The Accidental Oto Keeper

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I'm not sure I can keep up with a journal but I think I will try. It all started with my accidental Otocinclus Vittatus spawn. I had actually picked Otocinclus because I wanted a tank that "wouldn't breed". As they say, nature finds a way and/or nature has other plans. I was in love with the little sucker mouthed catfish before, but it has only made me love them more. It all started here for me with that spawn: 

Accidental Breeding of Otocinclus!

So I decided to keep my offspring. They are now in a 10 gallon that was intended to be a grow out tank. Other than some daily food clean up (due to barebottom tank) this tank is very stable. 

RECENTLY at the LFS while picking up fish to fill out my other tanks the gal mentions that they had Tiger Otos. They were conveniently at the front desk. I saw them, they're HUGE (as compared to my little Vittatus) and was totally enamoured by them. I left as I never impulse buy a fish. They kept creeping into mind. I started to formulate options/plans. This forum didn't help me resist either!

Tiger Otocinclus (Oto) anyone??

I went to the big box, got me a holding tank, drove to the LFS and intended to buy every ($20) Tiger Oto they had. Which is six. LFS store guy said they were at the store for 2 weeks. We are 24 days into non-medicated Quarantine at my house and everyone is doing very very well. I haven't got any recent pictures because the piece of wood I put in the 2gallon QT for them makes the water far too foggy for me to get good ones- but I count all 6 of them every day. My ultimate intention is to see if I can get the Tiger Otos to breed too. 

So, while we are coming close to the end of QT for the Tiger Otos, my journaling adventure begins...or ends. We'll see. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[Guppysnail]

I am so glad you started a journal for this. I’m looking forward to following along 😁

[Griznatch]

Me too! I always root for otos, since they have such a hard time and are such peaceful, endearing little buggers.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS VITATTUS: The Accidental Oto Tank. 

This is the home where my Vittatus offspring from the Parent Tank live. They are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd spawns of Otos I've raised from that tank. There are approximately 35 (once in the neighborhood of 60) of them though I will never be able to really count them unless I want to go through a whole LOT of trouble to do so. I kept track of deaths (which weren't that many and most during the earliest days) and give aways- some have also moved into my other tanks. 

Though my original plan was to sell them to the LFS once big enough I really love my little Otos and the tank itself has started to grow on me. It's double filtered with a sponge and an Aqueon 10 HOB with an ACO prefilter sponge. I don't run a heater with it. We have some Amazon Sword, Narrow Leaf Fern, Anubias Nana, there's a banana plant in there somewhere that I'm not sure is even alive as it grows amongst a Windelov Java. All of my Otos have been "trained" to eat from food bowls. This helps me determine what/how much they are eating and keeps cleaning a little easier though they always manage to throw food outside the bowls. (The Accidental Otos eat from the orangey bowl you see pictured). I turkey baste the bare floor of food every day and take out old foods. They get Hikari Algae Wafer (which is what they were ALL raised on), now Repashy Super Green, and a slice of English Cucumber on a veggie clip sans skin. They love to hide and don't come out much during the day. So they were recently given two custom sanded coconut hides with 2 drilled/round exit/entry doors to the front and bottom side of the coconut they are attached to the walls of the tank with giant suction cups. They have a "rock" hide as well. They took to the coconuts quickly. Most will hide inside these, under another plant on wood towards the back of the tank and near the prefilter sponge as it is pretty close to the back left corner of the tank. On the days where I'm able to relax in the early morning with coffee before tank lights come on it's a beautiful sight to see all these Otos out and about shoaling with each other. 

On one of those nice mornings recently I noticed some pairs clearly "dancing" and some of the larger Otos (which I believe are the girls) stuck to the undersides of the Amazon Swords. This is where my Momma Oto in my Parent Tank liked to lay her eggs so I thought maybe I'd have some coming soon. 

The tiny babies are near translucent so they can be hard to spot in some tanks/circs. I'm nearly a veteran of this now so I started to watch the glass along the waterline (which is where I find most of them) then work my eyes down along all the sides. Once I spot them I typically use a shrimp net- very delicately- and start with the long side pressed down on the glass below the baby, sloooooowwwly creep up on them (they're actually not skittish but the trick is to get them to stop sucking glass and get in the net without harming them- they are SO fragile). I coax them gently to the top of the wateline and generally this is when they give up the ghost and try and swim away which is hopefully into the net! I then take the bottom half of a travel pill case and scoop them out of the net then into a floating breeder box. This is where I can monitor/feed and ensure their safety. No predators to worry about in the Accidental Oto Tank but there is always danger of being sucked up or ? 

Anyhow. After a few days of watching waterlines on the 24th of October I spotted the first of my Offspring's Ofspring. I caught 3 on the first day and 3 on the days following. This is my pill case on the first day with the 3 babies inside for size reference:

 

I lost one of my babies on the 30th of October. This doesn't seem uncommon, though a bummer.

