Piebald Otocinclus

[Aquadan]

Hello all, im new here.
So ive had Otocinclus in my community tank for some years and they have bread atleast once. Now, one of the babies has grown up to be what I think maybe Piebald. He has no obvious health defects, never had any disease in the tank. He behaves exactly the same as all the other Otocinclus in the tank. So, is he piebald? I cannot find any images anywhere online that look similar. And if I have more Piebald babies, would they have any value to anyone on here? Here's a picture. Can take more if anyone is interested.

 

[MattW]

Welcome to the forum

First off, congrats on breeding oto's! I have never seen that before in aquarium fish. I have had oto's have parts turn white, but that was due to injury or stress and was only temporary. So perhaps your oto is a tad different. I am interested in any more pics you have Interesting little guy!

 

[Back in the fold]

Yes , congratulations on breeding these fish . That’s certainly a feather in your cap and welcome indeed to our merry little band of fish nerds here on The Great TFF Forum . Nice to have you .

 

[GaryE]

I'm with the others. Well done. For a long time, it was thought Otos wouldn't be bred in aquarists' tanks.

I breed other fish, and the jury is out still on that individual. I get occasional mutants, and I also get developmental versions that have strange pigment deposition when they're young, but end up looking like the rest of the species as full adults. When I get a 'sport' like that, I'm never certain if it's going to be a permanent look.

You could try breeding for it if that interests you. Generally, if you aren't in a city with a dynamic, large aquarium society, you'd find distribution difficult. Producing a colour form in numbers is not easy, but if you're breeding Otoconclus, you have skills. Selling them, even if they become popular and coveted, is a lot harder.

I breed for wild forms, and don't cultivate mutations. I know people, especially with livebearers, that do, and they always seem to have outlets for their fish, with good clubs and networks. That is hard to find with fish like Otocinclus. It's hard with most fish. I've never solved it.

 

[Aquadan]

Thanks for the info. I couldn't find a single image of anything like him online. He's probably 3 years old now and has always looked like this.

 

[anewbie]

In truth it looks like someone attacked him at some point during his life - it might not be recent. What else occupy the aquarium ? While the picture is not detailed enough they look more like sucking marks.

 

[Aquadan]

Only corydoras and other peaceful fish have ever been in this tank He looked this as a baby.

 

[GaryE]

My side of the hobby is breeding, and so, I have seen many fry grow into adults. If the patterning is consistent, then you have a pigment issue. It could be a mutation, or it could be some manner of injury when he was tiny. It doesn't seem to have harmed him in any way.

Whatever the cause, his colours are "off". If you had a fishfarm, someone would try to fix a mutation that did that to market it as something different, but for a hobbyist, it would be hard. You could breed the fish to see if it appeared in the young, if linebreeding appeals to you.

 

[anewbie]

Only corydoras and other peaceful fish have ever been in this tank He looked this as a baby.

Just an fyi peaceful is relative. No fish is totally peaceful - well i suppose a dead one might be.

 

[Death by Fish Tanks]

Hello all, im new here.
So ive had Otocinclus in my community tank for some years and they have bread atleast once. Now, one of the babies has grown up to be what I think maybe Piebald. He has no obvious health defects, never had any disease in the tank. He behaves exactly the same as all the other Otocinclus in the tank. So, is he piebald? I cannot find any images anywhere online that look similar. And if I have more Piebald babies, would they have any value to anyone on here? Here's a picture. Can take more if anyone is interested.View attachment 382177

I dunno if it's piebald, but congratulations on breeding your Otto cats. That's no small feat!