# oto fry



## Nelson (24 Jan 2011)

first see it a few days ago.sorry about the pic   .






its happily grazing on the glass.


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## Gfish (24 Jan 2011)

What a nice discovery 
I hope he lives long and continues the good work.


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## Garuf (24 Jan 2011)

Whay! 
What tank is this in? You're clearly doing something very right!


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## Nelson (24 Jan 2011)

its in my 75x45x45.

the BBA,staghorn and hair algae tells me i'm doing it all wrong   .


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## Mark Evans (24 Jan 2011)

That's incredible mate!


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Jan 2011)

Hi, What have you been feeding the adults on to get them to spawn?  

Also how many adults have you got in the tank.


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## Nelson (24 Jan 2011)

Mark Evans said:
			
		

> That's incredible mate!


i'm well surprised.


			
				REDSTEVEO said:
			
		

> Hi, What have you been feeding the adults on to get them to spawn?
> 
> Also how many adults have you got in the tank.


i've only got 3 adults.not doing anything special.guess they're eating diatoms.they get the odd catfish pellet and maybe shrimp food.
really don't know.


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## nry (24 Jan 2011)

I know I'm impressed, I'd expect otto's to be very very hard to breed


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## dw1305 (24 Jan 2011)

Hi all,
It is true there aren't many reports of breeding Oto's, and even fewer where they have bred without _Corydoras_ in the tank as well. I know from watching mine that they actually spawn relatively freely, but that you don't often get fry. 


> the BBA,staghorn and hair algae tells me i'm doing it all wrong


 I think this may actually be the secret to your success. If  you want try some other food you could try a slice of cucumber, although it will probably only be attractive to your Oto fry as it starts to soften. There is an Oto breeding thread on "Planet Catfish", in the SA catfish Loricariids forum, and Jo from "Rare Aquatics" bred some of hers.

cheers Darrel


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## GHNelson (24 Jan 2011)

Hi   
That's the beauty of having a planted aquarium....you never know whats lurking in the hidden depths.
Anyway that's a nice find and very rare...... well done.
Its great when egg laying fish survive in a community set-up..... its all the more satisfying that the fry have lived long enough for you to see them.  
hoggie


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## Nelson (24 Jan 2011)

i used to give them cucumber and blanched courgette,but i've not had a shortage of diatoms lately   .

cheers Hoggie.only seen one,but hopefully it will survive   .


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## mlgt (24 Jan 2011)

Time for a different route in fishkeeping 

You seem to be able to raise CPD and ottos. 

Telling you something


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## ghostsword (24 Jan 2011)

Way to go mate, good result!


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## Nelson (5 Feb 2011)

well i had a bit of an accident on my last WC    .
but have just counted 41 new fry about 5mm    .


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## Garuf (5 Feb 2011)

41?!


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## Nelson (5 Feb 2011)

41 that i can see   .


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## George Farmer (5 Feb 2011)

Congrats, Neil!


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## mlgt (5 Feb 2011)

How long did it take to count 41? Are you sure


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## Nelson (6 Feb 2011)

mlgt said:
			
		

> How long did it take to count 41? Are you sure


so much doubt Rik.is your real name Thomas ?   .

took less than a minute to count as they were in plain view.there were probably more i didn't see.

i can only see 10 now though   .


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## mlgt (6 Feb 2011)

nelson said:
			
		

> mlgt said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes that is my chinese name. More than 41 ottos is a big feat. Well done on becoming a daddy.


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## Antoni (6 Feb 2011)

Thats awesome! I wish them all good health and a lot of luck surviving!


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## mlgt (11 Feb 2011)

Can you give us an update on this? Have you added some liquid fry food for them?


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## Nick16 (12 Feb 2011)

green water?


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## Nelson (12 Feb 2011)

i can only see a couple now.i'm hoping theres more in there still though.
will have to wait and see.

Rik.will they eat liquid fry food ?.i've read its just egg.


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## mlgt (12 Feb 2011)

I guess microworms or something will work?


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## flygja (13 Feb 2011)

Aren't otos vegetarian?


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## Nelson (13 Feb 2011)

flygja said:
			
		

> Aren't otos vegetarian?


thats what i was thinking.but i've now been told,by someone i regard highly,that oto fry need protiens.
so looks like Rik was right.oh boy i hate saying that    .


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## ghostsword (14 Feb 2011)

What about some dead fish? Get a piece of salmon there.  They should eat it. Or suck at it, or whatever they do.

I can't imagine otos chasing bloodwooms.


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## dw1305 (15 Feb 2011)

Hi all,
I've never seen my Otos show any interest in microworms, although they may be ingesting them when they are tangled up in the "aufwuchs". Some vegetables will provide relatively high levels of protein, Sweet Potato is the one that comes to mind. I think small fragments of sweet potato left to soften and develop a fungal & bacterial coating might provide a larval food source. I never saw mine as fry when they bred, the first time I saw a "fry", it was a large juvenile feeding on a slice of cucumber. This is from a successfull breeder of _Farlowella_ cat-fish, but I'd be fairly confident that it would be the same for _Otocinclus_ fry. 


> twig catfish fry would eat Spirulina Sticks because they quickly turn to a soft mush. However, it may be necessary to start the fry out in water only about 6 inches deep so they will be in closer proximity to the food.
> I would use an air stone and a sponge filter connected to a power head which has an adjustable flow rate so they have a current but not to strong. The sponge filter will collect bits of the Spirulina mush on the sponge surface where the fry may do most of their feeding. I would also provide a thin layer of fine silica sand on the bottom, pieces of wood and some broad leaved stemmed plants like Hygrophila or Ludwigia. Bits of Spirulina mush will settle on the leaves and provide the fry with more available feeding surface area.


cheers Darrel


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## Bartash (20 Mar 2011)

Wow very nice, very lucky man indeed


Carl


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## bigmatt (20 Mar 2011)

cunning deliberate cultivation of algae? In that case my Otos should be breeding like mad!


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