Otocinclus Cocama - A Zebra's Journal

[James0816]

Welcome to the new OC (Otocinclus Cocama). Here they are. My little guys arrived ok today. They were definately on the hot side of things when I opened the box. Slowly acclimating at just under 2 drops / second. Added a fresh slice of zucchini to their bowl. Not too long after, I already saw one catching a nibble.

Well start with a group photo. Here they are right before flying solo in the bowl:
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/GroupPhoto1.jpg

Some Individual shots:
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/OC1.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/OC2.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/OC3.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/OC4n5.jpg

And one more group shot with zucchini:
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/GroupPhoto2.jpg

It will be a couple more hours before they are ready to go into the tank. With their arrival today, I didn't get the scaping done to where I wanted it. So, we'll leave it as is for a spell. Once they are more comfortable, I can start working in the tank again.

[StangSally]

cute!!

[msjinkzd]

nice pick ups!

[cellodaisy]

What cuties! Congrats.

[emptywallet]

those are sweet looking!!! Maybe one day they some can go in my 55 ;)

[pinkertd]

Sweet little boogers! And they poop as much as my baby plecs!! :grinyes:

[BioHazard]

Those are awesome! Love the stripage.

[H2Ogal]

What a bunch of cuties!

Looking forward to more pics of them in their new home. :)

[James0816]

Checked in on them this morning while I was dosing ferts to other tanks. All looks well. Best that I can tell with the dim lighting is that they colored up nicely from the trip. Will be able to check better of course this afternoon with full light.

On a funny side note...I went ahead and added a second slice of zuc during the acclimation. When it came time to release them into the tank, I slowly poured the water out. Each zucchini had one little guy on it. They weren't budging. As the zuc slipped out the bowl, they rode it to the bottom like a surf board. One of the pieces even flipped. Didn't bother them a bit. Was fun to watch. The other immediatly hit the driftwood and made themselves at home.

[fishorama]

Awesome otos, congrats!

[tanker]

NICE!!!

[soobie]

They look great!

Yay, another thread to follow!

[vanillarum]

Congrats and welcome to the club !! They are pretty cool fish, and mine are very visible, not like my other ottos. You may want to try slicing those slices of zucchini in 1/2, and make them into semi circles. Let's them get at the middle easier. And mine love shelled peas. Actually, mine eat just about anything that goes into the tank ! Good luck.

[James0816]

So far ... so good. They continue to do really well. The passed the first milestone of 48hrs. Aiming for the second one on Sunday. I do like the fact that they immediately took to the zuc. Still aways to go before they are out of the woods.

[James0816]

Think I've just experienced something I never had before with Oto's.....aggression.

I lost one of my zebra's some time last night. After I netted it out and examined...It had a couple wounds on it. Very, very odd.

Sad and mad at the same time!

<sniff>

[James0816]

I just finished checking the remaining (4). I found one other one that has a minor boo-boo behind a pelvic fin. Hmmmm...wondering if it could have been just a case of a game of chase gone bad? The boo-boo doesn't look too bad but definately will keep an eye on it. It's just spec like where a fin pricked him. Nothing sharp in the tank.

[James0816]

Growing up nicely:

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/OCocama1_051310.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/OCocama_051610.jpg

[cellodaisy]

What cuties! Did the aggression & injury issues settle down?

[James0816]

Haven't seen anything further. The aggression was only speculation due to the nature of the injuries on both. It was odd to say the least that's for sure.

[James0816]

Time to revive this journal....a year later. ;o)

My original shipment of Cocama's turned out to be all guys so this project never really go off the ground. My goal was to order another group this Spring and hope I come up with at least one female. A few weeks ago, I was contacted by an individual who had been keeping up with my progress. He had some Cocama's for a while and a couple of them were lonely ladies. I was very surprised when he offered to donate the ladies for the breeding project. Of course I couldn't turn it down as the guys didn't have any partners. The generosity was glady accepted and we just had to work out the logistics of shipping in the weather as it was still turning from Winter to Spring.

Mother nature provided us a good window of opportunity and the shipment was made on 13-Apr. They arrived today just fine sporting their nice girlish figures. ;o)

Here's a shot of them:

173811

173812

They are acclimating to their new home as I type. It's a nice slow process using the drip method and will last several hours. They have about another hour to go before they are introduced to the gentlemen. I sure hope they mind their manners. ;o)

This particular tank will undergo some minor changes in the coming months as I move things into a rack. I'm not fancying the current light setup as it is too bright (for me as what I want). I'll post up some other stats on the current setup in a little while. Might not be until tomorrow but no later than the weekend.

