# Zebra otto



## Nathaniel Whiteside (8 Jul 2012)

Hey, picked up a couple of these today.
Think they're absolutely fantastic;






Makes a change from normal ottos, anyone else have them?


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## LancsRick (8 Jul 2012)

Nope, althought my LFS stocks them. I went for blacks in the end, but I can see myself getting the Zebras for a future tank.

I'd be interested to hear if they're any different behaviourally.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (8 Jul 2012)

Currently not! Haha


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## johnski (8 Jul 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Currently not! Haha



Doin a good job of cleaning your wallpaper I see.


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## LancsRick (8 Jul 2012)

Some people have no taste in aquarium backgrounds


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## Aqua sobriquet (8 Jul 2012)

Very nice, now you can see why I wanted some!


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (8 Jul 2012)

Ha yeah, funnily enough the difference between normal ottos and these guys is that these hover round  the room and do the dusting aswell.


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## somethingfishy (8 Jul 2012)

was told by my lfs they could get them in for £7 a fish ... im very tempted they do look great.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (8 Jul 2012)

somethingfishy said:
			
		

> was told by my lfs they could get them in for £7 a fish ... im very tempted they do look great.



Hey Iain, 
Yeah Thats about what  I paid today. Well happy with them


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## somethingfishy (8 Jul 2012)

LOL its dave ... sameish profile pic but of course my fish was bigger


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (8 Jul 2012)

Ha! I just looked at pic!  sorry dave!


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## Kristoph91 (9 Jul 2012)

Beautiful fish


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## ghostsword (9 Jul 2012)

I got some.. However I do not think they eat algae.. But wood..

At least mine do.

Also they like peppers. 


___________________________
Luis 
@ghostsword


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (9 Jul 2012)

Haha how did you discover their acquired taste for peppers may I ask


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## Otto72 (9 Jul 2012)

One of all time favorites, are these shrimp safe too?


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (9 Jul 2012)

Yeah definitely, Exactly the same in body shape and size to my other ottos.

Just got a striking appearance!


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## ghostsword (9 Jul 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Haha how did you discover their acquired taste for peppers may I ask



The kids dropped some raw pepers inside, and they were all over it..


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (9 Jul 2012)

Haha! Ive got all that to come!


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## Emyr (9 Jul 2012)

I heard that Zebra otto's are quite sensitive and need very stable and good water conditions compared to regular otto's because they are fairly new to being kept in aquariums. 

Have yours settled in well? How long have you had them in the tank for? and what are you water parameters? 

Sorry for the barrage of questions, I'm just intrigued and thinking of getting some.


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## ghostsword (9 Jul 2012)

I have had mine on the tank for almost a year now, and the water is ok. I would not say that it is stable, shrimp die on it..  But the ottos are healthy. 

I think that the main issue is feeding them. Mine do not eat algae pellet, only peppers, wood and cucumber.


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## Ady34 (9 Jul 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Yeah definitely, Exactly the same in body shape and size to my other ottos.
> 
> Just got a striking appearance!


Hi mate, was over at paddock farm today and saw these again, they are very nice but they had them listed as growing to 10cm so prob get a fair bit bigger than standard issue ottos if they are correct.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (9 Jul 2012)

Hey mate, 
Few quotes from APC.



> davemonkey
> Senior Member
> 
> 
> ...






> Senior Member
> 
> Join Date: Feb 2009
> Posts: 1,125
> ...





> Senior Member
> 
> Join Date: Oct 2008
> Posts: 223
> ...


 



> Tex Gal
> Moderator
> 
> 
> ...




So looks to be ok, to be honest I didn't see any sign otherwise I wouldn't have got them. Mine are definitely cleaning up glass.

So hopefully be alright, all I can think is they mixed them up with giant ottos Ady? 

Theres a link here

Cheers,


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## Aqua sobriquet (9 Jul 2012)

Says only 1.4" (36mm) Full details here:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=353


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (9 Jul 2012)

Aqua sobriquet said:
			
		

> Says only 1.4" (36mm) Full details here:
> 
> http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=353



Good find.

Ady you sure it didnt say 4cm rather than 4" 

I cant think how its happened, you watch these babys grow to 4 foot now Ive said that haha


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## Ady34 (9 Jul 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Ady you sure it didnt say 4cm rather than 4"


  10cm i read
....but its obviously wrong looking at all the inforamtion available as 1.4" seems the concensus. I could have misread of course or been looking at 2 tags and mixing them up   
Anyway they are great looking LITTLE    fish, just a shame for me they like it a bit warmer than my non heated nano as they would have been ideal with the shrimp.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Antipofish (10 Jul 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> somethingfishy said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Blimey, I can buy them for £3.50 each.  But then the same guy only charges £1.50 for CPDs


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (11 Jul 2012)

Thats great value! Either that or Im getting ripped off haha


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## Otto72 (11 Jul 2012)

Whitey89 can you post some more pics of this lovely fish also where did you buy him?


