Otocinclus Breeding

[Kaczman, posts: 7]

Am I the only person waiting for more posts from James? Are you OK our friend? What happened that you suddenly stopped sharing with us your achievements and thoughts? I hope you're doing well. All the best!!

[James0816, posts: 429]

Thanks....Still here. Haven't been a lot going on of late with the Otos. Been working with the shrimp in the mean time.

[James0816, posts: 429]

Came home today to do a big trimming in the Vittatus tank....wrong....they had other plans. Spawning instead. It seems as if they can somehow read my mind in what I'm going to do. Everytime I go to do a big trim, they spawn. I only got a quick glance and saw a few eggs. I did see one that is non viable. I'll work elsewhere until later this evening before the lights go out and see if I can get a better look.

[James0816, posts: 429]

Here's a couple of shots for today:



This one shows a non viable egg. I'll have to remove that one.


I briefly checked and found a few more eggs and one more non viable.

[James0816, posts: 429]

Got home today and didn't find any eggs. Hmmm...disturbing. I only had a couple minutes to look but didn't look good. Now to try and figure that one out. On plus side...I found a fry that I would guestimate about 4-5 days old! They must have a secret hiding spot for eggs now. I'll do some more looking either tonight or tomorrow and then tank maintenance.

[AznSaiyan, posts: 7]

Hello I have some question. What temperature do you mostly have?
What kind of plants do they mostly lay there eggs?
How do you see if it is a male or female?

I have 11 oto. dont ask me what kind i dont know lol.
i think affinis wild.
But i cant see which one is girl or which one is boy.
I know only 1 that is sure female. It is fat and saw it breeding with other.

But the other oto. i cant see if it is female or male.
they are all like 4cm.

Can you help me answer my question please.

[James0816, posts: 429]

Hello I have some question. What temperature do you mostly have?
What kind of plants do they mostly lay there eggs?
How do you see if it is a male or female?

Good morning AznSaiyan.

I keep the breeding tanks at around 78F.
The females seem to get picky about where they lay eggs of late. The three main plants that they use are Bacopa Monnerei, Ludwigia Repens and C. Wendtii. As to where the majority get laid, that is where the pickiness comes in at. This latest spawn occured mainly in the crypts.

The Hydra may have some part in this though but can't be for sure. I definately need to get rid of them. Apisto is assisting me with that if I get off my duff and get the mailers out to him.

As for sexing, it's pretty easy when they are adults. The ladies are much bigger and have a more rounded belly. The males are slender and have a more streamlined form from the head to the tail. Very obvious when viewing from the top.

[AznSaiyan, posts: 7]

what do you mean hydra? is it that bad? they dont lay in hydra

[James0816, posts: 429]

Hydra are pesky little critters with stinging tentacles. Picture it as a minute freshwater jellyfish but only stationary. They feed on the micro animals in the tank but can also be bad for small fry and shrimp.

[James0816, posts: 429]

Pleasant surprise today. While I didn't find any eggs, I did find one freshy hatched fry. While searching for others, I started seeing more older fry. I wound up counting (6) now that look to be approaching a week in age. Very nice! I will still have to do a small water change today and will do so slowly just as if the eggs were hatching tomorrow as was expected.

[AznSaiyan, posts: 7]

i only saw 1 time spawn. never seen eggs. I wonder when they will spawn again. i have water 24C. also still dont know what the other oto. are. female or male. cant figure it out. one is very tall but its also small. if i look at it all are male 10 out of 11. so i think i have 10 male :S i really cant tell.

when you know they are adult? how many month they will be adult?

[James0816, posts: 429]

You can normally start to tell them apart after a couple of months.

[Sam, posts: 84]

Wow this is excellent, I came here wondering why one of mine was so fat. Excellent read too

[AznSaiyan, posts: 7]

how can you see its a couple? when one of the two die. will it find a new partner? your oto are very active. mine some will swim and some stay the whole day in same spot.

[James0816, posts: 429]

Since I initially started out with one male and one female they kind of paired themselves.

After the addition of the other two ladies, I wasn't certain the male was interacting with them. It wasn't until the passing of his original partner that I then discovered he was mating with the other females.

[AznSaiyan, posts: 7]

Since I initially started out with one male and one female they kind of paired themselves.

After the addition of the other two ladies, I wasn't certain the male was interacting with them. It wasn't until the passing of his original partner that I then discovered he was mating with the other females.

oh but you dont know when or how you can see if it is a couple.

do you have that weird thing too? I have 18 oto. 2 aquarium so I split it 9.

i cant see if its are female or male. still dont know the differents and i cant see some are big size but not fat. some are very small and are little fat one. no tip how to see if it is male or female?

I dont see any couple. not even quit active like yours. but i just saw some big ones and i think its two females. its swimming sometimes together and sometimes they kissing. kissing on body and on the mouth. two females lol. does your females did that too?

Also i think i have different species of oto. will they breed together like platy?

like red platy will breed with sunset platy.

I have different oto. so i am worry they wont breed. bought it from store it was affinis but if i look closer they are not same species i think.

[James0816, posts: 429]

Unfortunately, the pet stores use Affinis as a catch all name. I see it all the time; labled as Affinis but in the tank you will Macrosphilus, Vestitus and Vitattus.

[AznSaiyan, posts: 7]

but will different species breed?

[James0816, posts: 429]

I do not believe that the different species will cross but don't quote me on that.

[James0816, posts: 429]

It is with great sadness that I make this entry. I wasn't going to post at first but decided it wouldn't be true to myself or to the people reading this.

I just encountered my worst tank disaster in my fish keeping years. I lost all my Cocama's due to a busted tank. Some time during the night, the left side of the light fixture broke free which fell onto the tank breaking the side pane. I have suspended lights over most of the tanks. I didn't have time to investigate as yet this morning.

Also lost were (7) Propinqua shrimp and maybe my Brigg. I just got these beautiful Propinqua guys in yesterday too. The Crypts that were on that side of the tank were snapped. Most likely cut by the glass as the water gushed out.

Cleaned up what I could before leaving. Remaining shrimp should be fine without a filter for a while. Hopefully it is still operational. Have about 2" of water above the substrate.

This is not the end of this project. I will rebuild. I'll have a new tank put together today and then start the search for a new group of Cocama's.