Otocinclus sp.

Hi Folks,

Has anyone had any luck in breeding Ottos?

Here's an informative article about them.

www.otocinclus.com/newoto.html

Kev.

stretnik wrote:

Hi Folks,

Has anyone had any luck in breeding Ottos?

Here's an informative article about them.

www.otocinclus.com/newoto.html

Kev.

I don't have the link here Kev but on another forum I visit there is someone breeding ottos and keeping a really descriptive journal of events, pics etc. I'll dig it out and post the link tomorrow.

Cheers, I'd love to have a go, seems I'm a genius at growing Algae so feeding wouldn't be a problem:woohoo:

Ta for letting me know.

Kev.

Hey Kev,
I haven't gotten them much further than spawning (an egg-bound cory ate the eggs- nothing laying before her in that tank!!), but they are very influenced by seasons/moon cycle. Their age also seems to play a part. You know when they are new and hungry and active? They seem more ameniable to getting frisky then.

(Question, are they essentially an annual species in the wild???).

Give them a year of good living and they decide youngsters will make work for them.

When newish, start reducing the water level over a few weeks, coming up to the spring equinox. Autumn doesn't seem to be as good (but they may still think it's autumn where they came from!??!!). Don't perform water changes etc. Get the water to about 30-50% of normal level. Then, about 2 days before the full moon around (or after) the equinox, hit the tank with coldish (20-22^) rain water (RO is good). Fill it over 2 days in this manner. They seem to go for shaded leaves high up in the tank to spawn on.(Anubias nana, usually, in my case).
From what I have seen of their spawning behaviour, the concept of at least 4 males to one female seems good, but take it that 4 males is a minimum for breeding. Something like 6 males to 3 females seems good. The males will constantly harass the ripest female till she is ready to spawn. Deed done, they will pick on the next most likely candidate, etc. They give up about 4 days after the rains.

The spotted ones in Seahorse are easy to sex. The big (long) ones are definitely female. The smaller thin ones are male. (The smaller fatter ones are female, but can be hard to discern from the males. Try comparing the smaller ones by who has been to the gym and who hasn't. The toned looking ones are male.)

Hope this is of some use.

T.

" OF SOME USE " is an understatement, thanks so much for all of the info.

Kev.

Just my observations.
I wouldn't use spawning tank, or any of that s...t. Just a well established tank, with plenty of bogwood (or tannin source) and plants. Make sure the tank-mates (if any) are veggy's!. The tank they get frisky in for me is 80L, but only 35cm high. There's about 16L of wood in it, with lots of plants (ferns, crypts and swords). Low light (28W), but longish photo-period (10h). Mostly mimicing daylight timing, with natural sunrise/sunset bits (curtains open). They are great fun to watch when spawning. (Think of the behaviour when new, chasing each other around the glass in the dark. Then multiply by 4!!


T.

P.s. Will give the rant on what the little f.....s eat tomorrow.
You have about 3 weeks to get it right before they die.
A well trained pleco, farlowella or sturisoma comes in use-full here.

Right: feeding them;


When they arrive new, as all are probably aware, they are starving and poisoned (apparently cyanide is easier than netting....).
If placed in a tank with sufficient bio-film, they seem to get on fine without too many initial casualities. (Hint: avoid any seriously thin fish, or ones with evidence of fin-rot (missing tail!). They never survive.) Plants are an essential source of the surface area for this bio-film (auwsfuchs or something??). Amazon swords (common old fashioned leafy ones, not the tropica fancy stuff)seem good. Pygmy chains seem excellent. They don't really eat nuisance algae as such (contrary to popular belief!), unless forced to.
They seem to take clues on what is food from tank-mates with similar tastes. A farlowella or sturisoma who is feeding can be invaluable in getting them to eat in a tank, when new. As I don't have any plecos, I cannot vouch for these. Initially, once they have cleaned the tank (which they WILL within a day or three), they need to be introduced to their staple food. Courgette (blanched briefley, or 10 secs in microwave) is universally accepted.
Eventually.
The first few times offered, it will be ignored. Then they peck at it, just as it dis-integrates. Eventually they will eat it once it has been in the tank for about 12 hours. Despite all the dire warnings about water quality, let it fall apart (repeatedly if necessary. Hoover up the floating goo, do a 30% wc, clean filters and carry on!) till they start eating it.
Other easy initial foods are peas (shelled, cooked frozen ones) and sometimes cucumber.
While this is going on, start adding things like pleco wafers and tabs to the feeding spot (try to keep using the same spot in the tank for feeding. I use white porcelain chop-stick rests to weigh down vegs. Otto's don't seem to mind orientation, but farlowellas refuse to eat any vertical slices. Horizontal or starve!! (bit like some exe's..))
When they associate the feeding spot with food, life gets easy. Give them real vegg as a treat, but get them used to a staple veggy catfish product. Trial and error is involved here, but when you find something they like, stick with it! Try new products when available, but keep a stock of the favourite.
I have just added nori, but a pregnant glowlight tetra is all that is biting for now.


For what it's worth: Expect to loose at least 40% of a new batch over the first 3 weeks. With practice, this can be reduced to 20%. Because of the methods employed in their capture and their feeding requirements, it is highly unlikely to have a 100% success rate with them. Ever.

F.B.S. time.

Cheers Murph,

A man of his word.

Kev.

Better late than never, this is the link I was talking about: www.fishstuff.info/forum/showthread.php?tid=182

Cheers,
Patrick

Ta, I'll give it a look.


Kev.

Hi Kev, found this while browsing for info on compartmentalised breeding tanks and remembered you enquired about breeding Otocinclus, not a huge article but sure another source of info is always good to have.

www.cadas.org.uk/breedingotocinclus.htm

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Thanks a mill for the link, I appreciate it.

Kev.