Otocinclus Breeding

[James0816]

Activity levels are on the rise again. That's great news. Did water changes in all the breeders. For some reason, I just can't seem to come across a happy medium in the Cocama tank. Not sure what it is but I still can't get the asthetics where I want them in this tank. Still making progress though albeit very slowly. Think it is finally coming together.

Any of you Oto lovers out here, just so you know, the females run the show. My goodness it was just so fun to watch. I removed everything floating in this tank, did a little rescaping as well as the 20% wc. Started working on another tank and looked over there. They were all doing their customary laps around the tank. So I took a break and pulled up a seat not too far from them so I could observe better. There are three nice plump females in here and they were driving the boys crazy! One would have about 4-5 followers with here. Another female would swim by doing her "bump and run" thing and all the guys would then give chase. This went on for quite some time.

Back in the main breeder, mom and pop Oto are finally hangin out together again. They have been taking a break for a spell. We'll see where this goes.

[James0816]

Egg watch officially over ...... Mama's laying.

Heading out to the race today so did my checks early. Nice discovery. Very quick count yields (28) with (1) non viable. Unfortunately no time to get water parms. Temp is a nice 78 in the tank. I did catch that one. Everyone remaining active in the tank.

Activity levels in all the other tanks are up as well. On egg watch in the second breeder.

[andywoolloo]

I love this thread! thank you very much for sharing it all with us.

My otos have reproduced but i have never seen any of it. No spawning or eggs, just wee otos here and there all over.

[James0816]

Thanks. Been a fun little journey. Glad it is continuing.

I was obviously incorrect on the day of which mama laid the eggs. Must have been Thursday some time. Went down to check on things just a while ago and found fry. Best I could find was (14) at the moment. I'll check again later to see if I can get a better count.

Here's the best shot out of the group I just took.



And a shot of the current home front. I still need to trim more off the Subwassertang wall as you can see and move the Downoi forward a bit. Some trimming needs to be done as well.



Today was supposed to be a water change day but with the newly hatched fry, will just do a top off via slow drip as usual. Prepping zucchini and algae powder for feeding.

[jbmm]

we need a "I like this"-button here lovely thread to read!
keep us updated

[James0816]

Final check of the eve. Counted (23) wigglers. Most of them are in the Bacopa area. This has always been mama's favorite spot. No other good pics at the moment. Will be starting the drip of the top off water shortly. May make one check during this process. The other ladies are still plump and being that this was a small batch, I'm anticipating a bigger lay within the week.

Also have a few baby tiger shrimp as well. Must be a baby kinda day. Little tigers in this tank, little Blue Pearls in their tank, little CRS in their tank....lol....must be something in the water. ;)

[andywoolloo]

and nice picture, beautiful tank! and nice baby shot!

[Farid]

hi james,
as far i could read you didnt manage to raise any fry (i didnt read all the 7 pages for now...sorry if i'm wrong)

i raise all my sturisomas for example in a little glass tank that i use to hang into the main tank...an airdriven waterpipe delivers fresh water from the main tank! i never set up a little tank only for any fry, cause the waterquality goet down in very little time...

with my sturisoma fry i use a mixture of spirulina tabs from Sera and nori algae leaves (you'll get them in the asian store)...sushi stuff i guess you know what i mean.
i grind them all in a electrical coffee machine into powder. dayly i fed them about 3-4 times in little portions before each fedding time i brush the glass floor and to whirl the rest of the old food a bit up...most of it goes into the main tank.

if you dont want to hang a baby tank into the breeding tank you should set up a second big tank (enough big to run it with a big filter) and hang the baby tank in this one...maybe a water change from the adult tank into the fry tank might be better than...as the adult tank's quality will still be good, with the right parameters for the fry.

might be worth a try...

good luck
farid

[James0816]

Hi Farid. As a matter of fact, I have raised quite a few fry. Been selling off the older ones. Have a few left from previous batches. Just in time as more wigglers are in the tanks.

