The Oto Journal

Just raided the trap. Netted another (5). Kewlness! One of this set was one of the younger ones. Yikes! I think he'll be ok though. I'm getting greeding. I reloaded it set trap #4. See if I can grab another (5) tonight.

 

Trap #4 yielded (7). Wow. Wasn't expecting that. That puts (23) in the holding tank. I do believe that my (30) calculation was a bit off as there are still quite a few remaining in the main tank.

Replaced the old the zucchini with new. Will be doing another water change tomorrow. Plan is to adjust the crypt jungle so I can do some gravel vac'ing in there to get the yuckies out.

 

11/07: Dosed the tanks. Trap #5 set. I think this one will be my last one. I'll have to try to get a head count after this one to see how many remain.

 

Trap #5 just yielded (7) more. That puts an even (30) in the 20g. Going to set #6. This will be the last one. There are still about (10) left in the main tank.

 

Trap #6 yielded nadda. Either they are wise to it now (those that are left) or there isn't enough peer pressure to lure them in. Anyhow, I have reset the trap this morning. Would like to pull out a few more.

On a side note...30 babies in a 10 look a lot different than 30 in a 20. ;o) There is alot of activity in the 20 though. Kinda reminds me of a swarm of bees with all the swimming around.

 

(3) in the trap at the moment. Still waiting to get at least (5) in there to transfer then that will be all for now. Still debating with myself if I should go ahead and clear all the juvies out and just leave mom and dad.

Also, going to start harvesting algae to feed all the wee ones in the 20. I have another 10 set up. Have added some rocks to it for the algae to grow on. Double dose ferts and crank up the light for 12 hours. I'm going for quick algae growth and then rotate the rocks accordingly.

One other thing I am toying with. I have an old CO2 generator..can't remember the manufacturer of it but it had a long rectangular piece of plastic for the gas to hold in. I am using that container for the zucchini. When it floats to the top, I place them in here to keep it more accessible for the babies. We'll see if it works.

 

Trap #6b just yielded (6) more. That puts (36) baby oto's in the 20long. Tried to do another count in the main tank. Saw at least (7) more juvies in there. Decisions, decisions. Hmmmm...think I will set another trap but it may not be for a couple of days.

 

11/09: 10% water change and water test afterwards. Forgot about the TDS readings last water. So...what I am going to do is take (3) TDS readings. New water and before and after water change.

TDS readings:
New water to be added: 050
Before water change: 177

Water test results to follow.

 

11/09 water parameters:

Inside Parms:

Temp: 68
Barometric: 26.1
Humiditiy: 29

Tank Parms:

Temp: 76
PH: 7.4
NO3: 10
NO2: 0
NH3: 0
GH: 7
kh: 6
TDS: 138

Fresh zucchini added.

 

11/13: Activity in the 20 remains extremely high. Little buggers still growing nicely. I tried a new food with these guys....seaweed sheets. It didn't originally stay were it put it and wound up eventually all over the tank. I noticed yesterday that it was all gone so I added another half sheet this morning. I need to work on the placement of it so there will be less current to impact it. We'll see.

Got a better count of the remaning babies in the main tank and their number is at least (10). I will be setting a new trap this afternoon to reduce the number again. It's starting to look a little empty in there now with the numbers reduced. Hopefully, mom and dad will feel more relaxed now. ;o)

 

11/13: Did a 15% water change on the baby tank. Set the trap in the main tank. Didn't have any zucchini so I'm trying with the seaweed. At last check, no Oto's but (3) shrimp. ;o)

Tried something new. I took a video with the camera and posted to YouTube. Let's see if this works. It's not all that great of quality but bare with me as this is the first time I've shot video.

Need to figure out how to do the video thing. In the mean time...try this link:

 

11/15: Seaweed trap was not successfull at all. Welllll....I did manage to catch (5) shrimp and Boris was at the funnel opening munching the seaweed. Prepping some new zuc's now. Might try one more trap with zuc before having to resort to other methods.

CO2 bottle needs a recharge.

 

11/16: Water Test today:



Set another trap in the main tank using zucchini. We'll see if we get any takers this time.

 

11/17: Trap was completely unsuccessful. I think they are on to me. Will have to try something else. I still need to transfer a few more of the babies to the 20. Most of the ones that are in the main tank are the older juvies.

 

11/18: Eggs found today! Initial count is (55). Mamma still nice and plump. Will continue to monitor for more. Going through the pics now.

Room parameters are as follows:

Temp: 68
Barometer: 29.94
Humidity: 28

Water parms to be posted shortly.

 

Pics from 11/18:









One of the better ones from today. Older sibling watching over.


I have not sat down yet to analyze the data. Will be doing so later this eve.

Recount during second attempt at photos revealed (73) eggs. Mamma is getting her girlish figure back. Not sure if she will lay any more tonight or tommorrow.

I was going to use the brine net to transfer over more of the juvies today but that didn't happen due to the discovery. No further transfers will take place until further notice.

I also found quite a few Hydra. I find this a little strange as the water quality is good....at least so I thought. Will break out the turkey baster and pluck them out tomorrow.

Barometer reading was incorrect. It is 31.94. I need to read up on this as the needle is getting ready to hit 26 again.

Prepping zucchini for both tanks.

 

11/19: Check of eggs today. Found (6) that are not viable. Will be removing those shortly. Did find (4) newly laid eggs since last check yesterday. As of now, looks like (71) viable eggs.

Found a group of (3) eggs that are in a perfect spot for picture taking. I posted one pic yesterday. Here is the pic from Day 2. Excellent shot showing the development:



Hydra removal going to be tricky. These guys seem to be attached by superglue. The turkey baster and dosing droppers failed to suck them off their perches. Need another plan.

Will try to get a couple more development shots up. Not easy with the lighting.

 

One more developement shot. Took a ton of pics but only a few turned out ok.

 

11/20: Just did a quick check of the tank. Found (35) wigglers. As usuall, they are harder to spot as wigglers than eggs. Also found several other eggs fuzzed over and new eggs in other locations that are not viable. Will try to get a count when I remove them to adjust my numbers. Going through pics now.

Zucchini in both tanks are gone. Prepping new and added some seaweed to the holding tank. Made a few flakes of the seeweed and dropped them in the main tank as well. We'll see how that goes.

 

Pic from 11/20. Only was able to pull off one good shot at the moment. This is the group of three that I have snapped the past two days.



Not sure if I will be able to attempt any other photo today. Getting ready to head out the door.