zebra oto's?

rcl · Post by **rcl** » 23 Apr 2004, 01:54

I am thinking about keeping oto's for the first time in a small planted tank, because of their size and nature. I looked these fish up on the cat e-log and I see that there is a zebra variety that really looks a lot better than the others IMO. Is this rare or difficult to get, and should I expect to pay a lot of money for these?

I live in northern virginia (in USA), I think that I have only seen the 'normal' oto's in LFS but I can't be 100% sure (never paid much attention to the guys).

Thanks,
Robert

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 23 Apr 2004, 03:55

they're quite a bit rarer than the regular otos. you'll probably have to order from someone over the net. Substantially more than otos, but still not bad for plecos

Suckermouth · Post by **Suckermouth** » 23 Apr 2004, 11:50

You'll be paying at least $10 each for these guys...

pleco_farmer · Post by **pleco_farmer** » 23 Apr 2004, 12:34

Try Aquarium Center, 410-521-4529

I might have seen them there last week. (I shop around too much!) Randallstown is up near Baltimore, a bit west of the BMore beltway, from NoVa about the same drive time as Camden Yards.

rcl · Post by **rcl** » 23 Apr 2004, 15:58

pleco farmer,

quite interesting to finally run into another pleco enthusiast in the metro area!! Thanks for the tip I will give these guys a call. I am wondering if there are any LFS's around here that carry exotic plecos that are reputable and don't charge a fortune? I have failed to find any in virginia so far....

Robert

madasafish · Post by **madasafish** » 24 Apr 2004, 04:30

Check http://www.aquabid.com right now. They're selling zebra otos at $10 each. Shipping, of course, costs $30 or thereabouts, but if you got 5 or so, you'd off-set the price of buying them in the store. They're really tough to find elsewhere

pleco_farmer · Post by **pleco_farmer** » 24 Apr 2004, 13:05

In VA its pretty thin,

Pets Etc
512 E Market St, Leesburg, VA 20176
Phone: (703)771-4347

Andy usually stocks four or five varieties, sometimes surprises

In MD the best bets,

Aquarium Center
Randlstwn Plaza Shop
Randallstown, MD 21133
(410) 521-4529

Jim carries about ten varieties at any given time, mixes it up pretty well, best dry goods prices in the state. (did he have the oto's? I know I saw siamese algae eaters, regular oto's, maybe zebras, but then these guys are putting "zebra" on just about anything these days)

House of Tropicals
7389 Baltimre Annpls Blvd Ste F
Glen Burnie, MD 21061-3228
(410) 761-1113

A bit more basic, but more exotics are showing up this year

rcl · Post by **rcl** » 24 Apr 2004, 16:29

I called up Aquarium Center and sure enough they do have zebra oto's there for $10 each, I guess I will have to consider carefully and see if I will make the trek up there.

Its funny and ironic that yesterday my gf and I went looking for newts and ended up at Pets, etc lol. I was floored by their selection of plecos and overall selection of fish. What a neat place indeed!! I saw royal, rubbernose, queen arabesque, king tiger, and others (and one of my favorite things to see, fully grown plecos

how beautiful). This place also had a lot of odds and ends, such as shrimp and stingrays and just too much cool stuff to list.

I will have to give house of tropicals a call every here and then. That is a pretty serious drive for me to justify making just to window show, especially since it sounds like they do not stock that much of what I am looking for..

thanks a load, feel free to let me know about any other place you might know about. for instance, I am looking for trumpet snails....

p.s. have you heard about the catfish convention being held in maryland later this year?

Robert

pleco_farmer · Post by **pleco_farmer** » 24 Apr 2004, 23:13

You might say that I am intimately familiar with some of the stock in these shops...

http://www.pvas.com/catfish/welcome.htm
October 14-16 in Laurel, MD

Wouldn't miss it.