The Oto Journal

First topic message reminder :

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.

Vittatus fry continue to develop and are doing very well. Some are getting really dark as well. Piglets I must say.

Now...on to the interesting. The Macros are finally in spawn mode. However, unless the boys get thier act together, this is going to be a dead spawn and the lady will loose her eggs. Here's why. There are three boys in here. As of right now...I'm calling them the three stooges. The gal is trying her darnedest to get the boys to .. well .. you know. She leads them to a spot and then they swim away in their little pack crazily. Quite funny actually. Then she will track them down again and it repeats. She's so big, she's about ready to explode. I'm sure if she was able she would smack each of them upside the head. :)

I think I may be partly to blame as well. I'm in the middle of a big water change and maintenance in the tank. The only thing she has to work with are C. pontederiifolia. I pulled all the stems to rescape. DOH! She is trying to work the Ponts though which is good.

Now if the guys will just get thier act together.

Babes continue to grow nicely. Have colored up extremely well. I'm comparing this to last groups where they weren't as dark at this age. As mentioned before to, the sizes of some of them makes me think that someone smuggled in some steroids or something. I may have to look at random testing. :) Tried to snap some pics but that group didn't turn out well. They are on tap for a water change today and their first exposure to CO2 and ferts.

They look good james.... Thanks for the updates....

You are most welcome.

I need to get me some oto cats....

sunkenmetal wrote:

I need to get me some oto cats....

Absolutely! They are simply awesome!

and I ive read they wont bother my shrimp

sunkenmetal wrote:

and I ive read they wont bother my shrimp

Not at all.

James0816 wrote:

sunkenmetal wrote:

and I ive read they wont bother my shrimp

Not at all.

Excellent I wonder how many I need for a 56 gallon tank....

I'd look at no less than (4) to start with.

James0816 wrote:

I'd look at no less than (4) to start with.

thanks :)

Little piggies what can I say. Zucchini slices aren't lasting very long at the moment with the fry guys. Excellent sign. On top of that, during this morning's check, I walked in on spawning activity. Was quite comical once I found Papa and Mama2 Oto. She was under a crypt leaf and Pops was on top. They both were looking at me as if to say "What? We're not doing anything". :)

I was going to be doing a small water change in the tank today with the plant prunning the other day. However, after that discovery, I will have to wait and see what happens with the spawn first.

I also need to pull (2) ninja's and put them in isolation. Hopefully be able to do that today.

Thats really sweet. I wish my ottos would breed like that. Very cool.

Tmobo wrote:

Thats really sweet. I wish my ottos would breed like that. Very cool.

Thanks. It's hard to get them to spawn in a community tank. If your serious about trying it, I highly recommend a species only tank.

Spawn is confirmed. I was curious so I did a check look in. I saw two eggs sitting in the Ludwigia area. A quick glance in the crypts where I saw mom and pop earlier yielded about 10 more. I'm sure that come tomorrow there will be a lot more.

I have started the process of moving the Macrophilus to another tank. The new one is more set up for breeding with one exception..pH. It's 7.6 in this tank. Substrate is Eco for Planted Aquariums. It's very odd in that I am using straight tap water for this tank as it was advised not use buffers like crushed coral which I do in the other tanks. Interesting indeed. I went ahead with the move despite that number as it will provide the female more opportunities to lay her eggs. The other tank wasn't very suited for that. Maybe now the three musketeer's will get their act together. ;o)

Well, well, well...we have a shame on me moment here. That spawn I was referring to...actually started two days ago. The eggs I found yesterday ... hatched today! So that tells me they had a dry run the other day and what I stepped in on may have been the beginings of the big one. No additional eggs today though so I think I disturbed them too much. Drat! Anyway, (6) wigglers found today.

Now for the problem. I am also seeing and increased amount of Hydra in this tank. A few I can deal with. There seems to be a lot in here now. They are probably getting fat and happy on the fry food. Maybe zoea from for the Ninja shrimp too. Need to find a good way of controlling these guys under these circumstances. Gonna be rough.

I'm going to do another water change in the tank this evening. Maybe scrape a few leaves to see if I can remove some of these buggers. Water change will have to be very slow dripping back in the with the fry guys.

Found (11) wigglers today. Awesome deal! Will start feeding tomorrow. Unfortunately, the Hydra are gonna like that too. I'm going to start with some squishing and rubbing of plants to see if I can remove most of them that way.

As for the Macro's, well...she's trying again in the new tank. The boys as usual are being immature. :) I don't know what this poor gal has to do to get them to work with her. Anyone have any studs to loan out? lol

I'm sure things will be ok the more they get used to their new home.

Vittatus update: (17) eggs found today, (3) wiggle waggles, didn't try to count the older fry guys. I'm really curious on the spawning activity. Of course I don't know if it is one lady or both. It's almost as if they are laying in test batches. Either that or the Hydra are actually interferring with it all. Either way, I have order some meds to erradicate them. I've been speaking with a very knowledgable person about and have been ensured that no harm will come to anything in the tank other than Hydra.

Macrospilus: The female is still trying to get the guys' attention. ADHD still taking over them. She reals them in, a little nudge game and then over to the plants. It's at that point where the boys "see a toad and then chase after it". Only explanation I gots fer it. :)

Another spawn taking place. Not sure if it will be another mini or not though. I counted (27) eggs at the moment. Most of these are laid in the Bacopa area. I've only seen a couple Hydra there which I wondering if it plays a role. Either way, I will be eliminating them soon and hopefully safely. Snapped off a few pics. Time to see how good they may have turned out.

congrats on more spawning...

Got home late again today. Hatching already took place. No wigglers on the glass at the moment. Most are still on the plants. I went ahead and did the water change. Normally this is done right before the hatching but I think it will be ok. Didn't get a chance to count them before the lights went out.

Awesome man.

sunkenmetal wrote:

Awesome man.

Thanks

James0816 wrote:

sunkenmetal wrote:

Awesome man.

Thanks

No problem.

I got four otos last week they are in with my cherry shrimp. They are now one of my favorite fish lol.

Kewlness! Hope they do well for you. They are just awesome little guys.

James0816 wrote:

Kewlness! Hope they do well for you. They are just awesome little guys.

They are doing great swimming around eating up whatever they can find.