How to Breed Otocinclus Affinis: The Whole Process 

Hello, are you 100% certain that this is Affinis and not Vittatus? They look at bit too small to be fully grown Affinis...

Please how you know different between female and male

Are you gonna answer??

ive been told diatoms // brown algae can be eaten by otto fry

Yes!!

Best of luck!! Let me know if you have any questions

Thank you for following my journey!

Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to watch!

Great to hear!

Good luck! Every experience is worth sharing.

Thank you and good luck!

They are my favorite fish in the whole world too, I couldn’t live without them

They’re one of the absolute easist fish to breed

Feat

@@nikolaj1316 😂ok

Thank you!

Thank you! it’s thanks to the otos mostly ♥️

Thank you! It did work out! I have a follow up video on what to feed the fry :)

Awesome! You might wanna check out my other videos in the series as well, it’s in my breeding otocinclus playlist :)

Good luck!!

Congrats!! Let me know how it goes!

I hope they do for you! They’re absolutely my favorite fish

Exactly!

I’m so glad I could inspire you! And your daughter has good taste 🥰

Thanks!

Awesome!!

creepy

The shrimp will leave the fry alone, not sure about the eggs but I’m about to discover that sooner or later because I just got shrimp :) just have lots of plants and the eggs should survive

That is really disappointing and sad. I will always share information to help these pets, not profit off of them. And that is information we need to protect their habitat and stop catching them.

I am very proud

Tabby Fen yes I definitely believe it’s a big factor! Imitates rainfall in the wild

Be careful with the mollies! They might eat the fry

it has been 2 months. a update please

Check out my other videos! We got success!

Best of luck! For any questions feel free to ask here :)

I’ve been taking a break. It’s been rewarding but also really stressful and took a huge toll on my mental health because since I only have my own experience and info to go off of, a lot of factors (like them randomly dying off) really depressed me. I want more people to try with me and I will make more videos to inspire it, but right now I’m drained. :(

I would suggest getting at least two more! Otocinclus should be in a shoaling group of at least 6 :)

@@finsandwhiskers Thanks for your suggestion, I may get 4 more soon, total 8

But that’s a good thing!!

@@finsandwhiskersnot if you don’t want them. I only have them as tank cleaners. My bettas are what matter. If I find the eggs, I will remove them

@@NEnigma777 such a shame.

6-7 hours because of co2 recently

Good luck!!

Al Bee great to hear! Keep me informed! I’ve been struggling with the snails eating the eggs though :( and not sure if neos will also munch on them. I add water straight from the tap (no chlorine or chloramines here) I run cold water, but for some reason it does heat up after it’s been running a while. Tank has never exceeded 71-78f though, and 75f (23c?) seems to be the steady temp. Sorry about the use of the imperial system, stuck in my american habit 💀

@@finsandwhiskers Uhhh, never thought about the snails going for the eggs... maybe I'll put up a trap and resettle a bunch into my pond. I'm not very worried about the shrimps, the population isn't that big yet, they have lot of options to eat and mostly hang out in the frogbit or between roots and stones but I'll observe. If I'm lucky... and if I spot them, I'm going to put a few of the eggs into a small nursery inside the tank. Many ifs... fingers crossed. Tomorrow I'm going to get a few more otos (4-6), because I hate to admit it... but four just isn't enough for them to have that proper schooling behaviour. They are calm and relaxed, they eat very well and I can spot them all the time although there are lots of hiding spaces. But I rarely see them swimming together. Sometimes they play a bit together, munch on a leave or relax together... but most of the time I find them grazing solo. Nothing that really worries me too much, but compared to bigger groups I've seen, they seem a bit off. They would be happier in a bigger group, that's for sure. So far I'm very pleased with my store. Bought four... all made it. I'm going to ask them if they are imports or from a local breeder. Best of luck Shine (If that's how you spell it) and thanks for the response!

Al Bee turns out the snails ate the eggs accidentally when I turned the lights off every night! I think leaving the light on during the time fixes this. :) also, I agree. A bigger shoal is always better!

@@finsandwhiskers Hmmm that sucks... but what about the circadian rhythm, don't they need it? Sadly my store ran out of otos... maybe they get new ones on thursday. Since I couldn't get more, I did a big waterchange yesterday and put in 6 corydoras pygmaeus beacause I read that they form sometimes shoals with otos. Makes sense... they live in the same region, look quite similar in terms of coloration and fins... have quite similar movement patterns... are peaceful... And indeed... they really enjoy each others company sooooo much! They often form shoals now and gilde in a group of 7-9 through the tank or search the ground for food. I'ts so satisfying to know they are much happier and more active now! But I wouldn't want to add more fish to the tank. It's a 57l (12.5 gallon) 60cm (2 feet) long tank with lots of structure and vegetation so there's a good amount of surface, but when I get another 6 otos it would be maxed out imho... so the corydoras will most likely move to another tank then. In the other tank I will also stock them up to 10, they are really just adorable and will get along well with the rasbora merah. In regards of the water change. It really did the trick! The females chased up and down like crazy several times today, but it didn't seem to trigger the males that much. On the other hand I didn't have very much time today to watch them, so who knows? I found a couple otos two times in some sort of "T-Position" but there was always food involved, so I don't think that was mating... he kind of wrapped himself around her head, but not enough like yours did. Anyway, if something changes or I spot something I'll keep you updated.

