The Oto Journal

I'll leave you with this shot from today. Mama and some of her handy work:

 

Don't give me anymore ideas. ;o)

Normally she thins down quiet a bit after these big broods. She's almost got her girlish figure back. Makes me wonder too if she is still holding on to a few. She has to be exhausted.

 

Update 07-Apr-2010

Started setting up the new hatching/fry tank yesterday. Got it cleaned up and put in SMS and a container of sand. Having issues with the temp at the moment. Can't seem to get it below 80. I'm going to unplug the heater and monitor to see where it gets me. This tank is one that has the light in the hood and it's hinged. I can take it off if need be but would have to make a new light for it.

Today I started placing some plants in it. I put in two small Anubias 'petite' and a small wad of java moss. Will be putting some more stems in later.

Went over to do a 10% wc on the main tank. Visibly saw a fair number of fry in and about. Didn't bother counting as I was on a mission. I took my gravel vac and removed some detrius/mulm from the tank and placed in (2) quart jars. I'm going to use this to make green water for the fry. So finished removing the water and started the drip of the new jug going in. Kinda made a mess of things as there is stuff floating all around and coating the plants. I really wasn't taking my time as I didn't think much of it other making sure no fry were in the area.

Added a small vial of my pulverized food for the fry guys.

While that was dripping, I scanned the tank to make sure all was going well. SURPRISE! Found eggs. Mama beat me to the punch. Quick count found (26). Kewlness. Didn't even get a chance to finish the fry tank. So now I'm debating if I should attempt to move any eggs over to the tank even though it has just been set up. Hmmmmm....decsions, descions. Any thoughts?

Over in the holding tank, I was able to locate (2) fry there.

 

I have decided to leave this batch in the main tank. The fry tank is too new to use at this point. I should start seeing some diatom growth within the next few days and the green water should be getting started about the same time. By the time she has her next batch of eggs, I believe the tank should be ready. Going to add some more java moss to the mix and some stem plants. This should as well provide ample coverage for the fry.

 

Update 08-Apr-2010

Quick spot check of the fry guys. I was able to count just a little over (30). Little guys are growing nicely showing excellent color at this age. Getting ready to pull another 10% wc. Did not see any other eggs from yesterday.

Might not be able to get to the fry tank today. I believe I will have a few more days to work on it.

 

Updated 14-Apr-2010

Ok, lots of going on today.

- First off...Mama has started laying her next batch of eggs. I didn't bother to count at the moment as I have too much to do.
- Quick scan of the tank and found (6) of the bigger fry guys. Didn't look too hard but didn't like what I saw. Hopefully with how well these guys are growing, they might make the magic mark.
- 50% water change in the fry tank in preparations to move over a very small test batch. I found a stem of L. Arcuata that looks to have about (5) eggs on it. We'll see. Current Flora includes (2) Anubias 'petite', (2) small wads of Java Moss, (1) small Java Fern. I might add a couple assorted stems later. Just want to make sure to have good coverage for them. Still no sign of Diatoms yet but should be starting to develope any time now.
- 25% water change in the holding tank.
- Dripping new water in both the main tank and the CRS tank. This will be my new staple for these two tanks.

Heading back down to finish up for the eve. Will try to get base count of the eggs as of today.

 

Thanks. It's a great time. I'm hoping to exand to other Oto's like Flexilis and Cocama .... if I can ever find them.

 

This is true. And everything can be found at a price. You just have to be willing to pay it. Which...in most cases....not. That's why forums like these are mondo important.

 

Update 16-Apr-2010

As expected, hatching occured today.

The main thing I'm watching in the fry tank. Out of the (5) eggs moved over, (2) were bad. This is not attributed to the tank itself as over in the main tank, most of the eggs in Ludwigia area went foul. The L. x Arcuate stem that had (3) on it faired better. I found one wiggler on the glass and another on a leaf. This particular stem is dying and wilting pretty fast so I can't get a good look at it. The main thing is, with the PH at this level, the eggs will hatch. That's a plus. The tank also has low lighting. It's a Irridescent bulb at "25" watts but not bright at all. Funny thing about it, they say it is designed to grow plants. Doubt that it would at all to grow anything. But it doesn't matter in this tank as darker is better.

Over in the main tank, I did find several non viable eggs on the substrate. Interesting as it took a while for them to foul. Usually in the first 24 hours, I can spot a non-viable egg even before it goes all white. With that, I did not find any wigglers in the Ludwigia area. Didn't seem to be that many eggs there.

Over in the Bacopa and Crypt's, nearly all of those eggs hatched and i found lots of wigglers. I'm putting the hatching rate of this brood at ~ 80%. Rough calculated guess. On the one small crypt that I was going to move over, there are (11) wigglers around it.

Now we see what we can do to keep the numbers. Since it is a small brood, I can experiment just a little. 10% water changes to start tomorrow on both tanks.

 

Update 17-Apr-2010

Quick morning check before walking out the door.

I started with the main tank first. Still counted all (8) of the older fry. Getting close the magic number. Keeping fingers crossed. Still lots of new wigglers hanging tough at the two day mark. If I get home in time, I may try to get a count. This was a good hatching.

Over in the fry tank, I was also welcomed with a pleasant surprise. Out of the (5) eggs that I moved over, I knew (2) eggs were non-viable. I immediatey found the (2) I knew hatched out. I then located the third wiggler. To my surprise, I found (2) more wigglers. So I moved at least seven eggs and have (5) wigglers in the fry tank at the moment.

 

Update 18-Apr-2010

Checked in on the fry tank and was able to find all (5) little fry guys. Very promising out of the gate. <knock on wood>. Prepping some more food for them as I type. Will introduce a small slice of zucchini at day 5.

Over in the main tank, not as much success there unfortunately. Didn't find too many of the new hatchlings. All the bigger fry guys are still doing their thing.

Water tests pending on both tanks.

 

Update 19-Apr-2010

Doing 10% water changes today in the main and fry tanks. While removing the water from the fry tank, figured I would see if I can find all the wee ones. Big surprise...I counted (7) in there! Very pleasant surprise I must say. A few of them are growing pretty big for their age. The others are staying within average. Prepping more food for them.

Over in the main tank, uprooted the Bacopa and Ludwigia areas to do a quick vac of those areas. Will be gone over the weekend starting Thursday so need to make sure the water quality is pretty good. Trimmed up the Bacopa and replanted. Running the air stone for a few minutes while things settle. Both adults and fry are very active at the moment.

Will be working on the holding tank tomorrow.

 

Update 20-Apr-2010

Well...I did a bad...not just a bad but a double bad...and it cost me.

Yesterday's water change. I broke from my usual routine (wasn't thinking). Normally, I would pull out (1) gallon of water from the main tank, take that water and use for the water change in the fry tank. Well...yesterday, I used fresh water on the fry tank.

To make things worse, I wound up doing a 20% water change on the fry tank instead of 10%. Forgot that it is a five gallon tank and need to only pull out 1/2 gallon.

Found the bad news today. Only found (2) fry today. Man am I so upset with myself.

On a better note, I found a so much better way to control the water flow going back into the tank. Instead of tying a knot it the tube and adjusting accordingly, I found an old two-way air manifold that I was using. Hooked it up to the tube and easily adjust the rate to two drops per second. So much easier.