Otocinclus Breeding

[AznSaiyan]

oh that is bad. Good luck with the new start.

[MatsP]

Sorry to hear that.

Touch wood, I have yet to have a tank break (whilst there is water in it - I broke one when it was in my van, and I was loading some other things into the van - no big deal, as I'd already had the valuable bits from it, and I bought it at very low price...)

--
Mats

[2wheelsx2]

Sorry to hear that, and glad you're not giving up. I've had tank leaks that ended up in fish losses and it wasn't pretty, so I feel for you.

[Kaczman]

I'm really sorry. Live can be cruel. If you lived closer It wouldn't be a problem to find cocama for you.. But I still belive in your final succes. Your knowledge and attitude are great, and that's the guarantee of acheving any goal.. Good luck!

[James0816]

Thanks all. Keeps me motivated to move on.

Still working to get the new tank the way I want it. I'm actually going to set it up more similar to the Vitattus tank this time. The Fissiden wall took a nice beating as well. Guess I didn't have it tied down good as I thought. I patched it the best I could so we'll see how it will fill in. Hopefully I'll be satisfied with it in the next couple of days.

Remaining shrimp seem to be doing ok. A couple still showing signs of stress and that is understandable.

I've also started the search for new Cocama's. Nothing has shown up on the importers lists as yet.

[bsmith]

Sorry to hear about the loss but you will pick yourself up and be back in no time im sure of it!

Where do you get/did you get your last cocamas from> I really want to get a group of the more rare otos to put in my low tech Mini-m which I keep rare crypts in.

[anton l.]

thats awful! im really sorry,i remember how i lost one of my 46.still cant forget it..

how do you breed them? ive got a mature pair and the female is just about to explode! they`re with me for 8 months but still didnt spawn,although the tank has good current and clean water(they live with the L-46)there is also plenty of anubias.
is there something wrong? why dont they spawn?

[Kaczman]

I'm really surprised,that cocama is so rare in US. Maybe because of German's high interest in aquatics cocamas are quite easily available in Europe. Good luck in your search!

And I would like to repeat Anton's question. I've got two female baloon shaped macrospiluses,but no spawning yet. Do you think separate 6 gallon tank rather than shared with dwarf cory could trigger their affair?

[James0816]

Haven't been successfull in the breeding of Cocama's as yet. But I'm working on it.

B..I'm currently searching for a new vendor. When I find a good source, I'll be sure to let you know.

Kaczman..I have a group of Macros as well. The female goes through the motions of spawning but the three musketeers I have for guys seem to have a short attention span and always go off to do their own thing. I'll do some more work in the tank to make it a little more "appealing" to them..... hopefully.

I'm also looking for the following still:
Otocinclus Flexilis
Otocinclus Mimulus
Nannoptopoma sp. `PERU`

I almost had a bead on the Nanno's but that didn't materialize.

[Kaczman]

I know someone who has Orange otocincluses. He mentioned that the main hazard is ph dropping too low. Keeping gh and dh low might cause ph changing rapidly, but keeping that under control lets him keep those little fellas happy. I was thinking about buying those, but I don't think I'm experienced enough. I've never seen the other two species you mentioned. The seems to be pretty rare, but fingers crossed.

[James0816]

The Nanno's can be a bit on the tricky side. I'm hoping that the guys on the list will eventually show on some import lists here in US.

[James0816]

Ok, dealt with another surprise today. Got home today with two boxes waiting on me. Odd, I only ordered one plant package so was only expecting one box. Opened the first one and it was the plants.

On to the second box. The sender had my name and addy on it as well for the recipient was me too. No other markings on it. Ooooooooooook.

Opened the box to a small note inside. "Here's a couple guys to get you started again. Thanks for all you are doing with the Otos and Shrimp." Signed.....Annonymous Fish Fan.

Removed the styrofoam top and foam padding to find a bag. Inside the bag where (2) nice little O. Cocama boys!

I'm speechless at this and don't know who to thank. So whoever you are....Thank You Very Much!! That truely was a Random Act Of Kindness.

Little guys are acclimating as I type.

[bsmith]

Wow! That is amazing!!!

Well it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. It has to be someone you have done business with in the past (has your shipping addy), knows that you list your stock and has cocamas at their disposal.

So who do you think it could be? I really want you to find out and tell me so hopefully I can finally get some for my crypt filled mini-m!!!

[James0816]

Big update from yesterday. Only big by virtue of action taken in the main breeder. The Hydra are really popping up and I needed to take immediate action in this tank. It was finally time to dose the tank with Flubendazole. As nerve wrecking as it was, it has to be done.

Hundreds of shrimp zoea floating in the tank so I'm sure the Hydra are staying well fed. Time for them to be erradicated.