Recent Water Parameters:

Temp 78.9 (no heater)

pH 7.6

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 40 (consistent)

Edited November 7, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS VITATTUS: The Accidental Oto Tank:

It is now 12 days since finding new baby Otos. They have been daily fed crushed Hikari Wafers (this is how I raised all of the first ones) and a tiny bit of Repashy. I clean the breeder out every day with lab droppers and put in new food. I check on bodily functions and make sure I see poop. They are currently in the smallest of my floating breeder boxes. They have gained their color and markings and are just tiny versions of their parents. 

Recent water parameters: 

Temp 78.9 (no heater)

pH 7.2

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 40 (consistently for 2 months)

KH: 3/53.7

GH: 161.1

Edited November 18, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

PLANTS: Nitrate experiment: The Accidental Oto tank

October 23rd

So 3 of my tanks have been very consistently testing at 40ppm Nitrate for 2 months, maybe even bordering on 80 (those of us who use the API test kits know that the reds are very hard to tell apart). It hasn't done anything detrimental to my fish population that I can see- and despite my water changing and multitude of plants (even adding at times)- it doesn't seem to make a difference. At some point I'll need to test source water for a baseline- though what I do is use 1 gallon water bottles- fill them with super hot water from the tap- treat with Fritz and leave them out overnight uncapped and either using them the next day or cap them and put them away until I need them. 

Attempting to find solutions I've always heard of the magical Nitrate sucking properties of Pothos. 

I happen to be pretty good with plants outside of aquariums and have Pothos given to me over a decade ago. I also have a Spider plant that well, it could star in a horror film because it is a MONSTER. It's babies have babies that have babies and etc:

Having propogated the spider plant several times for others and knowing Pothos is just as easy (and I'd just repotted mine and had a piece of it chilling in a jar of water)- I thought well I'll try soaking up Nitrates with a Pothos and Spider. I have a thing about DIY stuff. I don't always like them, for me, they disrupt the overall look of my tanks so I avoid doing them if I can. What I do like to do is visit my favorite "handmade" website and see if anyone has solutions. In this case I found a 3D printed solution. I attached a Tetra-O clip on light I had handy for extra light for the tiny baby plants for now. They're not going to be giant nitrate suckers yet- but even since the 23rd I can see the roots and leaves growing well. 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
rearranging...

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS COCAMA: The 2 Gallon QT

It has now been 27 days into the quarantine of my Cocama bunch. We hold strong at six beautiful specimens. At at least 4x the overall size of my Vitattus species they are just mesmerizing to look at. (The water is foggy due to the tannins and debris from the wood inside). I feel like I got some decent shots today since they were pretty close to the sides:

 

***aquarium friends, I need to decide where they might go next week. I have 2 viable homes, I'm leaning more towards one than the other but maybe you can also weigh in:

I have "The Parent Tank" which is a 20 gallon tall, the oldest of my 5 tanks and where the Oto saga all began. There are 2 Mystery snails, 10 Harlequin Rasboras and 14 or so Otocinclus Vittatus. Lots and lots of plants. (if you need a visual click my Solid Facts link and scroll to the bottom for pics of my tanks)

I have The Accidental Oto tank which is a 10 gallon bare bottom with 35 or so Vittatus as mentioned in the beginning of this journal. 

Which do you think I should put them in? I have benefits and concerns about both, just wondering what initial thoughts might be. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
1 more thing.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS VITATTUS: The Accidental Oto Tank

Fourth spawn: 15 days old. Morning Roll Call: The 5 baby Vittatus are going strong, boy do they poop- and their little bellies are nicely rounded- so they're eating well and growing nicely. 

While scanning the glass for morning patrol I spotted the start of a new spawn. This one is older than what I started with the 5, they are not as small and translucent as the first when I caught them so I'm guessing they are 3 to 5 days old. It seems Vittatus lays very few eggs and some may or may not be viable. They come in small spurts. This might be the start of another small batch. That said I only spotted one. 

From past experience I've learned not to put new batches in with the older batch. It's not like they get picked on or eaten- BUT they get mosh pitted. If you've ever seen an Oto group do a brief "freak out" where they ping pong all over a space/tank this is what the tiny Oto do from time to time in the breeder boxes. This is when I found the smallest of the Otos are at risk from blunt force trauma. I've also found the little ones suffocated in piles of food so when I first get them they get the tiniest bit of food so that isn't possible- with the 5 this is how I started them but now that they are bigger I put in more. 

First, to catch the new one. I explained above how I catch new Otos. This time I took a couple of pictures for reference.

