So, you need at least a 30-gallon tank to comfortably accommodate them. Zebra loaches should ideally be kept in small groups of up to five fish. I recommend that you feed your loaches just before or immediately after lights-out, ensuring that enough food drifts down to the bottom of the tank so that the Zebras don’t go hungry. Like other species of loaches, Botia striata will graze on algae that it finds growing on surfaces within the aquarium. The Zebra loach is an omnivore and will eat pretty much anything you offer, including tropical flakes, frozen and live meaty foods, tablets, and sinking pellets. Avoid cheap brands that contain too much padding, which contains little nutritional value and is actually harmful to your fish. FeedingĪlways choose high-quality fish food for your loaches. Also, if the tank is too small and the bottom region becomes overcrowded, the Zebra loach can become aggressive. However, shrimp, snails, and small fishes may be viewed as a food source by the loaches. Tank MatesĪlthough they’re not strictly a shoaling species, Zebra loaches do tend to be more confident and happier when kept in a group of five or six individuals.

Compatibility And Tankmatesīotia striata are peaceable, friendly fishes that can do well in a community of non-aggressive tank mates. Also, Zebras are mostly nocturnal, so you’ll see more of them if you have LED moonlighting in your tank. That said, these fish can be quite shy and can hide if alarmed by something outside the tank. Zebra loaches are peaceful, active fishes that spend much of their time foraging for food in and on the substrate. Tank-kept Zebra loaches live for 8 to 15 years. Zebra loaches reach a size of around 4 inches when fully grown. You may see Golden Zebra loaches (Botia almorhae) advertised for sale in your local fish store, but that is a completely different, unrelated species. Immature fish often have a red nose, but that gradually fades into adulthood. However, female Zebra loaches are generally fatter than males when in breeding condition. It’s extremely difficult to tell the different sexes apart. The loach’s mouth has four sets of sensitive barbels that the fish uses for detecting scraps of food on, and buried in, the substrate. The fins and tail are translucent, and the tail has bands of pale brown spots running along it. The inside of each band is bordered with a straight or branched white line. Appearanceīotia striata have a yellow-green body with around nine wide vertical dark blue-green bands. These fish are quite shy, preferring to hang out in shaded, dimly lit areas under the overhanging forest canopy. The substrate here consists of sand, fine gravel, and leaf litter with exposed areas of bedrock, scattered rocks, and boulders. Zebra loaches inhabit slow-moving streams and rivers. For that reason, the Zebra loach is listed as endangered on the IUCN red list.

Unfortunately, the Zebra loach’s range is very limited, largely due to deforestation and pollution, and the fish are currently found in just four locations. There’s also a small population of Botia striata in Bangladesh, northern India. The fish live in the southern Indian Western Ghats mountain range, specifically in Mysore. The Zebra loach was first described in 1920 by Narayan Rao.

Vietnamese multi banded zebra loach