Otocinclus Breeding

[James0816]

Fry are still doing well and continuing to grow. No idea as to how many may be around as the Java Fern is one heck of house. ;) I see a couple that will hang out from time to time on the other side of the tank.

On a plus note, the female Cocama's are on their way! They should be here by Friday.

Hoping to get things started on the rack and finalize the tanks so there won't be any more disturbances.

[James0816]

Things are looking good in all tanks. Have found no further casulties, fry guys still hangin with me annnnnnnnnd ..... THEY'RE HERE! The lady O. Cocama's have arrived today. They are in the process of being slowly acclimated to the tank. This will take several hours. I placed a freshly blanched slice of zucchini in there for them while they wait.

I bought a new heater for the main Vittatus tank. My plan is to slowly replace the old heaters whether they need it or not. I don't want to have another issue like I just went through. I have the initial temp set to 76 at the moment to see where we stand but that should just about right.

[James0816]

And here are the lovely ladies that will be playing the leading role in the Cocama project.





Hopefully, I can leverage some of the knowledge gained from the Vittatus to aid in this group as well. Flexilis and Mimulus still on the hit list to round this project out.

[matti2uude]

They look nice and gravid already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[James0816]

Work in the Cocama tank:

Water change done with minor gravel vac. That was done just to prepare the area as I plant so as to not stir up a bunch of stuff. I'm going a little bit different on this tank from the Vittatus due to the nature of the Cocama's. I'll do a water test Thursday (wont be home tomorrow) after this to get some readings to see where I'm at and if it hits the numbers I'm looking for.

Also in the process of swaping filters. This tank had been run on a ZooMed 501. While it worked well for the time, I'm looking to create a bit more of a centralized current. The outflow from the HOB should flow over the piece of driftwood creating a nice subtle current. I'll swap media from the Vittatus tank with a new pad and use it's established media to help get started on the new filter. I'll over filter for a while by leaving the ZooMed on for about a week.

Here's a current species list:

Fauna: (6) Otocinclus cocama - 4 males and 2 females, (5) Caridina cf. propinqua, (5) Caridina gracilirostris. The C. propinqua will be permanent residents and I'll be adding about (5-7) more. Being low order breeders, this will actually keep the numbers and activity level down in the tank. The C. gracilirostris will be moving to the Vittatus tank once I relocate the Tigers to their own tank. Other future additions will be (2) Pomacea bridgesii.

Flora: Bacopa caroliniana, Bacopa monnieri, Bacopa sp. 'Colorata', Cryptocoryne balansae, Cryptocoryne wendtii (bronze), Hygrophila polysperma. For a low lying plant, I originally was going to go with a few Dwarf Sags but I'm rethinking that. I may still look into though. I have Downoi and RI in the Vittatus tank. I know as foreground plants of that nature, the options are pretty limited. If I can master Lobelia cardinalis, I may even try that. I'm also still looking to acquire Littorella uniflora.

Substrate: Flourite

Lighting: This is also tricky as it is a shared light with another tank. 32w T8. I'm actually looking to scale this down to around 18w. It will still be a shared light so I'm looking to find a 36" fixture. I could go with an indepent fixture but I was trying to cut down the amount of equipment being plugged into one source. I hate cables. I may go CFL in the future with the new rack but we'll see where this takes us.

Filtration: Current: ZooMed 501 mini-canister. Planned: Standard HOB w/ sponge prefilter.

Decor: I'm actually going with a flat piece of field stone and manzanita driftwood. I will have the stone sticking straight up and try to position the DW to lean on top it. This will provide more surface area for grazing and extra hide spot. This may go away if I can build a moss wall but I'm looking to do that with Fissidens.

I think that just about sums this tank up in a nut shell. It will slowly piece itself together. All the stem plants were trimmed low so they can fill out as the environs dictate. I will also be using DIY CO2 on this tank. My choice of dry ferts to start will be a PMDD mix. Might be a bit sensitive to try and mess with EI at this point.

[James0816]

Finally got the tank topped off. Went on a duckweed erradication mission. As you know that will be a never ending battle. I'll be pretty diligent in that if I see a plant, it will be removed. I am going to be using Azolla as my floater in this tank.

On that same note, I felt like I was a marine biologist collecting samples from the wild. The wild turned out be to my 45g with a boat load of floating stuff. The Azolla was thoroughly blended in. I found a very good way of picking it out. A bamboo skewer. The Azolla went right to it which was odd and gratefull at the same time.

Tomorrow I may finally get the crypts sorted out and that ever elusive water test.

All occupants doing just fine. I saw the two ladies in what appeared to be a turf war in that they were scuffling for the same spot under the driftwood.

[James0816]

Here is the current shot of the House that Cocama built. lol


Pretty much have the crypts where I want them. Seem to be a nice spot around the rock and driftwood. Driftwood was swapped out yet again with a nice piece of Malaysian wood. Fits nicely into the scape.

Plenty of floor space for now until I get a moss wall up. For now, I'll just incorporate stem plants around. As you can see, they need to fill in.

Zucchini is placed right up front under the wood.

