Working in the zebra tank this weekend. Time for another big swing at it. Cleared out the tank of all plants and driftwood to clean them up. Removed a ton of snails. Still have a few more to get this morning as I spied when the lights came on but nothing major. Found some egg sacks on the glass to r...

Man did I stir up a hornet's nest. :) All the plants are now out of the tank. There are Oto's and shrimp swimming all over the place. It's real funny to watch as an adult shrimp will settle somewhere and out of the blue a baby Oto will swim right into it. Sometimes even landing on the shrimp. It onl...

Time for some drastic action in the main breeder. Algae has really set in. I've always had a little bit of BBA but it has not really bothered me. Now, hair algae has set in and grow rampant. I had to take action even with the wee ones in the tank. I'm pulling out all the plants and getting rid of th...

pel wrote:48 wigglers.. that's a good amount.. what was the maximum you ever had?
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One question: How much waterflow do you have in your oto tanks?

I'll have to go back and look at my notes for the largest spawn size. As for the waterflow, I just use standard HOBs on the tanks.

Wasn't finding very many wee ones in the tank so I started questioning my food availability for them. I decided I needed to move some of the Green shrimp out of the tank. Might have turned out to be a good decision as there were a lot more in there than I thought. Pulled out a good 30+ small ones ou...

Much bigger spawn than I thought. I managed to count (48) wigglers yesterday right before the lights went out. I would say a good 80% of them are in and around the Bacopa area and mostly all wee ones are on the glass. This is another unusual aspect for this batch. Now normally they all eventually mi...

Late check on things last night before lights out and all is well. I didn't stay too long so I didn't count eggs as yet. Just more of an observation at this point. I'm thinking this may have been a spawn from the young female in the tank. I found (1) egg on the front glass and (2) on the back. This ...

Your Otocinclus story is simply amazing! ^:)^ I wonder: Do the otocinclus that you sell/give away also continue to reproduce in other tanks? Thanks kindly. I have received reports from (3) different buyers of spawns in their tanks. They are community tanks but haven't heard back as to whether or no...

I'm thoroughly convinced now that my fishy friends have ESP. Why you ask? Well simple....today I had planned to go in and trim the main breeder, do a good vac and replant the Sub wall. Guess what? Yep...a spawn in progress. :) I'd really like to know how they do it? And it was random this time as I ...

When I first started, I attempted to used a secondary tank. I don't any more as I leave the fry in the main tank.

I've never know any Otos to be jumpers. All my tanks are open tops.

Hey Phil. With what you are looking for (100-160l), it will be a nice big tank. Will you be doing species only or throwing a few extra's in there?

Throw in a bunch of live plants and some wood, the Otos would be in paradise with that much play room.

Looks to me like Hypop fry. What sp. do you have?

Count goes up today. Saw (23) new wigglers on the glass. Trying something a little different this time around. I went ahead and administered the first powder feeding a day early. Wondering if by chance this may help with getting better results. If anything, the others in the tank will have lots to g...

And we have a hatching today. Went down last night and did the water change right before the lights went out. Came home today and was able to visibly count (19) new wigglers lounging around. Took my usual photos and will check them out when I get back from the gym. There was one shot I hope turned o...

Question: How do you make short work of a planned tank maintenance day? Answer: Walk in on a spawn in progress! Soon as I walked into the fish room to grab some jugs to fill, I caught one of the male Otos swimming off. Closer look at the tank and found a bunch of eggs in the Bacopa area. I immediate...

My updated list:

Hisonotus aky (aka Epactionotus aky - Common Name: Green Oto)
Hypoptopoma sp. 'Peru' (Common Name: Orange Oto)
Otocinclus Flexilis (Common Name: Peppered Oto)
Otocinclus Mimulus
Parotocinclus cf britskii (Common Name: Bumble Bee Oto)

So unfortunately, I regressed a little with this lastest batch. I made a rookie mistake but was a good learning experience to add more data. Being that the spawn was mid week, I didn't do a water change but instead just made sure the tank was topped off. I had a good hatch out and at day two, I was ...

Got home a bit late today but was able to get a quick check of the tank before the lights went out. I was able to find (41) wigglers during my quick scan. I went and began feeding as well. Some of these guys look like they are gonna grow pretty fast by the size of them. Adding new zucchini as well f...

looks like two ladies of different species by those photos. see if you can get a couple more shots.

What kind of other food do you use? During their first couple of weeks, I feed a powder blend of algae flakes. After two weeks, I introduce zucchini. This of course depends on the tank. For instance,right now I also have (10) juvies in the tank so this batch will already have zucchini in there for ...

And we have a hatching today. A double hatching actually. The Otos hatched out and a mama green shrimp also hatched her young uns. I was able to visibly count (29) newly hatched fry guys. Here's a couple of shots for ya: http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OtoFry1-010213_zps392896b8.j...

Happy New Year! Went and checked on the spawn from yesterday. Pretty nice numbers. I found a total of (51) eggs this morning best I could tell. Pretty much even split between the Bacopa and Crypt jungle this time with 23 and 26 respectively. Found (2) isolated on a different plant. Here's a couple s...

Just went down and did a stealth peek in on the tank and confirmed that it was in deed a spawn. I could only see the Bacopa area and there are quite a few eggs in there. I'll get a better look tomorrow and see what's in the whole tank. Great way to end and begin a year.

Might by my last update for 2012....we'll see. ;) Just went down to dose the ferts in the tanks today and walked in on a potential spawn. Crap! I walked past a breeder to get to another tank and I was opening the lid, I caught the two doing the dance in the tank. I very carefully and slowly dosed bo...

just keeping it fresh in the minds of others.

All babes present and accounted for. Colored up very nicely and remain extremely active. These guys took a little longer to hit the zucchini but now have learned its a good nummy num. They aren't so skittish now when I walk by as well. Scrapped some GSA off the front glass and will be recharging the...

Let's see if this works: http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/OtherPictures/Riccia.jpg You can see it under the Riccia carpet. Cut the middle section of the bottle out and then cut the area where the glue is to make a "C". You'll need to cut it down to size to fit your filter...

I haven't noticed any peculiar behavior when it comes to current. Light on the other hand, I have seen. They will always try to minimize exposure to a bright light source. One thing you can do for your filter is to add a diffuser to the outflow. This will aid in reducing the current. I make them by ...

Macrospilus and Vittatus appear to the hardiest of the species. I've spawned both but only the Vittatus on a regular basis. I've only had one small Macro spawn and it was unsuccessfull.

All is well in Oto land. Wee ones have discovered just how good zucchini is. Still grazing nicely.