 

Having caught the little one (thankfully on the first try) it was now time to do a switcherroo. I cleaned out the small floating breeder containing the 5 with a lab/craft dropper and then took my larger floating breeder. The 5 larger baby Oto got shuffled into that, food replaced (I replace food every day anyway). The good thing now is that the smaller breeder has been floating a while so it is bound to have plenty of bio film for the new Oto to eat. Hopefully they will be joined shortly by more companions. 

When I first started with my surprise Otocinclus spawn I had no plans to breed so had no "fry" food on hand. I started with crushing Hikari Wafer between 2 spoons and successfully raised many Otos- so I continue this practice. I have added to it this time around by putting in a tiny amount of Repashy Super Green. 

I will be scanning the glass more frequently in the next couple of days to look for more fry. 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
rearranging...

[PineSong]

I'm interested in the "check for round bellies" advice re: otos. I have three otos and their bellies are like mother of pearl, but not round like a bowl--they look like a spiral kind of, like a mother of pearl cinammon bun. @xXInkedPhoenixX, in your photo right above the bellies look round and smooth, but I can't tell if it's the photo focus or just that they are actually that smooth--no spiral marks. 

Is this a sign that my otos need more to eat?

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@PineSong any way you can capture a pic?

It has been my experience so far that a healthy, eating Oto definitely has the fat, single colored irridescent white pearl belly. I have had a couple, one recently who appeared listless in fact spiraling while swimming so I caught them by hand and put them in a quarantine. You can't see by this picture the color but you can see it isn't fat and round- when their bellies shrink they have an irridescent/foil look about it- with that shiny white like a pearl mixed with some metallic pink. For an Oto keeper it instantly doesn't look right (I mean the spiral swimming alone isn't right but just going by the belly). I caught this little one and kept it in QT for a week with plenty of food. It seemed to recover and had no other symptoms. The belly wasn't FAT but it appeared "full" and didn't have that odd coloring to it. I released it back into my Parent Tank, which is where it was to begin with. I started putting more commercial food out since then for them. 

The unfortunate thing about Otos, at least for me is they tend to hide most of the day. I of course see an odd one skitter across the tank from time to time- but it's not enough to do a welfare check on them daily or even weekly. You just take the chance when you get them. Which is why I like the Accidental Oto tank, I see them far more often. 

Anyhow this is the "skinny" Oto I had caught (not dead, just sitting funny). Post a pic of yours if you get a chance, I'm interested in seeing this "cinnamon bun" effect. 🙂 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[PineSong]

I will try! My camera is old and all but one of them are in a tank with a lot of tannin right now. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@PineSong ah, even harder. That's why I'm having a hard time taking pics of the Tiger Otos. Tannins. 

___________________________________

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Accidental Oto Tank

Spawn 5: Unfortunately while doing evening checks the solo baby Oto I caught today is deceased. It was active when I checked prior. This is to be expected- not that I like it. I'll keep the small floater in the tank for now and check for babies in the morning. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Parent Tank

Something I've noticed in the past maybe others can chime in about. When I've purchased Otos they've all be the same color grey. I've noticed among my offspring a color variant(?) which I call blonde. today while inspecting The Parent Tank I saw two of these different colors hanging out together. I've also noticed this color in my Accidental Oto Tank. Maybe we should call them Silver and Gold.  (there might look like there''s a trick of the light in my pics, but it's only a reflection in the glass)

Edited November 10, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
to clarify

[PineSong]

@xXInkedPhoenixX I tried and tried to get a good photo and could not. They all just came out looking like this. In the upper part of her tummy, you can kind of see the spiral/circular stuff I am talking about. I think it's their intestines?: 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@PineSong unfortunately I cannot tell by the picture. I can see the little one looking right at you though haha. Is there a small indent in their belly? Or is it a trick of the light in your pic? I circled it: 

I've not seen any spirals on my Otos, but when their bellies aren't' little pearls I start to get concerned and look for other signs of illness and/or up their food/options. It's not saying your Oto isn't ok, that's just when I start to worry about mine. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Guppysnail]

On 11/10/2021 at 6:01 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Maybe we should call them Silver and Gold. 

I don’t know much about oto babies but I wonder if their color will develop with age like guppies? 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Guppysnail your thought is totally legit but the ones that are grey have always been grey and some are lighter in color and it seems fade to this. It's interesting. We shall see. There's no way for me to know in the Parent Tank if it's an adult I started with that faded or a juvenile who at this point would be around 8 months old. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Accidental Oto Tank

Afternoon Maintenance: Earlier I had discovered the Aqueion QuietFlow 10 on this tank had stopped operating. Whoops. My bad. I panic ordered one from the big box- regardless that's the time I think about back up plans in case it were totally broken. Turns out I just needed to give it a good cleaning and squeeze out the prefilter sponge. It started right up again once I did that. There are two very great things about this HOB. It never has to be primed. It's cheap to replace. Now I have to add, "it takes a lickin and keeps on tickin". There was no real need to worry as the sponge filter is in there too. Needless to say the bigbox emailed me and said they had to cancel my order, they were out. I'm still gonna buy another one...

