something to think about...

[aspen]

i moved all of my fish around the other day, including moving my nice male cacatoides into a 15 gal with 2 females, some plants and 4 oto's. well the male died after only 1 day. what happened?? well there WAS a little tail sticking out of his mouth. the fish tried to eat an oto, and it got stuck and it died. of course i know that anything that will fit into a fish's mouth can be food, but i have never thought of this combination as being a problem. i know now, and won't do that again.

rick

 

[Woodsy]

An extreme case of establishing territories maybe? I've certainly never heard of apistos eating other fish before. Well, there's a first time for everything....

 

[farm41]

I have otto's in all my tanks, no problems yet.

Too bad about your cac, Rick

 

[mk_ultra]

Maybe you should try the giant ottos.

 

[aspen]

giant oto's? plecostomus?

i have never really thought about this matt. it was news to me. but there he was, dead, with a tail hanging out of his mouth. i couldn't pull the fish out, it was lodged in there real good.

i found a second dead oto, mangled, behind the plant. he had obviously tried this one first, and was able to spit it out. in my care (for 3 months or so), this fish has never been in with any tankmates, except females cac's. so much for that idea. now i need another male.

rick

 

[mk_ultra]

No. Giant Ottos. of course that is their trade name. For all essential purposes that is exactly what it is. I'll try to find the scientific name for you. An otto species that grows larger than the rest. Mind you when I say large I am talking in the otto and dwarf cichlid frame of mind.
:lol:

ok I found it
Hypoptopoma inexspectatum
(Bu:439, Sf:56, Sa:91 Hypoptopoma inspectatum) "Giant Otocinclus"

This is how I found it on Fishbase.

 

[farm41]

Rick, maybe you need to feed your fish a little more. :wink:

 

[Neil]

Why would he need to feed more when his fish are so resourceful at food acquisition on their own!!! :roll:
In all my years of keeping Apistogramma species, I have never had one eat a fish that was too big and choke. They rarely eat fish, at least ones that are any bigger than fry-sized. But that is why these guys are so interesting. They are Cichlids! And come with most of the wonderful, if sometimes annoying, behaviors that cichlids are known for.
Sorry about your loss, but it was a fluke. You probably will never see that again, unless you have very small otos. Killing, maybe. Eating, doubtful.
Neil