[James0816]

24hr mark and still looking good. One more day to go to clear the first hurdle.

[bgourami320]

Very cool! I've been looking for these guys, can't find them around here, just the regular Oto's.
I've heard Oto's are very hard to keep alive so I haven't bothered to order any. I'll have to keep
an eye out on this thread, hopefully they'll breed for you and you'll sell some:) They've got to be
stronger coming from a breeder...I would think.

[vanillarum]

I got some of these last year from Brian at CorysRUs, and they are doing fine. I believe they have some advertised now. You may want to check them out. Good luck.

[user_name]

congrats, awesome fish!

[Vince G.]

Beautiful Cocomas!

[James0816]

All are doing just fine in their new home. I catch the new additions at different areas of the tank everytime I check on them. I may be able to get in there and start readjusting some of the plants now. I will follow that with a 10% water change and a recharge of the CO2.

[James0816]

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 mopani 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.

I'll try and get some pics posted when the smoke clears.

[James0816]

Wasn't able to spend as much time as I had originally planned in the tank today. I did manage to get the filter in place. I'll prepare the prefilter probably tomorrow. The current actually turned out to be a bit stronger than I wanted. I can adjust it on this model though so I think it will turn out ok.

The Mopani is in and will have to tweak it a bit as well once I move around the crypts. Without the moss wall in there, I will need to put in a couple more background stems.

I did notice all Otos in the crypt jungle.

Still need to recharge the CO2 and get the water tests done for my baseline. I will set that on the schedule for tomorrow.

[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. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/images/smilie/icon_smile.gif

[James0816]

Here is the current shot of the House that Cocama built. lol
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/CocamaHome_042611.jpg

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.

[Vince G.]

Beautiful Tank. I can't wait to see it when the plants on the left side grow in. I'm sure the cocoma's are lovin' it!

[James0816]

And now the numbers:

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]

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 winds of change are a blowin. Just not getting the growth I'm looking for out of the Flourite. 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.

[DavidZ]

Nice!!!

[James0816]

Flourite is out and SMS is in. I have to add just a bit more though. I'm kinda in crunch time mode as time is running out before going on holiday. I might not be able to snap any pics before leaving. I still have to scape and such as well. I'll probably just throw things in there for the moment and scape when I get back.

I have decided against recharging the CO2 before I leave. Don't really want to chance the sitter not turning on the air stone (no timers on this tank as yet).

[amazonadam]

Beaufiful tank and Cocama! How expensive are they? And When they breed, do you plan on selling the juvies when they grow?

[James0816]

Beaufiful tank and Cocama! How expensive are they? And When they breed, do you plan on selling the juvies when they grow?

Sry I missed this. Was away on holiday and still getting caught up. Getting ready to make an update when I saw this. Depending on where you find them, they usually run anywhere from 12-20/ea. I was extremely lucky as someone actually donated the two ladies for this project. That's a big RAOK! If/when they breed and I'm able to successfully raise them, I will be selling them. The only caveat to that is the person who made the donation is at the top of the list.

[James0816]

Finally working on this tank again after returning from holiday. Ok....removed all the plants from the tank. Placed back (5) C. wendtii's. I'm pretty much using the same format as the original layout. I have (3) Wendtii's in front of the driftwood and (2) behind.

I'm going to transfer over (2) Downoi crowns from the Vittatus tank. I'll work in the same stems that were in there previously.

Also planned will be another ledge. With this one, I would like to use Fissidens, but that is going to be a tall order. I may just make two ledges and reserve one for Fissidens when I can acquire enough of it. The other I will use Subwassertang again. On top of the ledge, I plan on using Lobellia. Just have to make sure it grows properly and not leggy. But I don't think that is going to be an issue.

The canister filter has been officially removed and filtration is strictly HOB now. Current looks to be doing as planned.

Once the scape is complete, I'll get my baseline water parms and we'll go from there.

[fishnfreak]

Any updates mate??