I moved the Briggs out to another tank. Then, I mixed just under 1/8tsp of the Flub with tank water and poured it behind the filter media. I did it that way so the media could catch the undisolved particles.

Now we wait.

{Crosses Fingers}

[James0816]

No sign of Hydra yesterday. I only focused on the areas where they were prominent. I'll get a much better scan of the tank today. All shrimps and Otos (even the wee ones) seemed just fine.

[James0816]

No signs of Hydra for the past few days. Have scoured the tank as best as I could for signs. Started to transition the tank back to normal. Began with a 50% water change and put carbon in the filter. Will run it this way for a week and repeat the process. Probably won't be for another couple weeks (at least) that I try to re-introduce Briggs back into the tank. Ninja shrimp continue to do their thing. I'm still finding zoea all in the tank. Flubendazole appears to have done it's job. Now we wait to see if there is/was any impact on breeding. {crosses fingers again}

[James0816]

After weeks of nail biting after the Flubendazole treatment, I can finally relax. There is a spawn in progress. Whew! I was so worried even though everyone was trying to reassure me. I didn't bother trying to count the eggs at the moment since more eggs are being laid every time I go down there. I am trying to minimize my travels for now. I'll get some pics and a count later. Right now, the majority are being laid in the Ludwigia area.

Yay!

[unissuh]

Good to hear you fixed your hydra problem. Nasty little things! We have a chemical treatment down here called "No-Planaria" that kills hydra as well, works brilliantly and is safe for shrimp and fry.

[2wheelsx2]

I think you can get No Planaria the world over, but I didn't know it worked for Hydra. http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aquar ... arium.html

Says it's made from Betel Nut palm extract.

[unissuh]

Yep thats the one, very effective on hydra - they die as quick as planaria with the dosage. It's usually safe at even double dose for fry & shrimplets, I've done a 10 day course with Otocinclus fry and they didn't even flinch. Can even kill most snail infestations with prolonged dosage ('cept for some of the small native ones). Absolutely brilliant stuff.

[Vlacek]

Hi oto experts. I'd like to know your opinion on otos versus eggs. Do they eat their own and other fish eggs? I'm particularly intersted in cory eggs as I'm trying to breed c.hastatus in tank where I have six otos with them and would like to eliminate any egg eaters in order to have success. I've read different opinions on this but wondering what is your take on this.

Thanks in advance,
Martin

[James0816]

IME....Otos will not eat their own eggs. However, Cories will.

[James0816]

My photo skills have really diminished lately. I just couldn't snap off any good pics. Sry. Hopefully I can get a few before the hatching. Then it's on to focus on new fry pics.

I also tried to get somewhat of an egg count. That as well turned out to be difficult. After I left, they really worked over the Bacopa area and just laid a ton of eggs in there. I counted as many as (10) on one leaf! Only visibly saw (8) in the crypt jungle. The best news was that I haven't found any non-viable eggs this time. Usually there are a few.

Topping of the tank ahead of the hatching.

[James0816]

Fry guys all over the place. Litterally. I did locate three non-viable eggs. This is a pretty big hatching. Crossing fingers for most of them to survive.

I'm working on some pics. We'll see how it goes.

[James0816]

Tried adding some pics, but they won't post for some reason. The fry are doing nicely and I started feeding them yesterday. Already coloring up well.

[James0816]

Been a few days. Have been stuck at work for the past several days. Some pretty long days. Luckily...the wee ones have been doing fine. They are grazing over everything nicely. Tons of fry all over the place. Coloring up very well.

Found a few more fresh hatchlings today as well.

[James0816]

Babes remain very active. Working over the crypt jungle like there's no tomorrow. They also seemed to have discovered that the Subwassertang wall is an excellent hidy spot too. It's fun watching them dart in and out of it.

[nvcichlids]

would it be possible to see some updated full tank shots? I have been behind in the reading, but would love to see some again (considering an oto species tank on my new bar!)

[James0816]

Sure thing. I'll try and snap some more pics this evening. I'll have to post them a different way as for some reason it's not liking my pics on Photobucket here now.

[James0816]

Well....I hate to say this....but....I think my Macrophilus guys....are.....well.....gay! There... I said it!

The ladies are trying so hard to get the boys to get busy but they are just too interested in goofing around with themselves. It's funny and painful to watch at the same time. I think it's time for drastic action. I've given the three musketeer's plenty of time to get their act together. I think it's time to seperate them. If they don't spawn this time, I will remove all but one guy and one gal. That would put me at two Macro tanks but...gotta do what I gotta do right?

I'm getting ready to order another group of Cocama's as well. They should arrive in the US on Sunday. Hopefully the two guys will have a lady or two to say hi to. LOL