at one corner? anyone encountered this before? and what seems to be the cause? 

the other ottos seem fine in the tank

thanks..

----------


## hann

So far, the otto I used to have suffered sunken tummies and I had lost a few due to that. This looks like a total reversal of your otto's problem. Did the otto have a big meal? I noticed their tummies are a bit big after a meal.

----------


## green palette

hmm..that's what i thought at first but it's tummy got exceptionally bloated to the extent that i thought it was pregnant! hahs..but unfortunately it has died. It could have been something bad that it ate? weird but so far the other ones are doing fine..i guess it's just one of the weaker ones from the lot. I shall see if others suffer the same fate in the coming days =) thanks for the feedback

----------


## Foxtrotperv

Usually, bloated stomach signifies either you have fed the otto well or either they are having disease. I've yet to hear anyone breeding ottos in the wild but you could be very well be one of the first. Maybe it died of pregnancy implications.  :Grin:

----------


## o2bubble

I had a otto with very big stomach and thought it was pregnant also. However, after a few days, it died. I guess must be some kind of disease. Not sure also if it spreads to others but I had about 16 ottos at the start and recently count was about 12 left.

----------


## green palette

oic..well the latest update is that all seem settled and fine for now. no more deaths =)

----------


## cyruslaguna

are otto suckers salt-tolerant? I intend to add some salt into guppy tank to help reduce stress.

----------


## Tian85

Have an oto also have bloated stomach and just die today. Don't really know what is the problem. Already have 2 died on me, my shrimps are doing fine and water should not be the problem i guess.

----------


## dankoo

I have one otto that has the same condition too...its breathing seems more rapid then the other one I have...wonder why too...

----------


## lyan

> are otto suckers salt-tolerant? I intend to add some salt into guppy tank to help reduce stress.


Most likely it will cry n die. haha. More to full fresh water fish.

----------


## nick_tks

Any brothers have any ideas what to feed the otto with? I've a few cardinal tetras in the tank with one otto, and normally i will only see the cardinals fighting for food while the otto is just swimming around the bottom. So is there any food that i can feed the otto? Thanks for your valuable advises

----------


## Aquanoob

I have the same issue with you when I started my tank last year, with Zebra danio, white cloud minnow and oto at first. I would notice that the zebra and white cloud will snap-up the food instantly, but the oto will just lie on the wood. They are suppose to eat algae, but I guess there isn't much since my tank is new and I lost 2 Oto which I believe staved to death. 
After the advices from members here and reading up on books, I start to feed the lonely Oto algae wafers and sometimes, green pea which they like too. Nowaday, I don't clean out all traces of algae on the wood and rock, but leave behind some for Oto to clear.  :Wink:

----------


## nick_tks

Green peas? what sort of green peas? Maybe i'll try to get some algae wafers for my lonely otto... By the way, can the algae wafers be bought from all LFS? Thanks

----------


## Aquanoob

Just normal frozen green pea bought from supermarket. I will peel away the external skin and feed the fishes. Not only will Oto eat it, the rest like Zebra, white cloud, cherry barb and even my 2 corys also will eat it.
The algae wafer should be available in most LFS, it is quite a common food for the plecos.

----------


## nick_tks

all rite, thank you so much...

----------


## Navanod

Ottos with bloated stomach have a bacteria infection in the gut. If you can see their eyes popping out and blood veins on the underside of the stomach, time to go...

----------


## aquarius

I don't feed anything to my otos in my planted tank and they're fine and fat feeding on the algaes and they usually live a very long life.... that is until my tank gets badly infested with hair algae or BGA. When that happens they'll usually get bloat/dropsy and die. I notice that when there is hair algae or BGA, these algae have a funny smell and when there's a bad infestation of either one of them, maybe the overwhelming amount of "toxin" released from the algae causes the water quality to be not good or it could be the "toxins" some how affected the diatom algaes which the otos feed on which leads to the bloat problems. 
Of cos there may be other issues that causes bloat but in my case it always happens when i have a bad infestation of either of these two algaes.

----------


## Blue Whale

>"< Let's go through some basics.

*Scientific Name:* Otocinclus affinis
*Family:* Loricariidae
*Origin:* Southeastern Brazil
*Adult Size:* 1.5 inches (4 cm)
*Social:* Peaceful, do not combine with large aggressive fish
*Lifespan:* 5 years
*Tank Level:* Mid to Bottom dweller
*Minimum Tank Size:* 5 gallon
*Diet:* Herbivore, provide algae
*Breeding:* Egglayer
*Care:* Moderate
*pH:* 5.0 - 7.5
*Hardness:* 2-15 dGH
*Temperature:* 68-79 F (20-26 C)

In short, people call it ottos. Generally, when you introduce ottos, they should be in a mature tank which is capable of replicating some algaes to serve as food. They do not appreciate very warm tank even though they could survive. Yes, I do think they are sensitive creatures.

Now if you observe a otto going very very weak state and much listless. Chances is that it cannot find food! When you are talking about parasites, you are looking at the entire otto community in the tank. If each and every one of the ottos is dying off, you have to ask yourself, what food did you introduce it first.

Blood worm. Some hobbist found otto died off with blood worm stuck in their mouth. Again, you have to ask yourself what are you feeding the fish.

So comes the interesting question. Did you observe all the dead ones with swollen stomach? If I am deprived of food, I will grab anything to eat. When I die, people say I die of stomach parasites. I think you getting the picture.

So rather than finding different fish medicines to start dosing your tank, you might want to try getting the right food for your ottos, before the rest also dies off.

----------

