The Oto Journal

10/26: Getting ready to add more zucchini. My testing of the CO2 bottles turned out successful with the resealing of the caps and replacing the water bottle with a gatorade bottle. CO2 should be (hopefully) flowing back in the tank shortly.

So here's a couple shots from yesterday. Ever wonder what it's like when babies get the taste of blood.....er.....zucchini?

Here's what i found when I went to check on them. Ravenous little guys and gals:


Four hours later: couldn't get a good quality shot but you can see the damage...or clean up done.

 

10/27: Got home late today but had to check on the CO2. Success! We're gettin gas in the tank again and the drop checker is back to green! Most excellent. Party on Wayne.

On the Oto front.....the two slices of zucchini placed in yesterday are half way gone. Counted almost 20 babies between the two slices. A quick scan of the remaining tank gave me a count of over 30! Still growing really fast.

It looks like my other breeding tank will have to be used to house the little ones until I can find a home for them. Good thing I haven't found the Zebra Oto's yet.

 

10/28: Zucchini is gone! Only hair remnants remain. Getting ready to do a 10% wc. CO2 still churning nicely. Drop checker standing at green. New bottles are a go.

Anubias 'Petite' came in today. Just a couple more plants remain and that should take care of the flora for now.

Going to be adding TDS and barometric pressure to my variable list. Trying to collect as much data as possible. Looking for a TDS meter as I type.

I'll get a tank shot up soon. Got to get some plants situated.

 

Ok...I splurged today. I went ahead and got a TDS as well as a Barometer,Temp,Humidity combo off ebay. Now I will be able to monitor conditions in the room as well as in the tank. We'll see if we can't latch on to something here.

 

10/29: Water Test today:

Temp: 76 (slight drop due to colder temps inside...winter's a comin)
PH: 7.4
NO3: ~10 (this is rather interesting. not sure why the big drop)
NO2: 0
NH3: 3
KH: 5 (slightly low since there was a gap in the CO2 delivery)
GH: 7 (slightly low as well. all tied together. these will come back up)

Here's a pic of their current home: Mom and Dad are in this pic in the lower right.


Current list of flora:
Assorted Crypts, Anubias barteri 'Petite', Bacopa monnieri (may just move this out, but mamma likes to place eggs here. May replace with Bacopa sp. 'colorata'), Echinodorus Angustifolia, Littorella Uniflora, Lobelia cardinalis, Ludwigia repens, L. repens x. Arcuata, Ludwigia senegalensis, Pogostemon helferi (may not stay, relocated to help it recover) and Suesswassertang

Current list of fauna: Otocinculs Affinis (naturally ), bakers dozen of Neocaridina sp. 'yellow', one Brigg Snail (Boris).

 

11/03: All continues to go well with the babies. Tons and tons of activity in the tank. Preparation continues on getting the 20long ready for the babies. If all goes well, I may just start the transfer tomorrow.

My plan at this time is to use a gatorade bottle. I'll place about (3) slices of zucchini in the bottle in hopes this will act as a trap. I do not want to try and net them out.

Speaking of zucchini...the last ones I placed in there a day ago....gone! They are eating it faster and faster. I may just bump it up to (3) slices now.

TDS meter and Bar/Temp/Hum gauges are in. Will take first reading tomorrow during water testing. 10% water change performed.

 

11/04: Water test today:

Temp: 77
PH: 7.4
NO2: 5 (very odd that it is continuing to drop)
NO3: 0
NH3: 0
GH: 7
KH: 5

New Parms:
Inside Room Temp: 68
Barometric: ~ 26
Humidity: 32

The crypt jungle is showing alot of messiness. Need to gravel vac that area. Have to come up with a plan of attack on that.

On a sad note....I found two babies somehow wedged in behind the prefilter. My guessing is they were working the glass over and just went back too far and couldn't free themselves.

Holding tank progresses. Still a little dirty as I just did some more work on it. I went ahead and performed a water test on it too.

Temp: 78
PH: 7.4
NO3: 10
KH: 3
GH: 5

GH and KH are lower since I have taken the CO2 off to place it on the holding tub for all the plants I have been trimming. Getting ready to add it back to the tank.

Parameters look good enough for a first attempt to transfer over a group. Prepping a bottle to see if the trap works.

 

So...here's my trap. Didn't have the camera at first. Went upstairs to get it (~ 5 mins), came back and already had one in there. This is one of the older juvies. Can't say that he will stay in here though. My goal is to have at least (5) in there before removing it. But...I will not leave it in there overnight.


Here's where they will be going to. This tank was originally set up as a river tank. I've been working on converting it. It's still got a ways to go, but it should be ok. Already have a couple slices of zucchini in there waitin on the new arrivals.


Heading down to check on the trap.

 

Man.....over 30 Oto's in a 10g tank all swimming about and my trap just hasn't netted the results yet. I had (4) in there at one time. Just turned the light out for a few minutes to see if we get any takers.

Patience grasshoppa.

 

Successfully captured and transferred over (6) babies. Cross your fingers guys and gals. I feel bad enough as it is that I had to do this but I know it's for the better. I'll feel so bad if they don't make it.

 

11/05: Quick check during morning fert dosing. Using just the room lights, I was able to spot (5) of the babies in their new home. That's a promising sign. Will check again this afternoon as well as attempt to move over at least (5) more.

Oddly enough...while preparing the tank, I found a ghost shrimp in there. I thought I had lost all of them a long time ago. Most excellent! I may have to acquire a few others to keep everyone company.

 

Ok...trap #2 is set. Trying with just waffers as they ate all the zucchini. Prepping a couple more pieces. Will put them in there once they are ready.

 

Man...fast little buggers. Had (7) in the trap. By the time I got the lid on (new stradegy)....only (3) remained. Went ahead and transferred those (3) and placed the trap back in for another 30 minutes. Currently (9) in the transfer tank.

 

Finished the day with (5) transferred. (11) now in transfer tank. All seems to be well. They have found the zucs.

 

Thx. I considered that at first, but dealing with a 10g, space is limited. I could try with the current bottle I'm using but that would not allow much room. I'll tinker with it and see what I can come up with.

Thx for the suggestion.

 

11/06: Trap #3 set in place. (Same as a snail trap) Not sure how well this is going to work on the fishies, but I was game. (thx for the suggestion Cool...hope it works)

Here's a pic of it. That yellow blur in the middle is a yellow shrimp. My first catch.