Blowing holes in his tail?

[Indefinitive]

So, a while back I posted about the fungus AND ich that devastated both of my tanks. Now, I only have Gregory and my otto in one tank and... a new guy named Thor in the other! He's a beautiful VT, but a little odd. He's been in his tank for two weeks, perfectly healthy, but he insists on flaring at EVERYTHING. I walk past, he flares. My boyfriend walks past, he flares. We do a water change, he flares. We drop in food, he flares. The only thing that he doesn't flare at is Gregory, across the way.

The bottom of Thor's tank is bare, and somehow he can see a reflection in the bottom. My boyfriend caught him trying to swim straight down and flare at himself the other day. It was hilarious.

I see this as him just being really territorial, which is fine, because I don't plan on putting anything else in with him. The part that worries me is that he keeps blowing holes in his tail.

Is there anything that you guys can recommend that I do to keep the flaring to a minimum so he won't hurt himself? I know that water changes are the best way to keep him from getting fin rot, but is there anything else I can do to make sure he stays healthy while his tail heals?

[dr2b]

I think he is flaring so much because he sees his reflection. Do you mind me asking why it is bare bottom? Why don't you put some gravel in of some sort? I would try salt baths for his tail also. And on another note, the oto in the one tank. Oto cats need to be in groups. I imagine the oto is awfully lonely being by itself. I'd recommend getting at least one more oto...preferably two.

[Indefinitive]

I keep my tanks bare of gravel because its easier to clean. The fish don't seem to care either way. Gregory seems to enjoy the bare bottom of the tank instead of the gravel. Thor couldn't care less. I've been considering putting in a thin layer of gravel to cover up the bottom of Thor's tank. I'm just a little concerned because he's been there for two weeks, and he just keeps on flaring.

Yeah, we had another one, but he recently died. I've been waiting for payday to get another one. He seems to be alright by himself, but I'm getting another one very soon.

[Kim]

I'm sorry to hear about your problems recently :(

Anyway, you can try a thin layer of gravel, but he may just need to adjust. Some animals just take longer than others...I know we have 2 cats that we've had for 2 years now and one of them still acts like he's afraid when we walk by although we've never been anything but kind to him. I'd imagine that it is the same with fish. What I've found to be helpful recently is to keep a half dose of aquarium salt in my tanks at all times. I never used to do this because I thought it was pointless, but since I had some problems with my well water I've found it to be a very helpful preventative and the fish don't mind at all. Now I always keep some in the water.

As for the otto, just make sure you QT before you add any more. I ALWAYS QT because it's sooooo much easier to stick a fish in QT than to treat the myriad of illnesses that they could bring back from the store.

[doggyhog]

Another note on the Oto, Otos can't tolerate salt. It burns them. So stay away from salt if you have otos. I use salt all the time, it helps SO much.

[dr2b]

I use salt in my tank with Otos. But I use a very very tiny amount in that tank. I was afraid to at first, but Neenjar said it was fine. Kim, what do you use as a QT tank for otos? I have never QTed them because I was thinking they needed a filtered tank to be QTed in.

[Kim]

Well, actually I have a 10 gal setup for QT that I got for Christmas last year. When I need to set it up I just put in an old filter sponge and it should be fine for a few weeks. I strongly recommend always having a QT tank on hand and if you don't have one, craigslist is where I got mine and you can usually find a decent one for real cheap.