Accidental Breeding of Otocinclus!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Today, since I haven't caught any new babies in several days and Mum fish seems to be taking a break I rearranged the parent tank. I've added pots that look like rock, two that look like wood. Besides the plants that are already there (3 swords, 2 different Anubias, 2 moss balls and 2 Aponogeton and very small Java Windelov) I now also added Bacopa Cardiniana, Lidwigia Arcuata (red needle leaf), and Ludwigia Super Red. I didn't have quite enough substrate to fill the pots to the rims but getting more tomorrow (the 1 store I went to today was out). I also added a background to it and its sister tank. Trying to add more plant life to help with the look and bio load. The temple I originally had in there just took up space and none of the fish ever used it- so I got a tiny Buddha- cause- I had to. 🙂 

Edited May 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[Isaac M]

It looks great @xXInkedPhoenixX! I love the use of the blue rocks! Especially the one with it coming out of the guys mouth 😂

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Haha thanks @Isaac M I mean, who doesn't like blue vomit? Or river, or whatever. I like the look of the blue glass with the moonlight effect from my lights, they kinda glow though they're not glow in the dark. I don't have moonlight on for but an hour but it's a cool look when it's there. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Oh and if you all don't notice the entire time I was doing this project 2 of my snails were going at it and mobile the whole time! Where's Waldo?!🙄🐣

Edited May 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[gardenman]

@Gator The number of fry a guppy can have largely varies with the size of the female. I've heard of a single female having 200+ fry at once. On average you're looking more at 20-60, but larger numbers aren't uncommon. As to separating the cory eggs from the parents. Their eggs are typically very sticky but careful use of a single edge razor blade (some people use a credit card) can scrape them off the glass without harming them and then they can be hatched and raised in a breeding box or separate tank. 

As to fish smelling the food, yes. Back when I had a marine tank I had a starfish who would know the instant tubifex worms hit the tank and head towards them.

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@gardenman @Isaac M @Gator I'm going to have to try this tubifex thing you mention. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
to clarify

[gardenman]

8 minutes ago, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@gardenman @Isaac M @Gator I'm going to have to try this tubifex thing you.

My Super Red Bristlenose Plecos line up like little soldiers around four each afternoon waiting for the tubifex worm cubes to be pressed on the glass. I typically put nine or ten in their tank and within minutes they're gone! The swordtails do sneak in and grab some, but the plecos really love them. I'm now buying a half pound of them at a time.

[Daniel]

This thread inspired me to add some Otocinclus to my big discus tank. About 3 weeks ago I purchased a group off of Aquabid and plopped them in and waited. Today I saw this:

At about 10 seconds a discus passes by looking like a slowly moving death star.

[Anita]

16 minutes ago, Daniel said:

This thread inspired me to add some Otocinclus to my big discus tank. About 3 weeks ago I purchased a group off of Aquabid and plopped them in and waited. Today I saw this:

At about 10 seconds a discus passes by looking like a slowly moving death star.

 

[Gator]

15 hours ago, Isaac M said:

@Gator @xXInkedPhoenixX have you ever fed tubifix worms? Especially to corydoras, they know its there immediately when it hits the water 😂

Yes, I have fed live Tubifex worms to Cory's and yes, they love them, but I've never fed freeze dried Tubifex to any species of fish. I've been told that freeze dried Tubifex have lost their vitamin and mineral content(?).

[Gator]

15 hours ago, Isaac M said:

@Gator @xXInkedPhoenixX have you ever fed tubifix worms? Especially to corydoras, they know its there immediately when it hits the water 😂

I've fed live Tubifex worms to my fish and all of my fish loved them. What was really cool was that some of the live Tubifex escaped being eaten and took up residence in the tanks gravel, the Cory's were always on the search for them.

[Gator]

4 hours ago, gardenman said:

My Super Red Bristlenose Plecos line up like little soldiers around four each afternoon waiting for the tubifex worm cubes to be pressed on the glass. I typically put nine or ten in their tank and within minutes they're gone! The swordtails do sneak in and grab some, but the plecos really love them. I'm now buying a half pound of them at a time.

I'm going to check my LFS to see if they sell frozen Tubifex worms or just freeze dried, either way I'll buy some. Maybe my Bavarian Rams will eat them since they don't like frozen Bloodworms or frozen Brine shrimp. Who knows? 