Removed a few more Duckweed plants. Will stay on top of it. Didn't see anything floating up top after I was done but I'm sure it's lurking.

Water test definately will be done tomorrow. Was too cloudy to do from planting the crypts.

[James0816]

And now the numbers for the Cocama tank:

Temp: 80 (Ouch...immediately unplugged the heater and will go without one for now. Fan blowing over the tank to cool down. Will monitor to see where it stabilizes. May do the same thing as the Vittatus tank. That temp is a nice 75)

pH: 7.4
NO3: 10
GH: 7
KH: 5
TDS: 167

Inside Room Parms: Temp - 72, Barometric Pressure - 31.65, Humidity - 39%

New CO2 is prepping and I expect the big 3 parms to adjust slightly after 24hrs. Will take new readings on Friday to see where we are at after CO2 recharge.

[James0816]

Temp already down to 76. Two degrees away from target. Turned the fan off and air stone on to oxygenate the water.

[James0816]

Morning check of the tank found the temp at a nice 74 degrees. Right on target. Now to wait until this afternoon for the flex and see if there will be any swing.

[James0816]

Went down to dose the tanks this morning and found a lot of activity in the tanks. Since the lights were out, I couldn't 100% confirm that this is a spawn in the makings but from what I saw, it displayed all the tale-tale signs of one. Hopefully. We'll see this afternoon.

All tanks received a 20% water change yesterday. Will be doing some more plant thining in the coming days. The crypts have really taken off recently and have really overgrown the area again. I will also be swapping out the main C. Wendtii 'green' with bronze again as the green one has now became too big for the tank it is in.

Briggs arrived of Friday and have them in their new homes.

[James0816]

Very sad day today. Came home and made a startling discovery. Mama Oto has passed away. I'm at a loss for words actually. I took her out and gave her a quick exam. Her underside between the mouth and belly looked a grayish brown as if it were burnt actually. Temp in the tank is 74.

I'll do some maintenance in the tank today and get things tiddyd up. So sad.

All other tanks look normal. There was no spawn as yet but the Oto's remain active.

[MatsP]

Sorry for your loss...

--
Mats

[Vlacek]

Hi James,

sorry to hear this bad news! Hope you'll manage to replace her and start breeding again soon.
I have just one pair and seems like they keep spawning because from time to time I can see some
new born wigglers even though I haven't seen any eggs for a long time.
My problem is that little otos die in community tank within week or more probably due to lack of algae
and other food. When I move them to breeding tank, they almost certainly die too. Only those hatched
from eggs in breeding tank survive. I must work on this...

[James0816]

Not much activity going on of late. Things have kind of settled down. Just regular maintenance items planned.

Working on relocating the Tiger shrimp from the Vittatus tank. For the most part, I have most of them moved out. I'm still finding one or two here and there and remove them when I find them. The plan is to replace them with Red Nose, Caridina gracilirostris.

Tons of rain these past few days which has turned our water brown. Grrrr! Hate when that happens. Water changes will be done with spring water.

[James0816]

Still waiting on the tank to fill in. Everything is just soooooo slow growing. I really need to consider swapping out this substrate. If the plants aren't growing well, it will certainly impact the project. I'm contimplating setting up a tank for Eco and get it ready for a swap or even another SMS. I can't do a ton of changes in here that will impact the over all environment but may need to seriously consider the substrate swap. The plants are the key to this.

I have Eco in the O. Macrospilus already but don't want to disturb that tank. Those two are finally spending more time together which hopefully is a good sign. The Caridina 'Dark Greens' are getting a bit numerous so will have to start thinning.

The Cocama ladies are doing outstanding. Found them together yesterday. Probably gossiping about the boys. We know how that goes right? ;) j/k ladies.

The Mopani wood with the rock seems to be a big hit as well. This seems to be the major hang out. With the crypts nestled right beside it, makes for good cover.

Search continues for O. Flexilis and O. Mimulus to round out my Otocinclus projects. One day ... eventually ... hopefully.

[James0816]

The reset of the Vitattus tank is now complete. I didn't change the format or layout of tank though. Just gave the entire substrate a very thorough cleaning, trimmed and replanted. Main crypt switched back to a 'bronze'. Have some small touch up things to do with it still but nothing major. I'll get a water test done this evening to see where we stand.

Just checked the status of the Caridina serratirostris. They should be here today. These will be the new clean up crew for this tank instead of the planned Red Nose at this time.

Now we wait to see how Papa Oto will be without Mama. The question is, will he decide to hook up with the others after the loss.

[James0816]

And the moment we have all been waiting for. Eggs! Woohoo!

Looks like Papa Oto is no longer in mourning. I was affraid with the loss of Mama, he wasn't going to have interest in the other two ladies. Today finally tells a different and much welcomed story.





These were found today. Now I didn't check the tanks yesterday as I didn't get home in time but judging by their appearance, they were laid last night/early this morning. I have counted (78) at the moment. There is (1) that looks like it will be non-viable. I have some other work to do in the other tanks but will try and count again later.

Majority of the eggs are in the Bacopa and Crypt jungle. There were very few found in the Ludwigia this time.

I'm so relieved now.

