Otocinclus - pregnant or ill?

[Desewer]

Pics attached. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

[johannes]

It doesn't look ill to me, in fact it is gravid bro!
You can actually see the eggs just below the stomach area.

[Desewer]

sweet!

i have 3 oto's in my 2-footer and i don't know the m/f ratio, didn't even bother to find out. after all, they're there for algae control hehehe

i'd be skeptical of the eggs surviving and hatching, and thereafter the fry surviving. my tank conditions are unknown, just a typical planted tank with co2. i have a few yamatos, 20+ cardinals, 1 SAE, 3 oto's, that's it.

it's cool to have a preggy oto in there, though. heh

[o2bubble]

i have ottos like that before and they all died very soon. Hopefully yours are different symptom from mine.

[apistomaster]

Could a very ripe female but it could also be exaggerated by internal parasites.
Unless Otocinclus are given their own breeding tank, a permanent colony, you would never save any fry. Almost all Otocinclus spawns are accidental so the best you can do in any deliberate spawning attempt is to set up a colony. You make also keep a colony of Cherry Shrimp with the Otocinclus colony. The shrimp will not harm eggs, larvae and fry.