New DP playground

[ashes]

I'm feeding the Otos algae wafers, blanched zucchini, and spinach. I'm not depending on the algae in the tank to feed them. They're fairly active today. They have all survived the first 24 hours. Some of them are chasing each other, but some are pacing up and down the glass. Hopefully the pacing gets better. They have not discovered the algae wafer or zucchini yet. It might take them a few days to figure out it's food.

The ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all at 0, despite a lot of decomposing plant stuff in the water. The plants seem to be absorbing all the ammonia.

I'm not planning to add more plants right now. I'll see how everything grows in. The java fern is trying to attach itself to the center pieces of wood.

[JRC3]

I have never been lucky enough to have them eat any thing but what actually grows in the tank. Mine have never even noticed wafers, sinking pellets, zuchinni and cucumber, or any other offered foods. I hope you have some algae in the tank just in case you have the same luck.

Good luck.

[ashes]

They must have been eating something at the fish store. They're in good condition, and have a nice shape.

They ignored the algae wafer, but one of them chewed on the zucchini for a few minutes. Next time I'll boil it longer to make it softer.

Is it normal for them to pace up and down the glass? Could something be wrong?

[JRC3]

When I blanch zucchini for the snails I just cut a piece around <1/8" and put it in a coffee cup with about an ounce of water and I nuke it for about 35 seconds. Nice and easy and the zucchini is nice and soft but still maintains it's shape.

I have these reptile plants (below) hanging on at the back glass of most of my tanks and I find the otos love to hide in them. The tops of these fake plants are also close to the light so the grow plenty of algae for food. They come with a suction cup for hanging and the palnts are also great for hiding filter tubes and heaters.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2752569

Here is an old pic of my first tank with one hanging in the back. http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0226.jpg I chose that pic because the tank had little decor and you can see the hanging plant pretty well. There is also a RFUG filter powerhead with a prefilter as well as a heater behind it.

[Pufferpunk]

Plants don't absorb ammonia, they feed on the nitrate (nitrogen) in the water & detritus in the substrate for their roots.

[ashes]

The tank is over 4 weeks old. Plants were added 3 weeks ago. Oto's added last week. I test for ammonia and nitrates often, and they're always 0.

I'm planning to add cherry shrimp tomorrow. They may or may not become puffer food.

There are a few pond snails in the tank too. They accidentally came with the plants. So the puffers will have something to eat as soon as they're added to the tank. I'm breeding red ramshorn snails in a separate 8 gallon tank, bare bottom with a Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov' plant tied to wood.

I feed the Oto's, snails, and cherry shrimp, organic zucchini. The Oto's seem to prefer zucchini over spinach, and ignore algae wafers. The snails like anything new, whether it's spinach, zucchini, or cucumber.

I'm making snail food out of vegetable baby food (for humans), sinking catfish pellets (soaked in sugar-free fruit juice for babies, until they're liquid), liquid calcium (for humans, found at the pharmacy), blended together and mixed with agar-agar to make jello. Reptile calcium and vitamin supplements I found contained copper sulfate, so I decided not to use it. Agar-agar (vegan gelatin substitute) contains less copper than gelatin, after it is prepared, so that's why I prefer it. I found Agar at an oriental grocery store, in the isle next to the baking powder. I pour the liquid jello into "ice cube bags", to make cubes sealed in plastic. The bag can be cut with scissors after the jello hardens, to be frozen and defrosted individually. My demands are pretty small, so 1 cube can be cut up and refrigerated depending how much the snails eat.

I'm making a vegetarian version (no catfish pellets or added calcium) of the jello for my Otocinclus. Hopefully they will like it.

I also add Seachem Equilibrium to the snail tank, to bring the general hardness up to 200ppm and calcium up to 80ppm. There are cheaper ways to add calcium, but at the scale I'm doing this it's not worth it to me to find calcium in bulk.

I'm waiting to add the puffers. I would like the plants to get taller, and I don't think there is enough microorganism development yet to handle the bio-load. There is a fungus growing on all my wood. I'm using this fungus as a gauge for the microbe development. Eventually this fungus is supposed to go away and be replaced by more familiar clear slime. When that happens I think the tank will be mature enough for puffers.

I also do a 5% water change each day, sometimes 10%. 50% weekly change for the snail tank.

I count the Oto's daily, and they're all still with us. So far so good.

[ashes]

I have some new pictures with the animals. My camera and I are not great at taking photos through water, but these are not bad.

This is one of my Otocinclus:


Another one:


An Otocinclus with a Cherry Shrimp:


Several Ototcinclus and a Cherry Shrimp:


All the animals seem to be doing well.

The Oto's all have round bellies that remind me of the pot belly on a kitten. I vacuum up after the Oto's daily and I see they're eating quite a bit.

The Cherry Shrimp were very curious during their first day in the tank. They swam across open water, and never stayed in the same place while they explored the tank. They are lucky no predators were around. I added Java Moss for them too. Today the shrimp are much calmer, and pretty much stay in the same place. They like being on wood or plants, and dislike being on the sand.

The Oto's seem to get out of the way of the Cherry Shrimp. The Oto's are social with each other and don't mind bumping into each other, but don't want to touch the shrimp.

One of the Anubias grew a new leaf, that hasn't unfolded yet, and the tiger lotus have grown new leaves too.