That's three otocinclus in the same picture. Just out of picture are two more, one on the driftwood behind them and one on the glass to the right. I counted six this morning. I have a good feeling about this group of otos. They are eating and active. All seem to have nice little round bellies! Now I'm actually concerned that my tank might not produce enough algae to keep them alive! I do feed algae wafers, for the cory cats (and the Bolivan rams seem to eat them, too) so it isn't as if they should go starving, but I have no idea if they know to go eat wafers. Anyway, they seem healthy. I had lost one but that's it right now. I was down to three but petsmart had a few in stock one Saturday that I dropped by. They looked active so I took them. It brought my total to 7, if I recall correctly. I lost one within a day or two. But, the rest seem to have thrived.
These two pictures show free-swimming Bolivian ram fry! I couldn't find two of the rams for a couple days. Now I know why. The were makin' babies. Again. I don't know if this is the same pair or now. But, this is the fourth batch of eggs. It is only the first time I've seen the babies make it to free swimming state, though. The first time, the eggs didn't hatch. He second time, some hatched but the fry didn't last long. The third time, the eggs hatched and we got a lot of wrigglers, but the parents moved them and I never saw them again.
This time, we have actual tiny swimming fish. There are a lot of them, too. I'd say there's at least 30 or more! I'm trying to get some food back there that hopefully they could eat. They are hanging out in the back corner of the tank, under the filter inlet. I have a sponge filter over the inlet, so it's relatively safe for them, there.
The parents are, of course, protective. I've seen them chase off cory cats a couple times already. I don't blame them as I think the corys would definitely eat the babies.
Here are a few eggs someone deposited on my anubias. I know for a fact they were not there last night. I think they were laid sometime this morning because I didn't notice/see them when I first looked at the tank in the morning. Then, after breakfast, they were there. I want to guess they belong to the neons. They have seemed very frisky, twitching around and chasing each other. I noticed a couple doing that in the area, too, so maybe. But, I really don't know who they belong to. I know I've got snails but, I thought they laid eggs on the glass, which I've seen a few times. I also noticed my cory cats doing some chasing and kind of frisky looking behavior (e.g. swimming very closely, over top of each other, etc.) but I haven't seen the "T" formation that corys make when they spawn.
I'd say the tank is going pretty well. I think the best thing for their health is the UV sterilizer. The water looks very clear and I think it's not a coincidence that having that installed is also when the otos are doing the best. The tank is a pleasure, right now. I have a good balance of flora and fauna right now. I even took out some of the cabomba the other day. The filter, UV sterilizer, plants, Seachem Purigen, etc. are all working to make great water quality.
I should say, I'm guessing about that. I haven't tested the water in a few weeks now. I guess it's like, the fish are spawning, the water looks clear, and it smells right, too, so, what would the tests tell me. The tank is fully cycled, so I know there's zero ammonia and nitrites. I suppose I could test the nitrate, but I think if it were high at all, no one would be spawning.
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