Otocinclus Breeding

[James0816]

Went to do a water change on the new tank today and found (2) older wigglers and (7) new wigglers on the glass. Never found the eggs. I think the plant arrangement in the tank will make it hard to find the eggs. There are only two broad leaf varieties in there. I will have to look harder from now on. Proceding with the water changes on the breeders and go from there.

[pel]

Hey James,

good to read from you more often! I'm curious about your tank setups. Are those 2 that you have listed here still up to date? What exactly do you mean when you talk about your hightech tank? (What is the equipment?) Would a low tech tank be: light, heater, hamburgermattenfilter?

Would love to see some pictures of course!

Greetz,
Phil

[James0816]

Hey James,

good to read from you more often! I'm curious about your tank setups. Are those 2 that you have listed here still up to date? What exactly do you mean when you talk about your hightech tank? (What is the equipment?) Would a low tech tank be: light, heater, hamburgermattenfilter?

Would love to see some pictures of course!

Greetz,
Phil

yes, the existing tanks have not changed. Maybe a couple different species of plants but the water parms are consistant.

As for the new test "high tech" tank, it was originally set up for growing softwater plants like Tonia and Erios to name a couple. Water is very soft and acidic. pH sits < 6 (have to lab test it for acurate numbers). It also has a higher wattage of light during the day and I'm a little more aggressive with the fert dosing in it.

[pel]

Thanks for the explanation. I first thought it was with hightech filter, co2 computer, light computer etc.

Since i recently switched countries from germany to romania i also had to get used to checking my water values frequently. We are not connected to a "water company" (and even if there is no real control on what they put into the water or what are the border values) so i am relying on the groundwater and a osmosis machine. (According to the groundwater values i would better switch to african fish. )

cheers,
phil

[James0816]

Check of the tanks today and discovered a mini spawn in the main breeder. I didn't look thoroughly but managed to count (8) viable eggs and (1) non viable one. It was actually the non viable egg that caught my attention as it is a white ball sitting on the substrate.

This comes on the heels of a major rescape of that particular tank. Its part of my de-duckweed and de-snailification process. I completely removed every plant and ensured they were snail free, scraped the glass and removed the moss wall. I hadn't put the moss wall back in as yet and is on the schedule for today.

So today will be a water change, CO2 change and placing the Subwassertang wall back in preparation of the hatching.

[James0816]

And hatching has begun. Found (3) wigglers so far. Several more eggs left to hatch. This will be a bit of a challenge to keep since the scrubbing of the tank. Have the food prepped and ready. Need to get past the 48hr mark.

[pel]

Good luck! Did you successfully pass the mark?

[James0816]

Yep. Things still looking good for this latest batch. Spotted (10) wigglers yesterday. Started introducing prepared foods for them. Tank isn't a very thick jungle as yet so used a dosing dropper to target spot where I placed the powder.

[James0816]

Everyone likes pictures of fry guys right? Wee ones are starting to venture around the tank more.

[nvcichlids]

i love seeing the "lip whiskers" on fry like that.. makes their mouths look HUGE. They just need to grow into it

[pel]

you are right James! Keep em coming!

So you put the spirulina powder(?) in a dosing dropper and do a couple of drops in the tank? Or how does it work? How do you ensure that they find the food?

Cheers,
Philip

[James0816]

Normally I use one of those test tubes that come with the test kits to mix. When the tank is densely planted, I can just pour a small amount over the areas where I find the most fry hanging out.

In this case, with a sparsely planted tank, I had to use a dropper and specifially place the mix over the plants and glass where they are. It's better than just pouring it in so that I can ensure to get coverage of the plants.

[James0816]

Found (10) wiggle waggles this morning. All still doing fine and coloring up nicely. Very active bunch. Really working the tank over good.

[pel]

is there another critical mark after the 48h mark? Or is it now very likely that all of them are going to make it?

Cheers,
Philip

[James0816]

The next mark is two weeks. After that time, I have near 100% success. Will be adding a slice of zuccini today.

[James0816]

Wee ones continue to progess very well and remain very active. Water change on the tank and added a couple slices of zucchini. Being how active they are, I went ahead and fed early to keep them grazing.

On a disgruntled note, I'm still finding pond snails in the main tank. Grrrrr. Just shows how resiliant they are. One here and there but managable. I squish when I find them. What's worse is that I cannot put the moss wall back in until I know they are gone. That would provide them a big hidey spot which of course I don't want.

