# My Otocinclus is excreting blood, menstruating???



## nemesis1337 (Feb 15, 2005)

My camera just ran out of batteries so I'll take a photo of it later. I have 3 otos and one of them is excreting blood? I've seen this a month ago and thought it was a one time thing. When it sticks onto the glass, you can see the oto's gills, etc. The one that excretes blood has a blood red all over it's face whereas the others are pinkish. Also it breathes heavily and it doesn't really have a grip on the glass. Does anyone know whats wrong with it? I'll take pictures later to show you the difference. These three otos have been in my tank for 3-4 months already, it has a full stomach and i'm not sure whats wrong with it?


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## bigpow (May 24, 2004)

oh no... I'm afraid it's sick.
check out http://www.otocinclus.com/ under FAQ section


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## nemesis1337 (Feb 15, 2005)

bigpow said:


> oh no... I'm afraid it's sick.
> check out http://www.otocinclus.com/ under FAQ section


I can't find anything about it on the site
here's some pics of it:
these are the healthy ones, notice these otos head aren't as inflamed as the sick one









i was unable to get a clear focus of the sick oto, but if you look at these pictures, the head is far more red. also, i looked closely and it's mouth is also red as if it was bleeding.


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## ronin (Dec 28, 2004)

I can't quite tell from the photos you posted but it sounds like something my zebra oto just died from. A week or so ago I noticed that it seemed to have a bloody mouth but didn't think too much of it cause I thought maybe it just scratched itself on the substrate or something. Earlier this week I thought it seemed like its eyes were bulging out a bit more than usual but otherwise it seemed to be acting ok. Two days ago it started looking pretty bad, like it was too weak and couldn't get a good grip on things. So I started dosing the tank with Maracyn Plus. Didn't help cause it died that night. :icon_frow When I took him out the head/neck area seemed to be pretty red and there was some sort of whitish substance that looked like it was coming out of a hole in its stomach.

Anyway, not saying that the same thing will happen to you but you might want to start an anti-bacterial regimen just in case.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I found this at http://www.otocinclus.com in the following section:

Buying and Acclimating New Otocinclus

It is our belief that certain chemicals (Cyanide?) are added to the water either upstream or in a general area to slow down or temporarily paralyze these frisky little critters. The fish gatherers are then able to net them from the water in this weakened state. These chemicals could produce permanent damage to internal organs (such as the liver) and sometimes we will see hemorrhaging in the lower abdominal area in some stock.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Ronin, Did you get the Otos from Shark Aquarium in Hillsdale?

Mike


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Does sound like some sort of hemorrhaging. Healthy otos do not exhibit such signs. Here's a pair of otos (female on left) for sexual differences.


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## smb7676 (Jan 4, 2005)

I wanted to get another otto. But after reading about how they catch them . Our little guy loves us It will land on my hand while I clean it and swims around my fingers as if it were a dog that needed to be pet. Its always out and comes right to the front of the tank when the kids come up. Eats algea wafers from my hand. Will getting another screw up our happy tank? Just wanted to know your thoughts. I 'm leaning toward no new otto.
Smb7676


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## FobbyBobby (Mar 7, 2004)

i don't see any harm in adding a healthy one to your tank...unless your tank is like overstocked or something

i've had like 2-3 die from the same thing, seemingly though

out of 6 i bought, 3 died, except they seemed to be hemorraging on the top of the head, it'd be bloody, some would have a really red stomach...i'm getting like chills down my back talking about it becuase it looks very painful and it was very nasty sight..but the other 3 are perfectly fine and been going strong


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