[James0816]

Eggs looking good today. The one that I thought was going to be non-viable, was. I found two more non-viables as well. Along with that, there were a few more laid yesterday. One on the glass.

Hatching expected tomorrow.

[apistomaster]

I think your continued success breeding Otocinclus is outstanding but I really wish you success at breeding your Otocinclus cocama. I tried 12 of them but they all died over a period of several months.
Sometimes I have had groups of common Otocinclus thrive for about five years but when I set up my 125 gallon as a heavily planted tank I bought 25 Otocinclus but four months later I think I only have about a third of what I started out with. I have six Farlowella which are thriving and keeping the tank free of algae; maybe so clean that the little Otocinclus couldn't forage up enough algae. The Farlowella were small but they have all grown at least one inch in just four months.

[James0816]

As expected, we have a hatch. Counted 21 fry guys at the moment. Some are in perfect photo op places...but...wife has my fav camera. DOH! I'll try to use her SLR and see how well it goes.

Found Ninja zoea in the tank too. Not sure how I missed that female. They aren't called ninja's for no reason.

[James0816]

I think your continued success breeding Otocinclus is outstanding but I really wish you success at breeding your Otocinclus cocama.

I'm definately going to give it a go. I'm hoping they do as well. I'm not thrilled with the their tank as the plants just aren't growing very well using Flourite. I'll be swapping out for SMS very soon.

[James0816]

Counted (20) fry today. Here's a couple shots for ya:



And how hard is it to spot them when they are under a leaf:



I'll start feeding the fry this evening. Now here's a minor problem...I go on holiday Wednesday for a week. Hopefully the sitter will be able to feed according to the directions. Shouldn't be too bad but will cross my fingers while I'm gone that I come back and all will be well.

[James0816]

The winds of change are a blowin. Just not getting the growth I'm looking for out of the Flourite in the Cocama tank. This tank just hasn't performed since it was set up. Today...things are about to change. I'm calling in a relief pitcher. Prepping new SMS at the moment. Will be pulling the Flourite in just a few minutes. I'll pull it out, do a good bottom vac of what is left and then drop in the new substrate. Will stay with the same plants for the moment and recharge the CO2.

I'm going on holiday next week so we'll see how it does if I can get any marginal differences by that time.

[James0816]

Last update for a week due to holiday. Counted (12) wigglers actively moving about. Haven't seen them swim in and out of the Subwassertang as yet but then again, they are only a couple days old. ;)

Performed a water change on the tank and added a piece of zucchini. Hopefully all will be well upon my return.

[James0816]

And a parting photo for you:

Starting to color up nicely:


I counted (13) fry guys just now. Fed the fry and lights are out. They are pretty much on their own for a week. I hope they will be able to find plenty of food in the tank. I did place a slice of zuc in there as well. Feeding is a bit complicated for the sitter and spotting fry could be a challenge. I may just have the sitter feed the powder food in a couple of days just in case.

Hope everyone has a safe 4th and we'll see you in a week. I'll probably still be monitoring while on holiday.

[Vlacek]

Hi James,

I'm still watching your progress closely. Wish you a pleasant holiday and a good luck to your little guys while you are away!

My oto's couple seem to have stopped spawning as I haven't seen any fry or eggs for a while. Hisonotus female is also quite fat now but no spawning attempts seen.

[James0816]

Back from holiday now. They are always soooo short. But this one was especially short but time well taken. Anyway, got home very late last night so really couldn't check on the tanks. I did go downstairs to turn off the tanks with the manual lights. Too tired to really examine them. I was very curious in the Vittatus tank and almost turned the light on to look.

Right as I was reaching for the switch on the timer, I saw a fry guy swim to the front of the tank. Using just the lighting in the room, I was able to scan around and found (3) wee ones on the glass. Very good sign. Will get a better look later this afternoon.

Another tank I noticed...Duckweed! This will tell you how fast it will grow. Before I left, I removed almost all of it from a 20long tank. When I checked last night, the entire tank was again covered from side to side. This in just a matter of a weeks time. Wowsers! Duckweed anyone?

I'm going to stop by to get some spring water for water changes today in the breeding tanks.

[James0816]

Hi James,

I'm still watching your progress closely. Wish you a pleasant holiday and a good luck to your little guys while you are away!

My oto's couple seem to have stopped spawning as I haven't seen any fry or eggs for a while. Hisonotus female is also quite fat now but no spawning attempts seen.

Thank you sir. This was the longest break they had. I attributed it to the loss of the main female. Hopefully all will return back to normal in the tank.

Good luck with yours as well.

[James0816]

Check of the tanks after holiday. All looks well. No casulties to report. Whew! Always nervous when I leave for an extended period of time.

Best part of all....I counted at least (15) fry swimming around. All looking nice and healthy. This is a very good sign as the fry didn't get their special food.

Now the tank on the other hand, it needs some help. I need to scrape the front glass and .... I found Hydra in the tank. Very odd I must say. Not sure how these guys wound up showing up. I won't be scrapping the tank anytime soon though with the fry in there so I'll just deal with it for now.

Water changes are going on as I type.

Here's a couple shots to get you by for now: