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Thread: My spawing Otocinclus affinis (perhaps O. vittatus?)

  1. #1
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    My spawing Otocinclus affinis (perhaps O. vittatus?)

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    Folks,
    I'm extremely pleased that the spawning of Otocinclus affinis has finally become a reality for me. It's been a much awaited event and after trying for 6 years, feel very privileged to capture the spawning sequence in images as well as AVI Video format.


    Courtship sounds like a scene from a 'R' movie, where the male actually caress the entire length of the female's body

    Before every 'drop', the pair cleans the deposit-spot very thoroughly.


    In typical Corydoras 'T-position', the male arches up while the female nuzzles at his organ (sheesh... how else can I describe this? )


    A blurry shot of 3 freshly deposited eggs.


    If all things go well, I want to shoot pics of newly hatched Oto fry and decided to snip off the fern for closer observation.


    The cory hatchery worked well and since Otos's natural habitat is mostly swift streams, the constant flow of highly oxygenated water should do the developing eggs good.

    pH test strip

    pH reading was about 6.5 and TDS at 102ppm (78ppm directly from mains)

    We're smack in the middle of the Monsoon season and typically, it's the coolest time of the year (the rest of it being hot, hotter and bluddy hot!)

    If cool water is the key to successful spawnings, I'll bite the bullet and invest in a DIY chiller, or move Bishop, CA and become Wright's neighbour!

    There were many spawning runs, mostly on the underside of meticulously cleaned java fern leaves. Here's another sequence.


    The .avi files is even more interesting to watch but I'll upload it to our forum only after it's 'protected' (watermark or whatever).

    Stay tuned folks.
    I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
    Ronnie Lee

  2. #2
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    Congratulations, Ronnie. You're the first hobbyist I know whose Otos are breeding in his tanks. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of planted tank hobbyists who keep this fish in their tanks and I've often wondered why we don't hear of anyone breeding Otos.

    As I've said once, you're one superb fish breeder.

    Loh K L

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    Wow! You sure have the touch for spawning things Ron. Great work...Temperature I feel does play a part along with good food.

    Regards
    Peter Gwee :wink:

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    Thanks for the thumbs up, Kwek Leong. I can only think of 3 good reasons why Oto spawning is rare or accidental.

    Firstly, these Otos are in a tank of their own with Cherry shrimps, in a refugium-like setup. Lots of plants, no gravel and good cool water from the Henri filters.

    I've also been tinkering with their diet, a good varied diet of mostly live foods, plankton and spirulina tabs and my home-made paste. Most 'planted tank hobbyists' are plants first, fishes second, and in order to maintain certain water parameters optimized for plants, the fishes are often grossly undernourished.

    Finally, the reading from the digi thermos is no hoax. It is indeed very cool along the corridor, breezy too, and together with the Henri filters, my tank has never been this cool. Like I said, if cold water is the key, I want a chiller!
    I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
    Ronnie Lee

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    Peter, I love breeding but can't bring myself to work on a 4th kid!

    You're right about the temp tho. It isn't just Otos spawning... the corydoras and my other killies are 'making whoopie' like there's no tomorrow!
    I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
    Ronnie Lee

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    Ron, you ever consider taking up politic? Singapore government need your service as they need more Singaporean. Errrr no avi or any recoding please.

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    Quote Originally Posted by keehoe
    Ron, you ever consider taking up politic? Singapore government need your service as they need more Singaporean
    I never fail to love shoving my thumb up 'where the sun don't shine' whenever political subjects are brought up but if public funds cannot keep those scholars ticking their think-tank, then that's good money going down the drain.

    If they need more Singaporeans, let the 'smarter upper level' earn their keep or they can quit driving good people out.

    Top brasses are recommending 5-day week despite economic forecast not being rosy, nor have super-scale salaries been appropriately adjusted (since their pay are 'in line' with economic development and IIRC, averaged from 5 top-paying private sectors).

    When banks, local broadcast stations have to merge, when goverment housing sectors and national airline have to retrench, the upperity clout can screw themselves silly as far as I'm concern, . It doesn't make a difference as at the end of the day, most of us are getting short changed anyway.

    Kee Hoe, one teeny itsy bitsy advice. Never bring up or suggest polly talk with me (even if it's a joke). Don't like it, never will. No thank you, so let's drop it like a dead cow.

    FWIW, waiting for Oto fry to appear is infinitely more exciting.
    I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
    Ronnie Lee

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    Congratulations on the Otto fry!
    Deborah

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    Quote Originally Posted by Piscesgirl
    Congratulations on the Otto fry!
    Deborah, I suspect you've confused the cory fry for otos but well wishes gladly accepted anyway :wink:

    Folks,
    This is gonna be a Killies.com exclusive. I've not seen anything like this on the Net yet, ie. pictures of newly hatched Otocinclus fry still attached to the leaf, like a cocoon. Unfortunately, they are non-clickable... it's the best I can do.




    The minimal focusing distance was not close enough and I cheated with a magnifier pressed firmly against the camera's lens. That reduced the distance but clearly, the resolution could be better. I also didn't like the fact that the metal rim of the magnifying lens, casted a nasty shadow.

    I'm puzzled that I can find only one fry when there were supposed to be three. It could be that these have hatched, dislodged themselves from the deposit site and are now entangled at the filter pad of the hatchery. Hopefully, they will wriggle their way out later for more photo shoot.

    The fry is small, about 2mm, with obvious egg sac. At this stage, they are extremely venerable, that a scavenging shrimp can make a quick snack out of it.

    I inspected the spawning tank and see a few more dangling fry but decided not to remove any. The only inhabitants in this tank are otos and cherry shrimps. Hopefully, there's sufficient refuge and first-foods for the tiny ones until they are stable enough to be transferred.

    Thinking aloud, I now understand why accidental oto spawns are rarely reported. We can't readily see them and at birth, predation must be very high.

    I so wanted to get closer images but limited by the capability of the digital camera, there's not much I can do. Damn... think I'm gonna get me a trinocular microscope or a used objective lens off ebay
    I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
    Ronnie Lee

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    Oh wow! Where are the eyes?

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    Hi Ron,

    That's fast, hatching in 48 hrs!

    Well, it'll be interesting to see what would be the 1st food for them, I wonder if BBS can be fed to them, as they seemed quite small.

    Like I told you, the closest I've gotten to an otto spawn, is to find 2 little ottos in my 4 fter when I tore them down last year, so you can claim to have been the official 1st spawning of these cute fishes!

    What can I say, spawning fishes seems Otto-matic for you, haha!

    And I had the previlege to have the premierre viewing of the otto spawning video clip, thanks!!!

    Cheers,

    Kenny

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    Ronnie,
    You are one super breeder ! However, considering the amount of time, care, $ and love you invested into them, I am not surprised at all ;-)
    If you are into Nature, check out the new NSS Nature Forum.
    See my Nature photos and Butterfly Blog

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    Well, the amount of time, care, $, doesn't always equal success, so I think
    it's partly due to Ronnie's abilities! Well done, Ronnie!

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    Congrats on the Otto fry! See I wasn't confused, I was just psychic! (clairvoyent)! hehe :P Now, if only I could 'see' those lotto numbers....
    Deborah

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    Ronnie,

    There's a chance some fish magazine may ask you to write an article on how you bred the Otos. Keep the original pictures somewhere safe.

    The fry are cute and look like tiny tadpoles. I've always thought Otos are vegetarians as I have never seen them rushing for the food like SAEs do.

    By the way, I think I should let you have my pair of Empire Gudgeons. There's no sign of eggs although the male showed its spawning colours several times. You want them?

    Loh K L

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    Thanks all for the compliments. I've not been feeling well and resting away from the PC. Many apologies to those who were eagerly waiting for updates.

    Right now, I feel like a derailled train but let's see what I can cover post-by-post.

    Joseph ('nonamethefish'),
    The fry are really tiny and translucent. Viewing it under a magnifier doesn't throw out alot of details either, nor can I can see those eyes. [time to get a real scope! Anyone want to buy an Olympus Auto bellow for macro work?]

    Kenny,
    From my online research, incubation is at least 3 days. How mine hatches in 24 is puzzling and I'll work on the video clip shortly (unless someone else offer to help with the editing)

    Gan & Bill,
    The best I can do is provide what I think is best; security, diet and a love-nest. My abilities don't mean a hoot if the breeders "don't like it".

    Kwek Leong,
    I uploaded many images for online storage and in CDR, even before I posted the thread, so there's no need to worry about safekeeping at my end. Thanks.

    It's flattering, to even imagine, that the Otos' spawning episode will get published in a fish mag. I have little technical details to offer, am a lousy photographer and a worse writer. I'm curious what prompted you to say that?

    For Empire Gudgeons (Hypseleotris compressa), I have a 3-inch pair that's well conditioned, but not doing a thing. They're on 'loan', both very plumb and from what I researched on, raising 'em fry will be hell. Mucho gracias for the Gudgeon offer but I have my hands (and tanks) full at the moment.

    Folks, ok ok... I hear you (where's the darn updates!)

    First I must say that after I've calmed from the excitment of witnessing a hatched Oto fry, it dawned on me what to feed the little fellas. I can whip up a batch of spirulina/algae-based paste, the closest diet I can think of, even though it didn't do much good to a brood of whiptail fry* in my previous home.

    The single clinging fry posted earlier finally broke free from the deposit site, as did others in the main breeding tank, but I'm afraid that the little fella didn't make it.


    It's unclear what happened but I'll do a partial siphon from the main tank for any mobile fry. More updates when my brain catches up with the rest of my body.


    *
    Rineloricaria parva, The Whiptail Catfish by Helen Burns
    Whiptail catfish by Mike Edwardes
    Reclassification to Hemiloricaria parva
    I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
    Ronnie Lee

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    Quote Originally Posted by hobbit6003

    And I had the previlege to have the premierre viewing of the otto spawning video clip, thanks!!!
    Me just watch the film in a little room from the reflection I can see a clear image of Mr Ronwill peeking at them.

    So now the difficult part is how to edit the video without those reflection.
    hehe.

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    The single clinging fry posted earlier finally broke free from the deposit site, as did others in the main breeding tank, but I'm afraid that the little fella didn't make it.
    He seems to of still had quite a sizable yolk sack. Maybe he broke free prematurely? A problem with temperature maybe?

    Feeding the fry, you can try some real dirty plant leaves or bits of algae scraped from the side of a tank.

    Hope you deliver some good news soon about the rest of the fry!

    tt4n

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    Sorry to hear you have not been feeling well -- hope that you feel better soon!
    Deborah

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    Quote Originally Posted by RonWill
    Kenny,
    From my online research, incubation is at least 3 days. How mine hatches in 24 is puzzling and I'll work on the video clip shortly (unless someone else offer to help with the editing)
    Hi Ron,

    Hmm... water chemistry perhaps? Well, I think it is always good to standby some test kits, just so that when the fish spawn again, we can then do some testing of the water and have an idea what made them tick, and what's probably wrong.

    I wonder if the water softness or acidity has anything to do with this premature hatching? We only tested TDS that day and it read aprrox. at 100.

    I hope that you do find some surviving ones in there, but in the meantime, keep on trying!


    Cheers,

    Kenny

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