Guys, I don't know what happened but a few days ago I upped the dose of bacter ae a bit for my 54l and now all my otos are staying in the same spot motionless unless a fish swims by. Their not eating whatever I put into the tank, carrots, wafers, zucchini, cucumber. They used to all crowd on the food but now only shrimp are eating it. Ive also noticed periods where all shrimp suddenly stop moving at all.
At first I thought it was an oxygen issue but I upped the aeration but it was no use. Then I tested the water and ammonia, nitrite came back 0. Then I thought it might be the temperature since it's winter but it came back 24-25c. All my other fish act normal.
Also I forgot to mention but the otos seem to have short bursts of explosive periods of swimming
Posted by No_Jello2929
1 Comment
This is almost certainly a **Bacter AE overdose causing a bacterial bloom**. The bacteria consume oxygen (especially near surfaces), which **doesn’t show on ammonia/nitrite tests**.
That’s why:
* Otos and shrimp are **motionless**, stop eating
* Sudden **explosive swimming bursts** happen
* Other fish act normal
**What to do now:**
* Stop Bacter AE immediately
* Do a **40–50% water change**
* Increase **surface agitation** (not just bubbles)
* Remove uneaten food
* Don’t feed for 24–48 hours
You should see improvement within **24 hours**.
For the future: use **¼–½ dose**, 1–2× per week max.