The Oto Journal

Update 28-Jan-2010

As expected, eggs hatched today. Over in the main tank, I could only spot a few wigglers. Found (1) wiggler from the original batch. Added Veggie flakes to the tank.

On to the test tank. Out of the (8) eggs in there, I saw (7) wigglers on the Bacopa stem. I crushed up some veggie flakes and tried to located them in and around the stem. We'll see how they do.
 
i must have accidentally unsubscribed. i thought this thread had died. i am back now. keep up the good work james.
 
Update 29-Jan-2010

Just checked on both tanks.

Main tank: Found (5) newbies and (1) of the two week olds.
Test tank: Found (5) newbies.

Fed veggie flakes to both tanks. What I do for the test tank is rub the flakes between my fingers to make a fine almost "powdery" mix. I then dip my hand under the water just over the stem and swirl it around. Trying to centrally locate as much as possible. Seems to be working out ok so far. Continuing to monitor.

Haven't had much luck with the zucchini of late. They are real small and wind up floating back to the top after only one day. They must not be in season at the moment I recon.
 
Update 30-Jan-2010

I found myself in the basement and thought I would go ahead and check the tanks. I don't normally do so since the lights haven't been on too long.

Anyway, started with the test tank. No wigglers on the Bacopa. Will move it back over to the main tank. I did spot one on the glass. Tank has white pool filter sand and higher lighting. Makes it bright and not as easy to pick up the wiggles. Mostly light green plants as well.

On to the main tank. Mama has laid more eggs again. I found (18) in here at the moment. Now I can safely say that all my research and observations have led me to confusion. Granted I extremely happy that the breeding is ongoing and would have liked to think I was making progress. She has been continuously laying eggs now for going on four weeks. This is off the charts for any data collected when they first started.

As long as they continue to be happy and breed, the research will continue.
 
So here are the best pics I could get at the moment. These wigglers are in my test tank.
BabyOtos1_013010.jpg


BabyOtos2_013010.jpg


I was able to find (4) on last check.

There are now (21) eggs in the main tank. I saw both of the bigger wigglers that are about 2 weeks old now. Several of the smaller ones that hatched the other day.
 
can you still see the air bladder in adult otocinclus? im asking this because i can see them in the three that i own. does this mean they're still juvies? sorry for all the questions :)
 
Observation: strange activity in the second breeding tank today. Needless to say, this tank doesn't quite get the attention that the other Oto tanks do quite simply as it is currently waiting on some zebra oto's. In the mean time, I have two males and one female affinis in there. Had a nice layer of duckweed which I decided to finally remove and work on some more scaping. I topped off with 2g of fresh water to get a little less current going in there while removing the duckweed.

After working in the tank for a spell, I went upstairs to take some zucchini out of the freezer to thaw. Went back down stairs and the oto's were acting rather oddly. Instead of the three of them kinda doing their own thing, they were all over each other. As I sat there and watched, it seemed like the female was trying to "coach" the males into something. Now I'm not reading anything into this but I found that rather odd behavoir. I sat there and watched them playing tag for the longest time. I was sitting on the floor so I could try to not be "up close and personal".

I don't have the same kind of flora in this tank but may have rethink this.
Back to the main tank, lots of activity there as well. New wigglers out and about. The two that are three weeks old are really active. The two week olds are seeming to hide out in the Suesswassertang wall. It's fun watching them dart in and out of there.

Added 1g of fresh water as I can't do a water change as yet.
 
Update 02-Feb-2010

The password is ..... wigglers. ;o)

Check of the tanks turned out very nicely today. We'll start with the test tank. Actually found (5) wigglers today. I feel much better now. 5 out of 8 in a test environment sounds like a good ratio to me. I will duplicate the test if mama lays more eggs.

On to the main tank. Wigglers roving all about. Activity very high.

Second breeding tank. Found no eggs so maybe what I saw yesterday was just them having fun. It's ok as I wasn't expecting anything. I'm working on adding some different flora in there to get back to the same parms and set up as the main tank.

Now...here's the catch. I have to do water changes on all three Oto tanks. No way around it. Expecting some big snows moving in the next few days and I'm sure it will wreak havok on my water. Have to get them changed so I can get the jugs filled up before hand.
 
can you still see the air bladder in adult otocinclus? im asking this because i can see them in the three that i own. does this mean they're still juvies? sorry for all the questions :)
 
Can't say for as I have never really paid much attention to it. I'll check this eve and see.
 
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