Some of you might know..but for those that don't....here's my little project:

Here's a shot from today:


So far I was able to count (41) eggs however (6) were already non-viable.

41 that's a good spawn for otos isn't it? I thought they only laid a couple at a time.

Couple at a time in regards to placement of the eggs. My main female laid over 100 over a couple of days.

Very nice james!

this is a rare event.

They've been breeding for over a year and a half now. What was surprising was the adults that were in the holding tank started breeding as well. That was completely unexpected. Especially with how many little ones that have came and gone through that tank. It all goes back to being comfortable with your environment.

wow that's exciting. I had read that they don't breed in captivity.

There have been the occassional reports of having "extra" Otos in the tank, but you're right, there has been no steady captive breeding ..... until now that is.

Awesome!

Friends, I can honestly say in a year and a half of doing this, I have never seen anything of likes of what is in the holding tank. Never. I know Mama Oto over in the main tank has had her share of spawns but it just doesn't compare. I'd be willing to bet that there were at least (3) females involved with this spawn session. Absolutely no way of counting the eggs. There are just that many. And, they are litterally everywhere to include the sand! Yes, you read right, they are even laid on the sand!

There are quite a few non-viable eggs and most of those are the ones on the substrate. However, there are still a ton on the sand bed that are good. It seems that almost every plant has eggs on them. No eggs on the glass or driftwood though which I find surprising in that they are on the sand. Very odd.

I'm also wondering if the amount of non-viable ones could be partially my fault as I walked in on them while the spawn was in progress. Just a hunch. I snapped off quite a few shots and getting ready to go through them and see what comes out. There's a bit of current going through the tank due to water level so we'll see what turns out.

Stand by....

This is very interesting. How many males do you thing were in with the three females?

Ok...here are some shots from today:

Here's some eggs on a couple of small crypt plants:




Eggs on the sand (yellow balls):


And here is a shot of newly hatched fry with new eggs below: