# Help! New oto lost a fin.



## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

OKay, bought home 4 otos from the LFS today. After floating the bag for a couple of hours I decided to net them and release them into the tank. One of them got one of their pectoral fins caught in the net. In the process of him wiggling around he tore off the fin.  

Questions

1) His he a goner? Will his fin grow back, assuming he doesn't die first?

His a cute little bugger. :mrgreen:


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Should be okay if you have clean water. I'd change 60% of the water ASAP and add 1.5 tablespoon of salt per 10 gal to disinfect the tank. Watch the fish for sign of infection. Also raise the tank to 82F for several days.

Mercurochrome is another excellent source for spot treating these injuries. Use Qtip to apply the medication, then return the fish to the main tank. Repeat every 24 hour for two days.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

If it's not ripped right off at the base, he may be okay. Poor little guy....

I say skip the salt (it isn't the magic bullet for everything and should only be used in certain circumstances), and it may even irritate the little guy where his fin is injured, so I would just keep him in clean water and if you add anything, try Melafix or even Pimafix if it looks like it's like it's getting fungused.

Let us know how he does.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Unfortunately, I only counted 3 Otos in the tank today. I cannot find a body. The 4th is either hiding really well among the plants or died and got eaten.


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## skincareaddicted (Mar 19, 2007)

So sorry to hear that vicpinto. can fish ever survive with one swimming fin only?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Don't give up Vicpinto. Oto's are great at disappearing in a tank for long periods of time, so he may still be there.

Skincareaddicted, yes they can swim with a missing fin once they get used to it. It's sort of like a 3 legged dog - they adapt very well, amazingly enough.


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

I agree with Jan to skip the salt and add some Melafix, this stuff has done wonders for some of my fish when they have been injured. I had a couple of males once and one male continually nipped at the other to the point of almost tearing his fins off, I removed the injured Ram and put him in a smaller tank with some Melafix and his fins grew back within two weeks.

Good luck!


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

All 4 otos are accounted for. Unfortunately 2 of said 4 otos were discovered dead. Don't know how the second one died but such is life.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Sorry to hear that. Oto's can be rather hard to acclimate, so don't blame yourself.


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## sherry (Sep 30, 2005)

for the survivors keep par boiled kale in the tank (in a clip). They will do so much better with available veggies.


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## swub (Apr 17, 2007)

Sorry for your the lost ones.

Here's a silly question....why use a net to release them? What I do; while the bag is still in the water...I just cut it slowly, tip it slightly and let them swim out at their leisure.

Just curious.


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Sudden death is often caused by LOW QUALITY specimens. Petsmart had quality otos earlier this month. I purchased five. All are doing well. Same with other aquarists throughout the country who also purchased otos from this lot.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ium/39032-quality-otos-in-s-cal-petsmart.html


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

swub said:


> Here's a silly question....why use a net to release them? What I do; while the bag is still in the water...I just cut it slowly, tip it slightly and let them swim out at their leisure.
> Just curious.


That's not a silly question, and it's a very important thing to cover.

You always want to pour your new fish into a net over an empty bucket so you don't get a bit of the bag water into your tank. You never know what type of diseases or other nasties could be in the bag water, so if you let any of that water go into your tank, you could be asking for big trouble.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

JanS hit the nail on the head. I use a net because I do not want to transfer any water from the LFS aquarium into mine.


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