Al Bee my lights have a dimmer so at night I keep it on the lowest setting (1). It’s just for a week until they are able to free swim! Glad to hear your temporary solution is working! Cories and otos are like wholesome friends, but so glad to hear you still plan on getting that perfect oto shoal!

I am sorry to hear about the loss of your otos. It is more than likely because their gut bacteria died in the previous owner's care, and so there was not anything you could do by the time it was in your care. People often underfeed Otocinclus to the point where the good bacteria in them dies, and that can only lead to their fatal death. I will be making a complete care guide on otocinclus, but most likely you will need to get otos from someone who feeds them well, have round tummies, and look vibrant. Ask the person what they feed them before deciding to purchase! And to answer your other q, I did a fish in cycle with otos using two sponge filters from their previous tank. I also transferred the plants and substrate from that tank to this one. Afterwards, I just dosed Prime once a week to keep any chance of a spike in check, until I was completely sure it was cycled, which did not take long.

Fins & Whiskers thank you. Funny thing, the lfs where I got them still have Otos. They told me my water quality was bad and needed to get my nitrate levels down. My surviving oto is active and his belly looks round and keeps on munching away. I just hope he won’t die from being solo. Not sure how to get my nitrates lower with only changing 10% PWC each week as recommended by them.

Julio how old is your tank? How often are your water changes? What’s your readings?

Fins & Whiskers tank is a month and a half old. Used media and gunk from my already established tank and cycled it in 3 weeks. I currently have 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 40 nitrates I use prime and stability to help.

Not exactly! My frequently asked questions about otos video explains how to tell!

I have! We still lacked a lot of information so I thought I’d bring my own series. I also have a video on what to feed the fry and later we will see them grow to adult ☺️

@@finsandwhiskersAh nice! The more information on breeding this species te better! How much colder was the water you did the water change with by the way? ;)

@@OutdoorPeter Sorry just saw your question. It never reaches below 71f even with water changes!

Thank you!

@@finsandwhiskers That's ok! my grandma's fish had babies and they're finally changing colour (they're koi)!

Did this work?

At 4:29 you can see what the eggs look like in a macro shot :) they are quite clear

Males are much smaller, usually short in size. Females are longer and their stomachs are larger as well.

It’s all worth considering! While some have reported to have seen them mating even with other tankmates around, they definitely can feel more confident without them!

Sí, es cierto. Muchas Gracias!

But the egg looks more yellow/clear in my tank, what did you feed the fry? My otos are in a community/sorority tank with female bettas, guppies,ramshorns,danios, an Cory's!

If you go to my playlists I have a series called Breeding Otocinclus, you’ll find many helpful videos there including feeding the fry, and even just keep adults alive! Good luck and congratulations!! Keep me updated ♥️

I will say the eggs probably won’t survive with your stock :(

They can and do eat live foods and proteins are fine. that misinformation has been going on for too long. Honestly there’s barely a true herbivore fish when it comes to bottom feeders

@@finsandwhiskers okay, thank you!

Usually it’s a water change before they start doing the mating call

@@finsandwhiskers Well they are doing the mating call rn so I'm hoping for the best🤭. Thanks for the quick answer!

No problem and good luck!!

Females have more rounder and prominent stomachs! They also tend to be longer than males. Males are short and don’t have as prominent stomachs

@@finsandwhiskers Oki thank you so much !

The parameters are in the video!

Good luck man!! I just started a separate fry tank. We’ve raised one to adult if you’ve seen the playlist. Ready to breed again 💪🏼

Ahora sí!!

They eat more than just algae, in fact you’ll likely be feeding more protein and greens than algae! Pellets and algae wafers as well. They’re not true herbivores so they can what other fish eat, and even more than other fish (since they need to eat all the time)

@@finsandwhiskers I ordered some algae wafers and because I don’t have a lot of food for them im blanching zucchini every night and might give them some sweet potato later. That’s reassuring though that I can feed other things thank you.

My first go with Otos was not good, but I waited another 6 months to try again and they have been thriving now. What seemed to do the trick is 1- having ample amount of leaf litter in the tank (they feed on the microorganisms that populate the rotting leaves) and 2-every other evening I put repashy soilent green in the tank. They love that stuff. I place it in the same location and within 15 mins I always catch them eating in that corner. Essentially they’re now trained that food will appear in the same spot and look for it

They don't! It would be safe, but ideally you would want to keep the fry in their own tank so you can selectively feed necessary concentrations/make sure they are eating enough.

@@finsandwhiskers thank you very much

Thanks!

aww, no spare tank?

Yes! Take a look at my “fry to adult” video in the breeding Otocinclus playlist!

I will be making a video on taking care of the fry! I would recommend separating the fry if you see them because a betta’s natural instinct will be to go after something so small.

Yes!!

There’s no way to control what kind of algae grows in your tank, almost everyone’s water conditions are going to be different. Maybe if we had more studies it would be well known, but for now home grown algae isn’t a consistent source for the fry. Powder is better