The Oto Journal

[james0816]

The majority of the spawns have come from the main breeder. This is the tank where I have done most of my experimenting on. I would say on average, the typical parms for this tank would be 74temp, 7.2-7.4 pH, GH/KH ~ 4 and TDS around 120.

Other notables on this tank are that I do use DIY CO2 and still use the PMDD version of fert dosing.

My most surprising spawn came in the tank where I use Safe-T-Sorb as a substrate. Water is very acidic at ~ 5.5. This particular tank gets a higher concentration of CO2 and EI fert dosing. This tank also sits in the upper 70s for temp.

One note that I have observed though is crowding. When the tank is too populus with shrimp and/or Otos, the spawning decreased greatly. I attribute this to too much activity in the tank.

Originally Posted by kwheeler91

Is their a particular set of parameters that you are finding greater success with? Any luck with the zebras? Sorry if these have been answered I havent followed the thread to closely.

Nothing yet to report on the Zebra's. I have a couple of ladies getting ready to join the project so hopefully, with the better ratio, I can get something started there.

Macros are still just not with the program. These boys seem to be completely clueless when the lady is ready. I'm actually getting ready to replace them.

[kwheeler91]

I got caught up on your thread and man you have an oto factory. Too bad about the macros, Hopefully you will have better luck with the zebras.

[james0816]

And we have a hatching today.

Went down last night and did the water change right before the lights went out. Came home today and was able to visibly count (19) new wigglers lounging around. Took my usual photos and will check them out when I get back from the gym. There was one shot I hope turned out. There was a fry guy from each of the three spawns right next to each other. Looked pretty kewl.

[MABJ]

Very nice. I'm amazed at how good you are at counting.

[james0816]

Originally Posted by MABJ

Very nice. I'm amazed at how good you are at counting.

lol...it sure ain't easy that's for sure. I've gotten used to knowing what I'm looking for when they are only a couple days old.

[james0816]

Count goes up today. Saw (23) new wigglers on the glass. Trying something a little different this time around. I went ahead and administered the first powder feeding a day early. Wondering if by chance this may help with getting better results. If anything, the others in the tank will have lots to graze on.

Got lucky as well with the water change. With all the rain we have had lately, our well water is turning to the brown side. I filled all the jugs up the other day so have plenty of good water to conduct all other WCs tomorrow as planned.

Now for the bad news. The "money" shot from yesterday was bad. Man I wished that would have turned out.

[CPDzeke]

Sorry for late question, but what is the jello method for co2?

[james0816]

I'm thoroughly convinced now that my fishy friends have ESP.

Why you ask? Well simple....today I had planned to go in and trim the main breeder, do a good vac and replant the Sub wall. Guess what? Yep...a spawn in progress.

I'd really like to know how they do it? And it was random this time as I just this morning decided to do the work on the tank. Unlike before where I would pick a date. Too funny.

I didn't bother trying to count eggs yet since it's in progress. The Bacopa area seems to be the point of focus right now.

[james0816]

Originally Posted by CPDzeke

Sorry for late question, but what is the jello method for co2?

My apologies...I never answered this. You use jell-o to lock in the sugar. As it dissolves, it releases more sugar to the yeast. Makes the process last longer and more stable.

[madness]

Amazing work, as always.

[james0816]

Thanks kindly.

Late check on things last night before lights out and all is well. I didn't stay too long so I didn't count eggs as yet. Just more of an observation at this point. I'm thinking this may have been a spawn from the young female in the tank. I found (1) egg on the front glass and (2) on the back. This is highly unusual which makes me believe it is the young one.

Another interesting note in regards to the plants. This will be another spawn where there are very minimal to no eggs located on the Acmella repens or Ludwigia atlantis. Very interesting and not sure why. That area of the tank was a the #2 egg area early on. It has become #3 now behind the Bacopa monnieri and Crypt jungle respectively. I think I will pull those two plants out and try to score some L. ovalis to replace them.

After this batch grows up, I will need to thin out the Crypts again and at that point I will replace (or put back in that is) the Sub wall. That's a big fry trap that's missing. I may just attempt to put it in today, but don't think I'll be able to squeeze the time in to do so.

[james0816]

Much bigger spawn than I thought. I managed to count (48) wigglers yesterday right before the lights went out. I would say a good 80% of them are in and around the Bacopa area and mostly all wee ones are on the glass. This is another unusual aspect for this batch. Now normally they all eventually migrate to the glass, but it usually takes some time. It's more common to find them staying on the plants for the first couple of days. Interesting.

[toksyn]

I really, really envy your success . Nice work!

[james0816]

Thank you much. Glad I can share it with everyone.

[james0816]

Wasn't finding very many wee ones in the tank so I started questioning my food availability for them. I decided I needed to move some of the Green shrimp out of the tank. Might have turned out to be a good decision as there were a lot more in there than I thought. Pulled out a good 30+ small ones out of there. Might shoot for more today or tomorrow to be safe.

As I was rumaging through the plants, I would stir up the Oto fry and the good news is that there are still good numbers alive in there. Was funny watching them swarm out of the crypts as I used a bamboo skewer to help flush out the shrimp.

Mixed up the first batch of powder feed and fed accordingly. Gave the big areas a nice coating.