Back around the first of the year Petsmart was having a sale on Otocinclus for $1 each. Each spring for the past couple of years I’ve wanted to try spawning these fish so I picked up a couple bags for a later project.
![Otos eating Repashy gel](https://i0.wp.com/ballaquatics.com/ba-wp/wp-content/uploads/1024x498-001.jpg?resize=300%2C145&ssl=1)
They have been eating lots of Repashy “Soilent Green” and fattened up very nicely.
The spawning set-up is a standard 10 gallon tank with some anubias and crypts. It has a course black substrate and the water is very soft being almost pure rain water. I have a small heater set to keep the temperature at 78 °F.
![Otocinclus fry Otocinclus fry](https://i0.wp.com/ballaquatics.com/ba-wp/wp-content/uploads/640x480-fry-005.jpg?resize=240%2C180&ssl=1)
The fish must be happy because today while doing water changes I found the first fry!
If I can get these fry to adult hood it will be interesting to see if tank raised Otos are a bit more hardy than the store bought variety.
Here are some photos of the fry just a couple of days later…..
![Otocinclus fry Otocinclus fry](https://i0.wp.com/ballaquatics.com/ba-wp/wp-content/uploads/640x480-fry-001.jpg?resize=252%2C190&ssl=1)
![Otocinclus fry Otocinclus fry](https://i0.wp.com/ballaquatics.com/ba-wp/wp-content/uploads/640x480-fry-003.jpg?resize=240%2C180&ssl=1)