Otocinclus Cocama - A Zebra's Journal

Figured I woud start a new journal for one of my newest adventures. I briefly touched on it in The Oto Journal. This is my journal to document my attempt to breed Otocinclus Cocama (a.k.a The Zebra Oto). I'm hoping to leverage some of the knowledge I have garnered over the past two years with the Vittatus.

History:

I originally planned to start this project last year. The driving factor was the price. O. Cocama's are pretty pricey. I finally decided to bite the bullet and go for it. I purchased a group (5).

With a few days, I lost one of them. But here's the interesting part. I suspected aggression played a part in it as I found (2) puncture wounds in the side. I found a similar puncture on another one. He healed up fine and they remain nice and active today.

After a few months, I was able to get a diffinative answer on the sexing. They were all males. Needless to say, this project was now stalled. I had to wait until they were available again and decide to spend the money on another group and hope for at least one female.

A few weeks, I met a person on another forum, Todd Hooper. I was originally getting some plants from him and we got to talking about my project. I told him of my Cocama plans as well but had to wait until spring to order another group. He then mentioned how he had purchased a group a while back and lost a few of them. He had (2) nice females and wanted to donate them to my project. Of course I had to say yes. And the rest is history.

They showed up last week, acclimated very well to the tank and are doing nicely.

And here's where we are today:

Water change done with minor gravel vac. That was done just to prepare the area as I plant so as to not stir up a bunch of stuff. I'm going a little bit different on this tank from the Vittatus due to the nature of the Cocama's. I'll do a water test Thursday (wont be home tomorrow) after this to get some readings to see where I'm at and if it hits the numbers I'm looking for.

Also in the process of swaping filters. This tank had been run on a ZooMed 501. While it worked well for the time, I'm looking to create a bit more of a centralized current. The outflow from the HOB should flow over the piece of driftwood creating a nice subtle current. I'll swap media from the Vittatus tank with a new pad and use it's established media to help get started on the new filter. I'll over filter for a while by leaving the ZooMed on for about a week.

Here's a current species list:

Fauna: (6) Otocinclus cocama - 4 males and 2 females, (5) Caridina cf. propinqua, (5) Caridina gracilirostris. The C. propinqua will be permanent residents and I'll be adding about (5-7) more. Being low order breeders, this will actually keep the numbers and activity level down in the tank. The C. gracilirostris will be moving to the Vittatus tank once I relocate the Tigers to their own tank. Other future additions will be (2) Pomacea bridgesii.

Flora: Bacopa caroliniana, Bacopa monnieri, Bacopa sp. 'Colorata', Cryptocoryne balansae, Cryptocoryne wendtii (bronze), Hygrophila polysperma. For a low lying plant, I originally was going to go with a few Dwarf Sags but I'm rethinking that. I may still look into though. I have Downoi and RI in the Vittatus tank. I know as foreground plants of that nature, the options are pretty limited. If I can master Lobelia cardinalis, I may even try that. I'm also still looking to acquire Littorella uniflora.

Substrate: Flourite

Lighting: This is also tricky as it is a shared light with another tank. 32w T8. I'm actually looking to scale this down to around 18w. It will still be a shared light so I'm looking to find a 36" fixture. I could go with an indepent fixture but I was trying to cut down the amount of equipment being plugged into one source. I hate cables. I may go CFL in the future with the new rack but we'll see where this takes us.

Filtration: Current: ZooMed 501 mini-canister. Planned: Standard HOB w/ sponge prefilter.

Decor: I'm actually going with a flat piece of field stone and mopani driftwood. I will have the stone sticking straight up and try to position the DW to lean on top it. This will provide more surface area for grazing and extra hide spot. This may go away if I can build a moss wall but I'm looking to do that with Fissidens.

I think that just about sums this tank up in a nut shell. It will slowly piece itself together. All the stem plants were trimmed low so they can fill out as the environs dictate. I will also be using DIY CO2 on this tank. My choice of dry ferts to start will be a PMDD mix. Might be a bit sensitive to try and mess with EI at this point.

I'll try and get some pics posted when the smoke clears.

Finally got the tank topped off. Went on a duckweed erradication mission. As you know that will be a never ending battle. I'll be pretty diligent in that if I see a plant, it will be removed. I am going to be using Azolla as my floater in this tank.

On that same note, I felt like I was a marine biologist collecting samples from the wild. The wild turned out be to my 45g with a boat load of floating stuff. The Azolla was thoroughly blended in. I found a very good way of picking it out. A bamboo skewer. The Azolla went right to it which was odd and gratefull at the same time.

Tomorrow I may finally get the crypts sorted out and that ever elusive water test.

All occupants doing just fine. I saw the two ladies in what appeared to be a turf war in that they were scuffling for the same spot under the driftwood.

Here is the current shot of the House that Cocama built. lol


Pretty much have the crypts where I want them. Seem to be a nice spot around the rock and driftwood. Driftwood was swapped out yet again with a nice piece of Malaysian wood. Fits nicely into the scape.

Plenty of floor space for now until I get a moss wall up. For now, I'll just incorporate stem plants around. As you can see, they need to fill in.