I would like to see more of you fry tank. I like the idea you mentioned.

[James0816]

Routine check looks good. Was able to physically count (21) wigglers. Mama, Pop and one of his mistresses are hanging out together. Looks like egg watch again.

Annnnnnnnnnd....over in the holding tank....wigglers! Found (4) in there. Most excellent. Never saw any eggs in this tank. They must have laid them all in the Java Fern this time.

Fed one tube of prepared powdered food to each tank. When it clears up a bit, I'll see if there may be any photo ops.

[Farid]

hi james,
actually my idea is wide spread i guess...specially in raising L's
here are my systems...i do not use acrylic glass anymore as little scratches can cut sensitive bellies of the fry...

http://www.veloofahren.ch/Aquarium/einhaengebecken.htm
the function is this:
water gets pumped in by an air run system...(let me know if you've never heared of it)
http://www.tlh-info.de/tlh/tlh_00.html
the water circulates inside the litle tank and leaves the tank again through the foam of stainless steel mesh...

so the little ones have always fresh water insite the little tank...while the main filter of the tank can easy manage the water condition...not as in a singel fry tank!

the only thing you need to check is the nitrat in the maintank... this might need some bigger water changes at the end of the week...

or as i mentioned on the thread above...install a big tank with a big filter only to hang in a little fry tank...so you can use the adult-water for the fry-water changes...i hope you know what i mean...

farid

[Farid]

...this is how they look under water:
http://veloofahren.ch/Aquarium/L397.htm (scroll down a bit)

also check
http://www.google.ch/images?um=1&hl=de& ... =&gs_rfai=

maybe you find an other idea that suits for you

rgds
farid

[James0816]

Reviewing....or trying to review now. Have to translate it. ;o)

My breeding tanks are 10g's so I would need a smaller box I guess but definately like the sound of this.

[Mike_Noren]

James0816, this thread is getting pretty long, would you consider writing an article where you summarize your experiences of breeding Otocinclus vittatus? I'm sure many would be interested in reading what your water parameters are, how you condition them, how you trigger spawning, and how you raise the larvae.

I'm not affiliated with Planetcatfish, but I would expect they'd be happy to host such an article.

[jbmm]

...

maybe you find an other idea that suits for you

rgds
farid

sorry for the external link, but this is a nice DIY
cheap breeding trap from IKEA
http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=410

[MatsP]

James0816, this thread is getting pretty long, would you consider writing an article where you summarize your experiences of breeding Otocinclus vittatus? I'm sure many would be interested in reading what your water parameters are, how you condition them, how you trigger spawning, and how you raise the larvae.

I'm not affiliated with Planetcatfish, but I would expect they'd be happy to host such an article.

I'd be VERY surprised if Jools wouldn't want such an article here on Planet Catfish. I think the main problem with getting articles onto Planet Catfish is with people not writing the text in the first place, rather than (for example) not being able to host the content.

--
Mats

[James0816]

Thanks for the compliments.

I am contimplating sifting through all this data and trying to write up something. I'm not very good at things like that so would take me some time.

[James0816]

As expected....more eggs today! Counted (20) so far. Mama not playing favorites as to where she lays at the moment. Seems to be pretty well distributed between the three areas.

Activity is way up in the main breeder. Wigglers moving all over the place. Hard to get a good count but managed (12). They were'nt staying put long enough which is a good sign.

Don't think I can put any of the powdered food in here with the eggs. Don't want to contaminate them.

Lights were already out in the other tanks so couldn't check them.

[James0816]

Eggs found in the holding tank. (5) non viable at the moment. Will try to get somewhat a head count to know how many may be there. With that big Java Fern there's no telling. The other thing is, I have no idear who the parents could be.

Back in the main, wigglers coloring up nicely and remain active. They continue to move throughout the tank making a count difficult. I did manage to count (8). Hatching of this next batch of eggs expected tomorrow. With anticipated hatching window open, I fed the tank the powdered food. Will be running the air stone for a few minutes tonight to break up the surface.

