Suspected Otocinclus breeding in community planted tank

I am using magnolia leaves in my planted Rio 125, to lure some snails which I then pick off every morning. The tank houses four Apistogramma cacatuoides, two otocinclus sp., ten golden pencilfish and five cardinal tetras, plus four scissortail rasboras which must find a new home sooner or later, as they bully the others into submission. On Sunday, I found an egg, about 1 mm, sticking to one of the leaves. I was unsure about putting it back into the tank, so I gently moved it to a plastic container that I floated in the tank. Lo and behold, yesterday, a little wriggler appeared! I have only one possible suspect (well both of them) - the Otos. And now it leaves me wondering how many eggs they might have laid and what has been happening to them. Also whether it is worth trying to set up a breeding aquarium, which I hardly have time for at the moment. As for the little guy, I am going to try milled down sinking pellets, and a tiny bit of spirhulina, which should settle to the bottom and allow it to mop it up. Obviously talking picogram quantities here. And I broke a few pieces of magnolia leaf off and transferred that.

What I would appreciate is if anyone has had similar experience, and especially in raising the fry of Otocinclus. How many days from hatching until feeding starts, what to feed when, things like that. I can't bend my entire schedule around it, so it has to be fairly low tech, if possible.

 

@dorff, I have no experience with them but I would imagine that they have the egg sac like other fry and as that gets absorbed he will start to eat?

You will obviously have to leave it in the floating container as the other fish will eat it if its in the tank.
If he cant stay in the floating container for a while and you dont wnt to set up a tank.. just a thought.... once its free swimming, maybe another member that has fry at the moment could maybe adopt the little guy?

 

Thanks @MariaS. I will see whether I can get him through the first two weeks. After that, it should be easier. I have a little acrylic 22L that is empty ATM, so that is a possibility. There are plenty of plants and rocks covered in various algae types that I could use to create a home for it.

 

That sounds great and for 1 little guy, more than big enough for a while
Good luck with your little surprise!

 

Love that species list @dorff. Great choices there, must be a shweet tank.
Oto spawns are rare to hear of, and in a community tank and from only 2 specimens to boot... Congrats! My next thought is, where there's one there could be more. Catch those fry for the 22L if you spot any more in the next few weeks. Would be a great accomplishment to raise them to adulthood. Your plan of moving algae-covered objects across to the 22L is exactly what I'd try.
You can try searching the archives on APSA, I remember someone having their oto's spawning around 6months to a year or so ago, and the thread made for a great read. Sorry, I've tried but can't find the thread. Good luck!