Got some Zebra Otos, need info

[garfieldnfish]

I just bought 7 zebra otos hoping they would be a good algae clean up crew for my zebra pleco tank, but they are larger then my golden otos and behave entirely different. More outgoing and active during the day, also more tough on plants and I can catch them with my hand. Does anyone here have those? What do you supplement their diet with since I have to keep these in my 75 gal with other algae eaters until their tank is finished cycling and some algae grows in there. I have read on a German site that they actually eat microorganisms more then algae and prefer meaty food over veggies. Can anyone confirm this?

[turtlehead]

whered you get zebra otos, I want one

[penpitt]

You can check them out at:

http://planetcatfish.com/core/index.php

There scientific name is otocinlus cocama. It says to supplement there diet with cucumbers, lettuce and sinking wafers. Whether the wafers are algae wafers or carnivore wafers I have no idea.
I have seen them for sale here in Phoenix,Az but at 10 bucks a pop I figured I'd pass. Nice looking otos though.

[garfieldnfish]

Mine cost me $13 but I had to special order them and then it took almost 3 weeks before they were able to locate some. They are still fairly rare. And I have the feeling Planetcatfish is wrong in a few things about them, including their size. Mine are already 2". They list their max size at 1.44", so I don't really trust the rest of the info too much either. According to this German forum they are as different from the regular oto as a the bristlenose catfish from a carnivorous pleco. So far mine have not touched the veggies yet, while all my other algae eaters are like flies on you know what.

[turtlehead]

can u special order one for me?

[BlueAmbist]

There are different ways to measure them, some people measure tails, others don't. I had mine for about 6 months and they didn't change size from about 1.5". I supplemented with what PC said, and no problems, had 3 in a 10g planted tank, key to sucess with them is a planted tank.

[garfieldnfish]

All my tanks are planted and they will go into another tank once it is cycled and has some algae growing anyway. So I just hope they get enough to eat in the meantime.