Breeding Otocinclus

[jmw]

Just discovered the second round of fry a few days ago. Attached is an image of one from the first round, now 5 1/2 weeks old (and just about the same size as the juvenile RCS on the ludwigia stem).

baby_oto_031512_sm.jpg

[Coriequest]

Congrats! I saw a newborn from my otos last week, O. Macrospilus, almost transparent but definitely an Oto. Haven't seen it since but hopeful it in there with siblings!

[jmw]

Current fry count is 10. Looks like 5 spawnings, as all are paired in size.

[Coriequest]

Saw one juvenile today. So pretty marked! Totally excited! Hope there is more than one in there!

[joe323]

Pictures!? Both of the fry and of the tank please. I'm attempting to spawn mine in a 30gal long heavily planted aquarium. Any pointers or anything as far as water params or foods? Ive seen several spawning embraces in my setup but none have produced eggs.


Joe

[Coriequest]

I can do the parents but the baby is hard to see! He's still hiding all the time!
Update: Just tried but no luck posting, I have Tapatalk to make it easy to add pics but it doesn't work on this forum from my IPad.

[jmw]

Joe -
There are 4 adult otos -- 1 female and 3 males (I think...)At last count there were 10 juveniles paired in size. So it looks like 5 batches of two eggs each.
My oto tank is a 26 bowfront so it is 16" from gravel to surface. It has pressurized CO2 and high lighting levels.
Tank also contains mature neon tetras and all ages of RCS.
Heavily planted with a mix of mostly broad-leaf plants -- swords (Kleiner bar, green ozelot), annubias, ludwigia,Lindernia rotundifolia, as well as moss and driftwood.
20% water changes minimum of 2x/wk (deep well water) with occasional addition of RO water (approx 30% of water in change)
Heavily filtered with 1 HOB and 1 canister. Canister uses inline heater so temp doesn't vary from 75-75.8 F range
pH 7.5
GH 6.0
KH 9.0
Oto foods are Ken's Premium Vegie Sticks (with and w/o calcium)and organic peas.

- Mike

[joe323]

That's a pretty awesome set up you have. Its interesting that both you and another member of this forum have noted that spawnings have occurred at a pH of around 7.5. I was always under the impression that lower pH was necessary. How do you prepare their peas for feeding? I mash mine up and mix it into a paste with Omega One veggie flakes until its the consistency of play dough.

-Joe

[Coriequest]

Hi, heres a video link of my baby, I believe parents are otocinclus macrophylus as they exactly match the ones posted in the lists here. Also there could be more but this is the one I've seen...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDCQLAtS ... ata_player

I'm crazy about him! My tank has Cholla wood, and manzi, some stems, java fern, fissidens, java moss, m. mattogrossence, fairly well planted, lots of amazon frogbit floaters, Aqua soil, with sand display area in front, PH 6.O-6.2, O ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, GH 5, KH 5, I use bottled water with a pinch of GH booster. There is loose filter media for fry hiding, sponge filter, airstone, and Aqua clear 50 HOB with prefilter, 150 watt heater set to 72 F, its a 20 L with 8 spawning pygmaeus and 4 CRS, coralife fixture, single fluorescent bulb. I want to get a canister filter next to improve filtration.

He just eats what's in the tank though bc I didn't know he was there for sure since I'd seen him as a newborn then not again until this week. As for food, this tank gets variety of foods from dried daphnia, dried worm flake, algae wafers, zucchini, spinach and sinking wafers from spectrum, oh and Repashy Soilent Green! The Otos all love the Soilent Green. I found out that I had another homebred Oto that's about three months old in my 20 Tall tank too. He's the common kind, gray with black stripe.

[James0816]

Pretty kewl! I always love to hear stories from others about these little guys. I breed mine in water with a pH of 7.4.

[Coriequest]

Well a friend with a bigger screen than i have told me that he saw whiskers so this is a pymaeus corydoras. My face is red! But the mama Oto has laid eggs...I'm still hoping!

[jmw]

A few more pictures:

[joe323]

What a healthy looking baby you have there! I'm jealous. My "spawning" group spends wayyy more time eating their peas/carrots babyfood jello than getting down to business. I have 3 huge, hopefully gravid females though so I am remaining hopeful.

Crossing my fingers,
Joe

[apistomaster]

On my 17 inch laptop screen it looked and acted a lot like an Otocinclus to me but I couldn't be positive that it is either a C. pygmeus or Otocinclus fry.
I hope it is an Otocinclus. They remain one of the Loricaridid Catfish I would like to spawn.

[Coriequest]

Well I won't give up hope! This tank has baby pymaeus for sure, undetermined fry too tiny to tell and as of today at least one juvie CRS and it's tiny too! Thx!

[apistomaster]

I think the new CRS babies are really cool. In most other shrimp they lack any color so it is later before they become noticed. My house gets too warm to raise CRS. I began with 25 one winter and by May I had hundred and then the first heat wave struck and I lost my entire CRS colony within a few days of 82*F+ temps.

[Coriequest]

Good to know! I'll have to make sure I keep them cool, my classroom can get warm...

[jmw]

They keep on spawning. (A number of the juveniles in photo. Repashy food being mobbed at bottom of frame.) Two eggs/fry every 10-12 days. Fry grow out well on Ken's Veggie Sticks (ground to powder with mortar and pestle). Repashy Soilent Green is a huge hit with all of the Otos (and the shrimp, Nerites and tetras). Highly recommended.