The Oto Journal

11/21: Quick morning check. Visually saw (25) wigglers. Most are hiding in the crypt jungle. Makes for a hard head count. ;o)

Hey Jim! Long time no see.

 

11/22: Morning check still puts count over (20). As best I could find at the moment. No good pics of the wiggle waggles but I'm still tryin.

 

11/23: 15% water change today. Water test pending. Tried to get some pics. Still not very good. Will keep trying. Best I could count today is (32) fry. Fry starting to show color. Prepping zucchini for both tanks. Added a few flakes of seaweed to the main tank. We'll see how it goes. Need to do some plant arranging as well.

Here's a pic from today. This shows how extremely important pre-filters are in a fry tank:



Overall, there are (14) little buggers behind the pre-filter. Will continue to try and get better fry pics.

Air stone turned for ~ 30 mins.

 

11/24: Wigglers growing nicely. Couldn't get an accurate count due to the activity but I did get over (20). For what ever reason, I just can't get any good shots. I keep trying. At (4) days old, they have picked up on the zucchini.

 

11/27: Just went down for a check. Mama either laid or is in the process of laying another batch of eggs. Counted (20) at the current moment. Been a little lax on my water testing of late. Will continue to monitor. Current little ones coloring up nicely. Still not able to get a good count on how many of last batch have made it.

Waiting on our water to clear up a bit so I can do a water change in the holding tank. I do have couple gallons of spring water to use in the main tank. Will do so this evening.

 

A couple egg shots from today:

 

11/28: Morning check. Counted (28) eggs. However, (3) are not viable which leaves (25) on this go round. Mama still showing some roundness but going by past history, she won't lay any more for a short spell.

Going through latest rounds of pics to see what may have came out.

 

11/30: Found another shrimp passed away. Not a good sign. Down to just a few now.

Did a 20% water change with gravel vac. Had to do some rearranging with the plants as well. Pretty much the same layout. Will be thinning a couple plants in the crypt jungle. Maybe removing a few of the smaller crypts and two of the longer Cryptocoryne Balansae. Need to get some more Ludwigia.

On a plus note: New shrimpies arrived today. Hopefully they will fit in just fine.

Trying to get somewhat of a count of the wigglers in there. It doesn't look good this go around.

 

Update 01-Dec-2009

Water Test Today:


Will be doing another 15% partial on the main tank this evening using spring water. I am still waiting for our well water to clear up to do water changes on all the other tanks.

I'm a little discouraged as I could only count (6) wigglers from this batch. Hopefully there are more hiding in the crypt jungle.

Newly added shrimp are doing fine. No casulties over night.

Zucchini almost gone. Prepping new pieces.

 

Update 02-Dec-2009

20% water change done on the juvie tank. Removed lots of pond snails with several more to go.

Thinning of the crypt jungle has began. My plan is to rremove (2) of the Balansae's and maybe (3) of the assorted's. You want to talk about root systems. WOW! I'm taking some pics as I go. This root system is amazing. It pretty much covers half the tank. The whole right side.

On a little bit of a plus note, I found (8) wigglers today. Hopefully more will surface.

Turning on the air stone during this process for increased circulation and aeration. Stiring up a bit of mulm.

 

Need to give Boris a break. Him and mom and pop Oto just didn't seem to interested in leaving their corner. No matter how much I disturbed it. Boris extended his syphon longer than I've ever seen (gotta pic too). He eventually got to the top and and started his pump to gather more air. Then back to the bottom. He's currently working himself out of the crypt jungle. Will go back down in a few and finish up.

Now my dilema...the root systems were so entwined that I basically uprooted everything on the right side of the tank. So now I have to contimplate removing all the crypts and replanting once the roots are all seperated.

 

It's official....the crypt jungle is no more...for now. I went ahead and dismantled the entire jungle. Will incorporate a 20% water change with gravel vac where the jungle once was. I will rebuild it with most of what was removed. I will have several crypts left over.

By doing this (and it was unintentional I might add), stirred up the fry. Count is now at least (15). These were just on the front and right sides panes. Didn't check the left or back of the tank.

Main goal is build the jungle back and let the water clear. I'm letting things settle right now so I can do the vac. I rinsed out the pre-filter to help gather up particles.

 

I'll be offering the extra's up to my fellow fishy keepers.

Here's some shots of the work in the Crypt jungle:

This is the beginning:


Seperating Roots....what a job!


After a few have been removed: The divot on the right was caused during the seperation of the first plant. The root system was that long.


Almost all removed. These two remain floating as they are the bigger ones.

 

Starting to replant now. Boy..It sure does look bare. It's a bit cloudy right now so giving it a break to clear up so I can get a better view. May need to readjust what is currently in there before adding any others. Will have to assess to see how many I want to put back.

 

Before that last pic was taken is when I did the gravel vac. Pulled out two gallons of ickyness! lol
Clearing up nicely....I can see what it looks like now.



You can see all the major players in this pic as well. Boris up top..mom and pop Oto in at the bottom.

Will add about three more smaller ones and that should do it. I have to straighten up a couple of them and maybe move around a couple. Other than that, I think I was able to keep the same look. Now the debate is whether or not to add another Balansae or not. (I really need to ID this guy to make sure it is the right species [scratch] )

 

Update 03-Dec-2009

Disaster strikes the Juvie tank. Came home and found (7) dead! OMG! No clue what could have been the cause unless the water is still fouled. Not good. I immediately turned on the air stone. Will be doing another water change shortly. Poured out the old water in the jugs and replaced with new.

Main tank still looks ok. Found a few fry as before the change. No casualties found from the replant.