[gardenman]

5 hours ago, Gator said:

Yes, I have fed live Tubifex worms to Cory's and yes, they love them, but I've never fed freeze dried Tubifex to any species of fish. I've been told that freeze dried Tubifex have lost their vitamin and mineral content(?).

Freeze-dried food retains much of its nutritional value and the freeze-drying kills any parasites that could be there in live worms. My fish love the freeze-dried tubifex. They cost $18+ for a half pound which is somewhere around 600 cubes. I go through about ten cubes a day so I buy fresh every couple of months. They're much, much less expensive than frozen food and far easier to handle.

[Gator]

42 minutes ago, gardenman said:

Freeze-dried food retains much of its nutritional value and the freeze-drying kills any parasites that could be there in live worms. My fish love the freeze-dried tubifex. They cost $18+ for a half pound which is somewhere around 600 cubes. I go through about ten cubes a day so I buy fresh every couple of months. They're much, much less expensive than frozen food and far easier to handle.

I've been away from my hometown of Orlando, Florida going on 19 years. When I left Orlando you could only buy Tubifex worms in blister packs or jars of the cubes, I never bought either.

The last time I bought Tubifex worms was in 1987 when the fish store I frequented announced that they were switching from live Tubifex worms to live Brown worms which were more expensive than the Tubifex worms.

I'll check my LFS here to see what's available here, if they have the jar, I'll buy one to see how my fish respond to them, but I doubt that I will buy them by the pound or even one half pound, we'll see.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Daniel OH MY GOSH IS THAT A BABY I SEE!?!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@gardenman, ah freeze dried, I like that idea. Thanks for that idea I'll be looking into that. 

[Anita]

2 hours ago, gardenman said:

Freeze-dried food retains much of its nutritional value and the freeze-drying kills any parasites that could be there in live worms. My fish love the freeze-dried tubifex. They cost $18+ for a half pound which is somewhere around 600 cubes. I go through about ten cubes a day so I buy fresh every couple of months. They're much, much less expensive than frozen food and far easier to handle.

ORD 💜

[Gator]

8 hours ago, Anita said:

ORD 💜

If you knew where Tubifex worms are harvested, you'd understand why they carry parasites. As I remember from my experiences in the '80's, a good rinsing before placing them in what was called a worm feeder got rid of the parasites and if some were able to escape, they took up residence in the gravel. Those that escaped were seriously searched for by Cory's and it was thought at the time that Cory's would only breed if they were fed a steady diet of Tubifex worms. We've come a long way since.

[Anita]

2 hours ago, Gator said:

If you knew where Tubifex worms are harvested, you'd understand why they carry parasites. As I remember from my experiences in the '80's, a good rinsing before placing them in what was called a worm feeder got rid of the parasites and if some were able to escape, they took up residence in the gravel. Those that escaped were seriously searched for by Cory's and it was thought at the time that Cory's would only breed if they were fed a steady diet of Tubifex worms. We've come a long way since.

ORD 😆 Oh yes, sewage worms! 

[Gator]

41 minutes ago, Anita said:

ORD 😆 Oh yes, sewage worms! 

Exactly. You've obviously had aquariums for quite some time like me, or unlike me, you have a degree in Fisheries Biology, but then again the internet makes everyone that has fish a passable Fisheries Biologist like me, though I'd never call myself a Fisheries Biologist.

[Daniel]

13 hours ago, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@Daniel OH MY GOSH IS THAT A BABY I SEE!?!

Gotta be baby Otocinclus as the only fish in the aquarium are discus. I love baby fish!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Daniel Discus are so big and Otos are so small in comparison- will the discus eat the babies? I guess I'm having a hard time picturing Otos and Discus living together 😂

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Gator oh then DEFINITELY looking for freeze dried ick!! 😂 

[Daniel]

32 minutes ago, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@Daniel Discus are so big and Otos are so small in comparison- will the discus eat the babies? I guess I'm having a hard time picturing Otos and Discus living together 😂

The discus don’t eat the adults, but they definitely might eat some babies. But if the Otocinclus are breeding all the time, there’s no way they’ll eat all of them. It is likely that overtime there will be more Otocinclus than I know what to do with. But that’s a good problem, and I look forward to meeting the challenge.

[Gator]

I have babies, both Oto's and Cory's. That pretty much puts to rest my theory on moon phases. Nothing in either tank to eat the babies, instead of removing the Cory eggs, I went old school and removed the parents, as for the Oto's, they're all alone in their tank with their parents, maybe they won't get eaten. xXInkedPhoenixX?