[James0816]

Nothing on the breeding front as yet. Everyone still kinda staying to themselves. Still not satisified with the scape of the tank as yet. Just doesn't seem to want to fill in right. I have a few tweaks left to do and then we'll let it ride for a spell.

[James0816]

It is with great sadness that I make this entry. I wasn't going to post at first but decided it wouldn't be true to myself or to the people reading this.

I just encountered my worst tank disaster in my fish keeping years. I lost all my Cocama's due to a busted tank. Some time during the night, the left side of the light fixture broke free which fell onto the tank breaking the side pane. I have suspended lights over most of the tanks. I didn't have time to investigate as yet this morning.

Also lost were (7) Propinqua shrimp and maybe my Brigg. I just got these beautiful Propinqua guys in yesterday too. The Crypts that were on that side of the tank were snapped. Most likely cut by the glass as the water gushed out.

Cleaned up what I could before leaving. Remaining shrimp should be fine without a filter for a while. Hopefully it is still operational. Have about 2" of water above the substrate.

This is not the end of this project. I will rebuild. I'll have a new tank put together today and then start the search for a new group of Cocama's.

[happypoet]

Ugh. I am so sorry.

[iheartbettas]

sorry for your losses. I guess these things will happen in the hobby. Great attitude about rebuilding.

[James0816]

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.

[James0816]

New tank is pretty much back together. Looks a bit empty compared to before. Still debating on a foreground plant but will probably stay with Downoi for now. For the time being, it will just be C. Propinqua in here until I locate some more Otos.

[happypoet]

Wet Spot has them.

[James0816]

Kewl...thanks. I'll give them a looksie.

[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.

[allaboutfish]

thats awesome!!!

[platytudes]

What a great ending, although that is so sad about your tank disaster :( I worry about things like that happening all the time.

Might want to start a new thread for the new tank? :)

[James0816]

I have placed an order for some more Cocama's. They should be here sometime this week. {crosses fingers that there will be at least one lady in the bunch} :)

The two guys are still doing well. They are literally piglets; can go through a slice of zucchini in just over a day.

Going to look at changing the some the scape around a bit. Not too increadibly happy with how it's growing so we'll see. May just have to work with what I have at the moment as shipping plants this time of year isn't all that great.

[James0816]

New guys (and hopefully gals too) arrived and acclimated just fine. These ones have a different look then the ones I've had in the past and the two that are currently in the tank. They have big black and white bands and the white portion is bright. Very beautiful little guys. I'll snap a couple pics and get them posted up. They are already eating zucchini and cruising the tank very actively.

[mduncan2]

I posted this on your other journal, but here it is anyways. I am looking forward to seeing more and more fishkeepers breeding these little guys. Personally, I just discovered some Sewellia spotted sp fry in my hillstream tank :-)

Here is a journel of an Aussie who has discoved his Cocamas are breeding:

http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showthread.php/38018-Otocinclus-cocama-fry-%28-spawning-pictures-vid%29

[James0816]

That is awesome indeed. I saw him post over on Planet Catfish as well. Now to duplicate the efforts on this side of the world. :)

[sailedNJ]

New guys (and hopefully gals too) arrived and acclimated just fine. These ones have a different look then the ones I've had in the past and the two that are currently in the tank. They have big black and white bands and the white portion is bright. Very beautiful little guys. I'll snap a couple pics and get them posted up. They are already eating zucchini and cruising the tank very actively.

Sweet :thumbsup: I hope you have a female or two in the bunch too. Keep us posted when you observe any "frisky" business ;) & post pics please!

[James0816]

And finally a descent shot of the new Cocamas:

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OCocama/OCocama.jpg

You can see how these guys have a broader striped pattern than the others.

[iheartbettas]

that is a beautiful fish.

[James0816]

Coming back from taking a little bit of hiatus during the holidays.

The Cocama's have been really active of late. There is one definate female. I believe there may be one more but still a bit on the young side to determine. The older lady from time to time does have a couple guys around her but I haven't seen any tell tale signs of a hint of a spawn. Just social get togethers.

As with the old tank, this tank as well just doesn't seem to want to produce the nice lush planted environment as the others. I'm leaning towards the lighting now actually being a bit too much. I will be making an adjustment to this as I clean up the tank a bit. The Fissidens didn't even take hold which surprised me a bit. I'll try to salvage what I can of it and see if I can work with it in another tank for now.