Pics from 11/29:

Here's a couple shots of the newest arrivals. The first two are (1) day olds:





This guy is (1) week old:

11/30: Found another shrimp passed away. Not a good sign. Down to just a few now.

Did a 20% water change with gravel vac. Had to do some rearranging with the plants as well. Pretty much the same layout. Will be thinning a couple plants in the crypt jungle. Maybe removing a few of the smaller crypts and two of the longer Cryptocoryne Balansae. Need to get some more Ludwigia.

On a plus note: New shrimpies arrived today. Hopefully they will fit in just fine.

Trying to get somewhat of a count of the wigglers in there. It doesn't look good this go around.

Water Test Today:


Will be doing another 15% partial on the main tank this evening using spring water. I am still waiting for our well water to clear up to do water changes on all the other tanks.

I'm a little discouraged as I could only count (6) wigglers from this batch. Hopefully there are more hiding in the crypt jungle.

Newly added shrimp are doing fine. No casulties over night.

Zucchini almost gone. Prepping new pieces.

20% water change done on the juvie tank. Removed lots of pond snails with several more to go.

Thinning of the crypt jungle has began. My plan is to rremove (2) of the Balansae's and maybe (3) of the assorted's. You want to talk about root systems. WOW! I'm taking some pics as I go. This root system is amazing. It pretty much covers half the tank. The whole right side.

On a little bit of a plus note, I found (8) wigglers today. Hopefully more will surface.

Turning on the air stone during this process for increased circulation and aeration. Stiring up a bit of mulm.

Need to give Boris a break. Him and mom and pop Oto just didn't seem to interested in leaving their corner. No matter how much I disturbed it. Boris extended his syphon longer than I've ever seen (gotta pic too). He eventually got to the top and and started his pump to gather more air. Then back to the bottom. He's currently working himself out of the crypt jungle. Will go back down in a few and finish up.

Now my dilema...the root systems were so entwined that I basically uprooted everything on the right side of the tank. So now I have to contimplate removing all the crypts and replanting once the roots are all seperated.

It's official....the crypt jungle is no more...for now. I went ahead and dismantled the entire jungle. Will incorporate a 20% water change with gravel vac where the jungle once was. I will rebuild it with most of what was removed. I will have several crypts left over.

By doing this (and it was unintentional I might add), stirred up the fry. Count is now at least (15). These were just on the front and right sides panes. Didn't check the left or back of the tank.

Main goal is build the jungle back and let the water clear. I'm letting things settle right now so I can do the vac. I rinsed out the pre-filter to help gather up particles.

Here's some shots of the work in the Crypt jungle:

This is the beginning:


Seperating Roots....what a job!


After a few have been removed: The divot on the right was caused during the seperation of the first plant. The root system was that long.


Almost all removed. These two remain floating as they are the bigger ones.

Starting to replant now. Boy..It sure does look bare. It's a bit cloudy right now so giving it a break to clear up so I can get a better view. May need to readjust what is currently in there before adding any others. Will have to assess to see how many I want to put back.

Clearing up nicely....I can see what it looks like now.



You can see all the major players in this pic as well. Boris up top..mom and pop Oto in at the bottom.

Will add about three more smaller ones and that should do it. I have to straighten up a couple of them and maybe move around a couple. Other than that, I think I was able to keep the same look. Now the debate is whether or not to add another Balansae or not. (I really need to ID this guy to make sure it is the right species )

Disaster strikes the Juvie tank. Came home and found (7) dead! OMG! No clue what could have been the cause unless the water is still fouled. Not good. I immediately turned on the air stone. Will be doing another water change shortly. Poured out the old water in the jugs and replaced with new.

Main tank still looks ok. Found a few fry as before the change. No casualties found from the replant.

Just did another check. No further casualties found thank goodness. All remain extremely active and show no signs of stress. Has to have been something with that water change.

Preping zuc for both tanks. Didn't get a chance to work on the main tank today. The lack of the Balansae's definately made a difference with the lighting. May have to add more crypts to compensate for that.

Just checked. No further losses. Feel much better now. I was dreading the daily check on them.

Continuing with the replant of the main tank. After a couple of days, it is obvious that the Balansae was the main shadow maker in the tank. We'll see

20% water changes in both main and juvie tank. Could only find one fry in the main tank. Guess my replant of the crypt jungle may have led to badness.

Need to get the other juvies out of the main tank and into their own. May work on that this weekend.

Water Test today:



Found another fry in the main tank. That makes (2) that have been found from last batch of eggs. Two more crypts added back to the tank.

Zucchini added.

Been a spell since I've updated this. All continues to go well. Mama Oto is really showing at the moment. Need to remove more of the juvies out of the main tank into the juvie tank.

Speaking of Juvies....here's a fresh video of them. They were really active.

Wow, they were active James! Very nice video...so how many oto fry do you have all together?

There are 29 in this tank. I have another 13 in the main tank I need to move over.

Cool. I just added plants to my 20 gallon (actually going to add a bit more) but once I start to see algae growth, I'll probably add 1 or 2 otos to help keep it clean. They look like they would be a nice addition to a community tank.

That would be a great algae clean up crew!

I set another trap in the main tank to try and catch some more juvies. Only catch so far is shrimp. Go figure. They know me too well.

I've decided to try the net as much as I hate to. Already moved over (3).

Trimmed some plants and finishing the scaping at the same time.