Zucchini is placed right up front under the wood.

Removed a few more Duckweed plants. Will stay on top of it. Didn't see anything floating up top after I was done but I'm sure it's lurking.

Water test definately will be done tomorrow. Was too cloudy to do from planting the crypts.

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.

Finally working on this tank again after returning from holiday. Ok....removed all the plants from the tank. Placed back (5) C. wendtii's. I'm pretty much using the same format as the original layout. I have (3) Wendtii's in front of the driftwood and (2) behind.

I'm going to transfer over (2) Downoi crowns from the Vittatus tank. I'll work in the same stems that were in there previously.

Also planned will be another ledge. With this one, I would like to use Fissidens, but that is going to be a tall order. I may just make two ledges and reserve one for Fissidens when I can acquire enough of it. The other I will use Subwassertang again. On top of the ledge, I plan on using Lobellia. Just have to make sure it grows properly and not leggy. But I don't think that is going to be an issue.

The canister filter has been officially removed and filtration is strictly HOB now. Current looks to be doing as planned.

Once the scape is complete, I'll get my baseline water parms and we'll go from there.

It is with great sadness that I make this entry. I wasn't going to post at first but decided it wouldn't be true to myself or to the people reading this.

I just encountered my worst tank disaster in my fish keeping years. I lost all my Cocama's due to a busted tank. Some time during the night, the left side of the light fixture broke free which fell onto the tank breaking the side pane. I have suspended lights over most of the tanks. I didn't have time to investigate as yet this morning.

Also lost were (7) Propinqua shrimp and maybe my Brigg. I just got these beautiful Propinqua guys in yesterday too. The Crypts that were on that side of the tank were snapped. Most likely cut by the glass as the water gushed out.

Cleaned up what I could before leaving. Remaining shrimp should be fine without a filter for a while. Hopefully it is still operational. Have about 2" of water above the substrate.

This is not the end of this project. I will rebuild. I'll have a new tank put together today and then start the search for a new group of Cocama's.

Still working to get the new tank the way I want it. I'm actually going to set it up more similar to the Vitattus tank this time. The Fissiden wall took a nice beating as well. Guess I didn't have it tied down good as I thought. I patched it the best I could so we'll see how it will fill in. Hopefully I'll be satisfied with it in the next couple of days.

Remaining shrimp seem to be doing ok. A couple still showing signs of stress and that is understandable.

I've also started the search for new Cocama's. Nothing has shown up on the importers lists as yet.

Ok, dealt with another surprise today. Got home today with two boxes waiting on me. Odd, I only ordered one plant package so was only expecting one box. Opened the first one and it was the plants.

On to the second box. The sender had my name and addy on it as well for the recipient was me too. No other markings on it. Ooooooooooook.

Opened the box to a small note inside. "Here's a couple guys to get you started again. Thanks for all you are doing with the Otos and Shrimp." Signed.....Annonymous Fish Fan.

Removed the styrofoam top and foam padding to find a bag. Inside the bag where (2) nice little O. Cocama boys!

I'm speechless at this and don't know who to thank. So whoever you are....Thank You Very Much!! That truely was a Random Act Of Kindness.

Little guys are acclimating as I type.

James, do you check Mark Denaro's list? He has cocama from time to time. Last time he had them they were $14 each. :)

WOW that's great. Can you post pics of them?

D'Claro wrote:

James, do you check Mark Denaro's list?

Mark from Anubias Design?

whisper wrote:

WOW that's great. Can you post pics of them?

Once they get situated in, I'll grab some pics.

James wrote:

D'Claro wrote:

James, do you check Mark Denaro's list?

Mark from Anubias Design?

Yes, exactly.

D'Claro wrote:

James wrote:

D'Claro wrote:

James, do you check Mark Denaro's list?

Mark from Anubias Design?

Yes, exactly.

Yep...watch the lists closely. He has cancelled the last couple of Peru exports though. :o( Almost tracked down some Nanno's as well.

James wrote:

Almost tracked down some Nanno's as well.

Tell me about the nanno's. Not sure what they are.

I have VERY occasionally ordered livestock which has to be shipped to me. I far prefer to find what I want in the shops, but it's not always possible. Mark is one of the very few people I will buy from. He does not always have what is on his list, and he sometimes fails to ship when he says he will - although he is pretty good about emailing and keeping one informed.

A few months ago I bought some ruby tetras (Axelrodia riesei) from him, to add to an existing group, and I saw zebra otos on the list. They were $14 each, as said, but I splurged and bought all he had. Which was two! He had bragged about their appearance and he wasn't exaggerating. They came in fat and large, very well fed and active. Unfortunately, a tank disaster (involving chlorinated water) took them from me (along with many tetras, rubys included.) Sad day.

The Nanno's are Nannoptopoma sp. 'Peru'. Some call them the Orange Oto but they are a different species from the Otocinclus. Picky species but they fall right in line with Oto breeding project. Pretty rare in the trade and cost a little more than Cocama's.

I've ordered plants from Mark before and they came in pretty bad shape. Needless to say none survived. He didn't charge me for them which made up for it.

Definately watching that Peru availability very closely. ;o)