Otocinclus Cocama - A Zebra's Journal

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.
 
Temp already down to 76. Two degrees away from target. Turned the fan off and air stone on to oxygenate the water.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 said:
Beaufiful tank and Cocama! How expensive are they? And When they breed, do you plan on selling the juvies when they grow?
Click to expand...

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.
 
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