I just did a round of Maracyn and Maracyn II last week with some occasional salt baths. I’ve always been doing 40% water changes every couple of days. He’s recovering from finrot but is this mold? He has diamond but his eyes are normally cloudy. Do I treat for mold? What is a favorite mold treatment besides salt baths? Do I raise his temperature from 78 to 80?
I did it! I traded some of my captive bred otos for blue dream shrimp. I got 15 shrimp for 6 otos. Hoping that they survive. I drip and temperature acclimated them and they’re already at work cleaning. Are baby shrimp pretty hardy? I’m just so worried since they’re babies that they could die. They’re tiny! Like less than half an inch long.
Someone offered to trade me some Blue Dreams for some of my captive bred otos. I have a cycled 5 gallon nursery tank that I’ve kept my baby otos in until I sell all of them. I also have a 10 gallon tank for my adult otos but I put my docile mostly blind betta in the ten gallons on occasions to give him more rooms from his other 5 gallon but he keeps bring sick in the 10 gallon so I might not put him back. Are shrimp hard to keep? Are there things I need to look for? I see quite a bit of posts about shrimp being parasites and health issues. My otos are super healthy and don’t want to get the babies sick. Do they pretty much eat what otos eat? Will they be okay with some of my one inch long baby otos until I can sell them? Sorry for all the questions, just want to make the right decision.
First picture is what they send me of their shrimp, second is my 5 gallon nursery tank. Third is my 10 gallon tank with my otos adults. TIA
I’ve been selling my 4 month old captive-bred otos and honestly, finding the right buyers has been the hardest part!
I’m based in Utah and pricing them at $13/fish, which is exactly how much they cost at my local LFS and those are wild caught ones with parasites. These are healthy captive-bred but breeding and raising oto fry to a viable size is genuinely difficult. Most people don’t realize how much work goes into breeding, raising or how rare they are.
The biggest issue I run into is buyers who just want a “cleanup crew” and have no idea that otos need supplemental feeding to thrive. At minimum, they need something like Bacter AE and Repashy Soilent Green — naturally occurring biofilm and algae from the tank alone just isn’t enough. I don’t mind educating people, but I’d rather find buyers who already understand or are genuinely willing to learn.
I’ve listed on Facebook Marketplace, local FB fish groups, and KSL Classified but with limited success. I’d rather not go the LFS route since I have no control over who they end up with. Plus my LFS sold me a single oto when they knew I didn’t have others and I had no idea about caring for them but that was also on me.
Does anyone know of where else I could sell or how I could sell online and ship them? I really want these rare babies to go to good homes and would like to sell them sooner rather than later but I understand it might take a little time finding the right buyers. Thank you in advance for all advice or insight. 🙏