Zucchini prepping for all tanks.

[James0816]

Here are the best shots from today:

This is an egg laid yesterday. You can see the development. Will be hatching tomorrow.


These were found in the holding tank. Couple of non-viable ones as well.


And some fry guys. These guys are a few days old.




And how bout one of dear mom. Ain't she purty.

[andywoolloo]

beautiful! otos are so awesome. Mine love the red, yellow and orange bell pepper strips and mango and papaya and zuchinni. and anything else they can get at.

what are you feeding yours?

[James0816]

They have a mixed diet consisting of veggie flakes and sticks from Kens Fish, regular fish flakes (once a week), fresh veggies and recently been snarfing on the homemade snail food.

[James0816]

Latest round of hatching has begun. Still a few eggs to go. Fry guys continuing to be active and really work things over. Powdered down the tank again. Between the baby Oto's and baby shrimp, they are keeping things all cleaned up. May have to start uping the food amount but not just yet.

These last two batches have been different. In the past, I would notice the hatching with all the new fry on the glass. Now they are staying on the leaves. I still find a couple on the glass but not as many. Hard to find them that's for sure.

Here's some shots from today. We'll start with a newbie. Did you find him? He's in camo mode.



And here's some of the others at 5 days now:



Lady Tiger watching over things:


Bet I can clean this leaf before you!


These guys are zipping all over the place. Glad to see that.

Til next time.

[James0816]

Water changes on tap for today. 10% in all tanks except the holding tank. 20% in progress over there. As usual, dripping the new water back in.

Fry activity remains very high. Even over in the holding tank. I even found more wigglers in there. Still no way to get a count in this tank.

In the main breeder, I was able to count (22) wigglers between both batches. From just a couple days old to a week. The Subwassertang again has turned into a great spot with them. Diving in and out of it.

[James0816]

Things remain good. Still have over (20) wigglers in the main and (4) in the holding. All four adults are hanging out together. Tons of baby tiger shrimp too. And...it's ready for another trim.

Water tests pending. Will post results.

How bout some shots from today:



No diffuser leaves until it's inspected


What are you looking at?

[andywoolloo]

incredible, i so love the otos! and your camara skills, dude! respect !!

[James0816]

And water parms from today:

[James0816]

incredible, i so love the otos! and your camara skills, dude! respect !!

Y thank you. Still have a long way to go in the camera skills. ;o)

[James0816]

More eggs found in the holding tank today. Only found (4) at the moment. All around the Java Fern. One is (was) on the glass. I was doing a 20% water change and somehow knocked it off the glass. Crud! Hopefully it's on the sand and will still do ok. The others I found on a single leaf. And here I was about ready to pull this thing out and get rid of it. lol Found all (4) fry in here. Getting pretty big for their age. Dripping in new water now.

The main tank has turned into a jungle again. Everything is just growing like weeds. The Subwasertang wall has overtaken the Downoi in front severely hampering it, Ludwigia has stretched to the front of the tank, Bacopa stretching to the back, RI throwing runners. Wow. This on top of all the fry and baby tigers still doing very, very well. Percentage wise, this is best group to make it this long. They are all over the place.

I'm thinking my new feeding routine may be playing a part in this.

On egg watch in the main. I think this is a bit early but they are starting to show signs. Mom and pop are bumping against each other while on the glass.

Charging the battery in the camera so will have to wait a bit to see what pics may have turned out.

[James0816]

Water changes on tap for today in all tanks except the holding tank. What little eggs I saw in there have hatched out. All (4) babies in the tank still accounted for and growing very fast.

Over in the main tank, activity is increasing with the adults again. Will be interesting to see how the ladies handle all the fry in the tank. The little ones continue to work over the tank very well....to include the parents. I went to pull the CO2 bottle and saw a baby working over mom. As usual..no camera available when the best shots present themselves.

Recharging CO2 bottles today.