PlanetCatfish.com

Went to a not so lfs yesterday and they had just had a delivery. I saw some fish I was interested in but they weren't priced yet. I hadn't seen any of them before and want to know what a fair price would be. There was a spatuloricaria chameleon, Pterosturisoma microps, and Zebra otos. Any tips on keeping these would be useful.

I've seen zebra otos twice: once in Bellevue, WA, and once in Bellingam, WA about 90 miles away. At both places I think they were priced at ~$15. Apparently they are somewhat rare.

Ok after a bit more research I think the Spatuloricaria is actually this seudohemiodon apithanos

I had a buddy that had some zebra ottos. He said they are really really fragile. He was only able to keep them alive for a month. I am assuming they will need soft acidic water. A member of a club up here just spawned them.....I will try and post the link later.

I would steer clear of the Pterosturisoma microps. I kept one a while back. Even though it was eating, it just withered away and died after about a month. It seemed to require really high oxygen levels too. It just sat in the filter current.

I think this fish is a very specialised feeder in the wild.


I would avoid it.

For the dedicated specialist only (unless of course you are a dedicated specialist).

Which shop is it?

Maidenhead Aquatics @ Oxford

That's my local shop. I'll go and check out the Pseudohemiodon. Very nice fish those!

Unfortunatley didn't make it down there this weekend but I will make a point of going next week. I just hope they will have some left.

zebra oto's are going for around £5-6 now which is alot cheaper then 12 months ago when they were closer to £15-20 the other two species are as you have been made aware are quite specialist in their eating habits and are best left till you have more experience with keeping loricarids

Riley wrote:I had a buddy that had some zebra ottos. He said they are really really fragile. He was only able to keep them alive for a month. I am assuming they will need soft acidic water. A member of a club up here just spawned them.....I will try and post the link later.

Hello to all, I just signed up
I have visited the site many times but have never signed up until now.

In my experience zebra otos aren't any more fragile than any other otocinclus. As long as you start with healthy stock that aren't already starved and introduce them into a mature, well planted tank then they will do well. Otocinclus in general endure a lot of stress during shipping, since going for long periods of time without food is unnatural for them. If you start with fish that are in good health, acclimate them slowly, and make sure they are well fed then they will be surprisingly easy to keep.

I have over a dozen of them right now, and hope to search for the spawning trigger sometime this year. Right now I am getting some practice at fry raising with my H. notatus. If I do get O. cocama eggs/hatch, then I want to have confidence that I can successfully raise the fry.

I'd sure love to see that link! I have been searching for a spawning report since I first heard of these fish.