Otocinclus fry??

[mbrearley]

We have hundreds of little light colored specs swimming in the tank. They seem to be acting like the adult Otocinclus as far as cleaning rocks, the aquarium glass, the piece of driftwood, etc... Could these be fry? Even when they appear to number in the hundreds?

They are in a ten gallon tank with live plants, a few mollies, cory cats, a single Gold Stripe Panaque and 5 Otocinclus.

The only addition we've had to the tank recently has been the Otocinclus about 3 weeks ago. The plants have been in the tank for years and all the fish except the Gold Stripe Panaque were born/hatched there and raised from fry (only left a few of each and moved the rest to a larger tank). The Gold Stripe Panaque was added months ago.

[Damon]

Possible but highly unlikely. More likely copepods or planaria.

[bomb-]

It is rare for an Otocinclus to lay eggs in captivity. I doubt that they are. Did you notice any eggs on your plant leaves or glass before?

Do they look like this:

[Scuba Kid]

My guess would be planaria.

[mbrearley]

The question is... How would copepods or planaria have gotten into the tank? Can they come in through water changes? We have city water, so I'd think it would be unlikely.

As far as them spawning, we do have at least three fry that are 1/4 inch long. We had originally had two Otocinclus in the tank for at least a month before we added the other three, so these fry probably came from them. I should have mentioned that in my original post, but it was very late and I forgot.

Seeing as it's very difficult to find any spawning info on these, could they have up to 200 fry at one time? I'll attempt to get some good pictures, but with the size of them, it's been difficult.

--
Mike

[mbrearley]

After trying to get a better look, they seem like little round bugs (nothing like a worm). The seem to go from one rock to another crawling around on them, apparently eating. I've tried to get a good picture, but they are just too small for the image to come out good enough.

--
Mike

[Damon]

In either case they are usually harmless and will be eaten by bigger fish. They are a sign of a poorly maintained tank. Clean the gravel well and increse your waterchanges to get rid of them.