Zebra Otto’s why aren’t they more popular

Going to be buying more of these… anyone else have them??? This one survived through my original bad water, and I really like it… other than they are hard to find for sale…

BTW… this was the tank with the strange grey cloudy water… crystal clear today

I think you said it: They're hard to find for sale, and they tend to be pretty expensive when they're available. Really interesting fish, though! I've never actually seen one. Thanks for the pics.

They are £20 each near me. Look very nice but hard to breed. The common Ottos are only about £3-4 each. It's why I opted for LDA25 instead. Hopefully I can breed them and get my money back. They were not cheap. Also Ottos have a reputation for being fragile but I cannot confirm that as I haven't owned them.

I had them but they died too soon, despite my established, well planted, well maintained, and peaceful tank. Otos are virtually all wild caught. There are huge losses in the industry where they are not given the care they deserve (tens of thousands die in shops), and in home aquariums. I felt it prudent not to buy more after my failings.

Sadly, this recently discovered species is currently categorized on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as “endangered,” largely due to harvesting for the trade.

I agree they are undervalued but personally now see their real value is in the wild. I hope that yours live long lives and even reproduce to continue our learning of how we can adapt captivity to meet their needs.
sources: aquaradise, PracticalFishKeeping

I was considering zebra otos for my biotope aquarium, but due to high cost and population concerns in the wild, I will almost certainly break the biotope and go for a more common oto species. They're very pretty fish, but are tricky (and arguably unethical) to source, and that's a lot of money down the drain if the individuals you purchase didn't fare well in the supply chain.

For me it was the price, more than £20 each, then found out about the endangered status, and decided not to even try them if I could afford a decent sized group of them.

I'll still get the more common subspecies of oto, even though I hate how they're all wild caught and what they go through, specifically because I want to keep trying to breed them in captivity, and that will involve a good sized group of the same sub-species in the right set up.

Zebras are beautiful.... if we could have captive bred ones, and I could afford it, I'd love some!

Probably since I started this thread, I found another 3… figuring I understand them, I’d try them again… assuming they are starving when they get here… I couldn’t keep the new ones alive… the sole survivor of my 1st group is flourishing, it’s now actually bigger than “they” say… just wish he had a buddy… a recent picture from the other day

Looking at the photos, I think mine might have been a different subspecies to yours?

That’s what mine looked like over a year ago… it’s possible, but suspect it’s just matured