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Re: ottos-death




>
>A weird symptom with my otto before he got really pale and sick is that
>about for 3 weeks he was looking really fat ! like it was going to spawn or
>something (hehe only 1 in my tank.. impossible).. but its belly was really
>fat and its colors were still there.. but as soon as he became mysteriously
>skinny this is when he got sick..
>
>any ideas
>?


Jon - this is speculative because I'm a mammalian vet (actually, an
anaesthetist) so I'm extrapoliting and adding what I've read but I think
Ottos are very prone to FLKS - fatty liver kidney syndrome if kept in a
tank in which food high in animal fats and proteins are fed (eg catfish
pellets, sinking wafers other than algal wafers, mid-water pellets and the
like.)    The liver enlarges until the point when the hepatocytes are so
lipid-swollen that they are unable to metabolise at all at which point
liver failure sets in with resultant massive catabolism and weight loss.
This is a theory only but I'm desperately trying to wean two of my four
ottos off high fat/protein foods and onto veg-based foods (which means
keeping them clear of the cat-fish pellets).  The problem is that if you
diet them too fast, they'll become the fish equivalent of ketotic and die
anyway.

not sure about this - it's all extrapolated but it seems to make sense and
the only intelligent/well read LFS guy seems to concur.

comments anyone?

m

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Manda Scott MA CertVA BVMS MRCVS
Newmarket
Suffolk, UK

01638 750123 - Home
07771 641735 - Mobile
mcs at wiccan_demon.co.uk

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