And on a positive note, I did find a baby green shrimp in there this morning as well. Maybe a good sign for them as well.

[James0816]

All is well in Oto land. Wee ones have discovered just how good zucchini is. Still grazing nicely.

[pel]

So 10 days after hatching they go for the zucchini! Good news! I guess that makes feeding them a bit more comfortable.

I wish you and your oto fry happy x-mas and hope they all slide well into the new year!

[Melander]

Great thread, lots of useful information here.

Thanks and good luck with the little ones James!

Melander

[James0816]

All babes present and accounted for. Colored up very nicely and remain extremely active. These guys took a little longer to hit the zucchini but now have learned its a good nummy num. They aren't so skittish now when I walk by as well. Scrapped some GSA off the front glass and will be recharging the CO2 tomorrow. Think it may be safe (snail wise) to but the Subwassertang wall back into place.

[James0816]

Might by my last update for 2012....we'll see. ;)

Just went down to dose the ferts in the tanks today and walked in on a potential spawn. Crap! I walked past a breeder to get to another tank and I was opening the lid, I caught the two doing the dance in the tank. I very carefully and slowly dosed both of those tanks and then low crawled away from that area.

Good thing I don't have a live cam on that tank like I planned. Woulda been funny to see that.

Finished dosing and started a little mainenance on the Cocama tank. There's a male and a female hanging out together. This tank is in dissarray as I'm doing a big TDS clearing and rescaping. But I haven't noticed a male and female hanging out in a while. My only problem with these guys is that I have (6) guys to (1) lady. I need to get a couple more gals in here.

[James0816]

Just went down and did a stealth peek in on the tank and confirmed that it was in deed a spawn. I could only see the Bacopa area and there are quite a few eggs in there. I'll get a better look tomorrow and see what's in the whole tank. Great way to end and begin a year.

[James0816]

Happy New Year!

Went and checked on the spawn from yesterday. Pretty nice numbers. I found a total of (51) eggs this morning best I could tell. Pretty much even split between the Bacopa and Crypt jungle this time with 23 and 26 respectively. Found (2) isolated on a different plant.

Here's a couple shots of the new (not quite ready) arrivals:




And here's a shot of one of the older siblings:


Guess it will be a bit longer before I put the Sub wall back in.

[pel]

Isn't that a nice start into the new year!? Congratulations!

[Gertbl]

Wow, indeed a nice way to start 2013.
It's really a helpful topic for me to see what to do with young Otocinclus sp.
I haven't tried zucchini yet, but the one Otocinclus vittatus fry that I have is doing really great.
What kind of other food do you use?

[James0816]

And we have a hatching today. A double hatching actually. The Otos hatched out and a mama green shrimp also hatched her young uns.

I was able to visibly count (29) newly hatched fry guys. Here's a couple of shots for ya:

[James0816]

What kind of other food do you use?

During their first couple of weeks, I feed a powder blend of algae flakes. After two weeks, I introduce zucchini. This of course depends on the tank. For instance,right now I also have (10) juvies in the tank so this batch will already have zucchini in there for them.

[James0816]

Got home a bit late today but was able to get a quick check of the tank before the lights went out. I was able to find (41) wigglers during my quick scan. I went and began feeding as well. Some of these guys look like they are gonna grow pretty fast by the size of them. Adding new zucchini as well for the others.

Snapped some pics but they are all pretty crappy. Didn't get the opportunity to do a do over today.

One interesting thing going on with the tank now is the appearance of BBA. Not really sure why this has cropped up as the lighting, ferts and CO2 haven't changed. Have to think on this one for a bit.

[Gertbl]

What kind of other food do you use?

During their first couple of weeks, I feed a powder blend of algae flakes. After two weeks, I introduce zucchini. This of course depends on the tank. For instance,right now I also have (10) juvies in the tank so this batch will already have zucchini in there for them.

Superb, thanks for sharing. I will have a try soon with Zucchini.

[2wheelsx2]

One interesting thing going on with the tank now is the appearance of BBA. Not really sure why this has cropped up as the lighting, ferts and CO2 haven't changed. Have to think on this one for a bit.

What about plant mass? If the tank has grown in a lot the balance has been upset.