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## Aqua sobriquet (11 Jul 2012)

If you're going up to Yorkshire to get some will you buy me a few


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (11 Jul 2012)

Otto72 said:
			
		

> Whitey89 can you post some more pics of this lovely fish also where did you buy him?



Hey mate,
Yeah will grab a couple more this afternoon sometime! Got them from Paddock Farm as that is my 'local'.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (11 Jul 2012)

As promised Otto, as I can see your an avid fan;


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## Antipofish (11 Jul 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Thats great value! Either that or Im getting ripped off haha



I dont think you are being ripped off Nat.. thats the normal price from what I can tell.  Just the guy I go to is a soft touch lol.


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## ghostsword (11 Jul 2012)

Care to share where you buy them at £3.50?


___________________________
Luis 
@ghostsword


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## Antipofish (11 Jul 2012)

ghostsword said:
			
		

> Care to share where you buy them at £3.50?
> 
> Its a personal deal the guy would give me and he is near where I live.  By the time you drove down here the petrol would cost you more than buying local Luis  :?
> 
> ...


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## Otto72 (12 Jul 2012)

whitey89 said:
			
		

> As promised Otto, as I can see your an avid fan;



Wonderful pic and lovely specimen whitey, I'm gonna pick some of these up defiantly  
I think they are harder to find than regular Otto's though, I never seen them in any Maidenhead Aquatics stores I have visited around the south


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (12 Jul 2012)

They are really nice looking, pleased I got them. If you look, I think the 1st photo shows one and the recent photo shows another Otto as the markings look different.


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## ghostsword (12 Jul 2012)

I paid for mine £15.. so anything cheaper than that is good..


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## Antipofish (12 Jul 2012)

ghostsword said:
			
		

> I paid for mine £15.. so anything cheaper than that is good..



Jaysus thats a bit steep    I think £7 is pretty much the norm.  Having said that, one of my local aquatic retailers consistently charges twice what everyone else does for Sidthumunki's, claiming that as theirs are dutch bred rather than from Singapore, they are much nicer and do not fade.  Having seen the ones in their display tank I tend to accept the claim too.  Why is it that all the REALLY nice fish are more expensive, lol.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (30 Jul 2012)

Okay, having took down my ADA Mini M, I moved all the fish from there into my current scape 'Ryuoh Ravine'.

On putting the Ottos ( 2 Zebras & 4 Standard) into the aquarium, within 30 minutes the Zebras were ferociously knacking in the Diatom algae! Zipping round much more intently. 

Definitely much better at cleaning up than my standard ones, Im watching the zebra leave a sparkling trail down a crypt Leaf and straight all the way down the Aponogeton, then flying onto the glass. All great to watch!


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## Antipofish (30 Jul 2012)

Is that the Mini M you are sending down to me for a tenner  ?


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (31 Jul 2012)

Yeah, just cleaning it up now


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## Emyr (7 Aug 2012)

The Otto's in my LFS in London are £17 each and last time I saw them they didn't look too healthy because there wild caught so I thought I would give them a miss. Hopefully next time I see them they will be better, even so 17 each is a lot. Will question them on there pricing I think. 

Do you know if yours are wild caught or not Whitey? They look incredible and so healthy. You say that they eat up more algae than normal ones as well, great! They are quite new to being kept in aquariums/planted tanks so thats why they can sometimes be sensitive.

Could you tell me what your rough water parameters are in your 'Ryuoh Ravine' tank please?


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (7 Aug 2012)

Emyr said:
			
		

> The Otto's in my LFS in London are £17 each and last time I saw them they didn't look too healthy because there wild caught so I thought I would give them a miss. Hopefully next time I see them they will be better, even so 17 each is a lot. Will question them on there pricing I think.
> 
> Do you know if yours are wild caught or not Whitey? They look incredible and so healthy. You say that they eat up more algae than normal ones as well, great! They are quite new to being kept in aquariums/planted tanks so thats why they can sometimes be sensitive.
> 
> Could you tell me what your rough water parameters are in your 'Ryuoh Ravine' tank please?



Hey mate,
unfortunately, I don't know if they are wild caught or captive bred. Are they even bred in captivity?
well, I first had them in my 20ltr ADA mini M when I first bought them, and they did fantastic.
I believe the secret lies in a mature isn tank, where algae build up is present proving them with the food they require.

My parameters are straight out the tap, The only thing I measure is the TDS as I don't possess a PH pen yet!
My TDS is 250 ish, I have really been pushed away from testing water parameters by Clives constant niggling, which i suppose is a good thing. I am unsure as to wether the GH/KH tests are more accurate, and will give them a go tonight. 
I also want to get a PH pen by HM soon too, but funds don't permit as of yet. 

Mine are still doing great by the way, will have to get a photo soon!
Cheers,


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