The Oto Journal

08/19: Let the hatching begin! The invasion of the wiggle waggles.

As anticipated, the new babies started hatching. I came and to best I can count, I found (18) fry. Unfortunately (for me that is), most of them are in the plants so no way I can get an accurate count. Which is ok with me. Focus now is on rearing which is of course the difficult part.

Few eggs remain and some are hatchings in progress. Those ones I did not count.

Going through the first batch of pics now. We'll see if any turn out.

 

First round of pics from 08/19 hatching:

The Oto tree. Quite a few babies found here:






Favorite shot from today:

 

Final check for today, I found (25) new babies. Fifty million pictures and only a few turn out. Definately have to work on the photo abilities.

One final parting shot for the day:

 

nope...they don't bother a thing.

 

08/23: Been a couple of days since I have been able to check on things but got a chance to today.

First discovery was the loss of my blue brigg . He hasn't been acting rather well for a while and I figured this was going to happen.

Then I focused on finding fry. Best count was (17). They are harder to spot as fry than they were as eggs.

Then I spotted something else in tank. Two small clutches of briggs eggs! No idea how long they have been there. I felt the clutches and they were hardish on the outside. I did the best I could to remove them and currently have them sitting on a wet paper towel in a tupperware container w/ lid in another tank.

 

08/24: Found another small clutch of briggs eggs today. I may just leave this one alone as it is not directly under the light.

Lots of babies swimming around. I think I mentioned this before, but it is pretty awesome to be looking tank level and watching them swim right at you and lite on the glass. Saw one baby bombarding the shrimp. Swam right into two of them before liting on the back wall. I'm sure the shrimp were wondering "what the heck was that".

Another thing I've noticed with this newest batch. Seems these little ones are actually seeking out the older siblings and hanging out with them. I'll watch the bigger ones swim away and lite on another part of the wall, and one or two little ones will lite right next to it.

Here's some shots:

 

Just finished going through the rest of the pictures from today. Here's two more shots: A few of them have already started to color up nicely.

 

Thx...I think I'm getting a little better. Still snap about 100 a session only to pull down a few.

And yes...I am currently searching for zebra's. Perferrably be able to get them fairly local to avoid the pricey and uncertain shipping.

 

08/26: Lots of activity yesterday and today. Found yet another clutch of briggs eggs. Baby oto's swimming all over the place. I threw in a couple pieces of zuchinni yesterday. Today, one piece was the center of attention. Oto's, shrimp and even Boris (snail) where munching.

Here's some shots:




You're never too young for zuchinni:

 

Bonus Shot:

Thought I would add this one in as well. Remember...you have to stay on for 8 seconds or it doesn't count. The bull is Boris.

 

It has been a while since I have updated this (or been online for that matter). Family always comes first regardless. Sadly, my father lost his battle with cancer on 09/10. He fought a long and couragous battle.

Just now getting back in the swing of things on my tanks. All of them are in really bad shape. The Oto tank appears to be ok as mom, dad and babies continue to grow. I did loose two of my snails. Boris appears to be still growing. The eggs that Natasha laid are still there. I've noticed no hatching or such. Will have to investigate this later. Shrimpies don't appear to be in numbers like they used to. The Oto clan was all in the crypt jungle.

I did a PWC yesterday. I think I did a bad as well. On impulse I decided my Rotala sp. 'green' was just too tall and instead of going stem by stem trimming, I just pulled it up, got a pair of scissors and CHOP. Cut the whole plant down to about 2". Don't ask...don't know what I was thinking. Hopefully it will be ok. I added two stems of Lobella to the mix to get some more broad leafs in there. Recharged the DIY Co2.

 

Thanks kindly. And still looking forward to get some zebras as well.