The Oto Journal

Fry in the holding tank seem to be doing well. Really not sure how many I have in there though. I do seem to see quite a few out and about. Constantly on the go. Still working on the rescaping and sand cleaning. Should have it all cleaned up by the weekend.

Juvies in the main tank are growing like weeds. I may have to start thinking about moving them over to the bigger tank.

Prepping fresh zucchini.

On a side note, was at PetSmart earlier today and looked in the Oto tank. Was a bit surprised that there a couple of O. Macrospilus in the mix. Just what I've been looking for. I picked up (3): 2 males and a female. This balances out the numbers for that tank. Still a bit young but we'll see how it goes.

My search continues for O. Flexilis and O. Mimulus.
 
too bad my petco stores dont carry otos and buying like 4 online would cost like 35 dollars shipping. Sigh :(

Great job on your progress
 
Update 23-Oct-2010

Quick check of the tanks before heading out the door. More eggs found in the holding tank. This is a very good sign considering all the work that I have been doing in this tank lately. Counted (12) at the moment.

Unfortunately, I didn't find any fry. :( Hopefully there may be some in the Java Fern. I've been working some late hours and didn't feed them using the new method.

Will be doing more work on the holding tank tomorrow to try and get that finished. Water changes on tap for tomorrow as well.
 
Update 24-Oct-2010

Found a fry guy yesterday and this morning in the holding tank. Makes me feel a little better. More eggs were laid yesterday. Will see how many I can count in a bit.

Messed around with the wife's DSLR camera. I might be getting the hang of it. At least in regards to my subjects standing still.

BabyOto_102310.jpg
 
Update 27-Oct-2010

Fry is the word for today. Eggs in the holding tank hatched out today. There are (4) different age groups of fry in here now ranging from a few hours to a few days. This was an interesting period of time in this tank. There were eggs laid one day, more the next, hatching and eggs, more hatching and then today's hatching. Very, very busy beavers in here. All the ladies are still very eggs laden so I'm expecting a big round of eggs within the next few days.

Here's the best shot I could pull from todays pics. Waiting on the macro lenses to come in and see if I can improve.
BabyOtos1_102710.jpg


It's about time to move the little ones from the main tank over to the holding tank. They have grown up nicely.
 
DLV082 said:
Curious, how do you move your fry over to another tank? And at what age/size?
Click to expand...

It gets a bit tricky actually.

I start out by using a trap. With a lot of fry in there, this usually works to thin them down to about 1/4 of the population. Of course I have to also remove the shrimp that always wind up in there as well.

After that, they are wise to the trap and avoid it like the plague. I then use a brine shrimp net and alot of patience. I'm actually looking at other options that will be better than the net as it is a long process using it.

I usually start to move them over around the 1.5 - 2 month mark. It's basically an observation thing. If I notice them significantly grazing about, then that is a good sign. If they are only grazing here or there basically isolated in one spot, they aren't quite ready to be moved.
 
Update 30-Oct-2010

As expected, the spawn has began in the holding tank. I can see (6) eggs at the moment. Ladies are sooo plump. The question will be if this will be the major or just continue the trend of minor laying? So far the females aren't really unloading but when they do, I can only imagine what it is going to look like in there. ;)

Fry in this tank are getting increasingly active.

The main tank has just overgrown itself. Hard to believe that it was trimmed no too long ago. Might not be able to do any good maintenance this weekend with all the halloweed festivities but will have to try to do some.
 
Update 31-Oct-2010

Ladies still haven't had the big spawn that I was expecting in the holding tank. They seem to just be laying a few eggs here and there each day. Very interesting behavior. They laid a few more last night including one on the glass. Counted (23) at the moment. Ladies remain very plump. Will continue to monitor.

Over in the main tank, the ladies there are the same way. Looking to bust out of the seams. I think it's overcrowding issue as before. They seem to hold onto the eggs when there is too much activity in the tank.
 
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