Evening patrol: When I was spot cleaning earlier I saw a little one on the Amazon Sword about the same age as the one that died last night. Impossible to catch there I let it be. It is now taunting me on the glass. I decided to let it be. For now. 

I think too I've discovered that I *MIGHT* be able tell boys from girls even when small. The females look massive compared to the boys and have a longer body. The boys are shorter and smaller. I might be wrong on the boy in this pic as the body is a little long but it kind of paints a picture of what I'm talking about. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
rearranging...

[PineSong]

On 11/10/2021 at 8:07 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@PineSong unfortunately I cannot tell by the picture. I can see the little one looking right at you though haha. Is there a small indent in their belly? Or is it a trick of the light in your pic? I circled it: I've not seen any spirals on my Otos, but when their bellies aren't' little pearls I start to get concerned and look for other signs of illness and/or up their food/options. It's not saying your Oto isn't ok, that's just when I start to worry about mine. 

I think it's a trick of the light ( or lack of light). Their bellies do look like pearl, but I'm not sure they are smooth enough. I'm going to replace my phone/camera soon and will try again. 

re: your blonde and silver colors, I do see the difference! Neat!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@PineSong Ah good. Your Oto is probably fine, I'm just over-cautious with Otos. 🙃 ..but do post when you get a chance.

Colors: I do hope it's a color variant, that would be neat!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Accidental Oto Tank

Water testing day: Every Thursday I test all 5 of my established tanks. I really enjoy it. I like to see my hard work is continuing to pay off. It's been helpful several times too. While scanning tank walls I've spotted two 3-5 day old babies. One of which I caught. That makes 6 in the breeder. I ended up putting them in with the others in the large floating breeder since they aren't transclucent and have a little size on them. I'll try and catch the other one tomorrow if I see them. 

 

Recent Water Parameters:

Temp 78.9 (no heater)

pH 7.6 (up from .2)

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 40 (still)

kh: 3/53.7

gh 179 (up from last week)

Edited November 18, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Odd Duck]

On 11/10/2021 at 7:27 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I think too I've discovered that I *MIGHT* be able tell boys from girls even when small. The females look massive compared to the boys and have a longer body. The boys are shorter and smaller.

Wow!  Awesome to notice this much difference this young!

I also see the “blond” and hope it holds true.  Worth working at developing those color differences.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS COCAMA (TIGER): The 2 Gallon QT

Morning Maintenance: Did daily clean up here using a coral feeder or syringe like a baster. Helps me clean up around the edges get the old food out. Then I scoop out a least a half gallon or more of water. The water is very foggy due to the piece of spiderwood and its debris so it's hard to keep a tag on all the Otos. While cleaning today I heard a small splash then a muffled splat. I swear I saw something out of the corner of my eye- it happened in less than the time it would take to blink. I looked around the counter first (this is at the edge of my kitchen) and sure enough one of the Tiger Otos had jumped out, apparently a bit freaked by whatever I was doing at the time) and landed perfectly centered and belly down on my cable organizer box nearby. I about had a panic attack but it thankfully the little one very patiently waited for me to pull the lid off and tip them gently back into the tank. *whew*. 

I've decided tomorrow is the end of their QT period, today's incident just solidfied it for me but it was already a plan. I may or may not be taking a risk as it's been 32 days so not quite the 5 weeks but since my LFS had them for 2 weeks and they've been really great for the time I've had them I figured it would be a good time- and I'll be on vacation starting tomorrow to be able to observe them and their adjustment to another change. 

Since I didn't get any opinions on my tank options I have decided I'm going with the tank I lean more towards putting them into: The Accidental Oto Tank. Though it's only a 10 gallon it's well filtered and established, is a species only tank so there are no potential aggressors if they choose to spawn- which I'm really hoping for. IF for some reason they don't work out in there it will be a lot easier to catch them out of the Accidental Tank than it would be to catch them out of my Parent Tank. 

I'm not great at picture documentation but I'm hoping to get some good journal pictures for tomorrow's move. Wish them luck. 🙂 

Edited November 15, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Accidental Oto Tank

Morning Inspections: Before I do my daily cleaning I spot check the glass for babies (haven't seen the one I let stay in some days ago), hoping it still alive in there somewhere. The six 20 day old babies I have in the floating breeder are growing very nicely AND it was like a Rumplestiltskin moment- I left them food, they left me nothing but a pile of baby catfish poop. While not gold it's what I like to see. Also tells me I need to put a little more food in there as they ate every single morsel. 

Edited November 15, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[Griznatch]

Very cool, love the updates!