Not furry, but we like them anyway.
Zebra Loach
Botia striata Narayan Rao, 1920
Also called Striped loach, Botia striatus (spelling variant)
From Southern India, in the Western Ghats: the Tunga and Bhadra rivers in Karnataka and the Koyna and Panchganga rivers in Maharashtra (Krishna river system).123
At a glance the quick version
Looks how to spot one
Compact, slightly compressed botiid loach
A small, neat loach with a pointed snout, barbels around the mouth and a small spine under each eye. Mature females are rounder and plumper than males.1
Personality what they are like
Peaceful and sociable, with a lively group life. Zebra loaches form pecking orders, click, and sometimes go pale ('greying out') during harmless status displays. They can be shy and like to have hiding places, and rarely bother other tankmates.13
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Active bottom dwellers that explore the substrate and decor, especially at feeding time, and become bolder in a group.13
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Use a tight-fitting lid because they can jump. Provide a soft sandy bottom, caves and cover, clean, well-oxygenated water and regular partial water changes.13
Home where they are happiest
Seriously Fish suggests a base of 120 x 30 cm (about 108 litres); Wikipedia gives at least 75 litres. Temperature about 21 to 26 °C, pH 6.0 to 8.0, hardness about 1 to 12 dGH. In nature they live in clear, fast mountain streams, so good flow and oxygen suit them.123
Food basics what goes in the bowl
Mainly carnivorous. Offer quality sinking foods along with frozen or live bloodworm, brine shrimp and similar foods, plus some vegetables such as cucumber or courgette. Protein-rich foods offered in several small meals work well.13
Company who they like around
Keep at least 5 or 6 together, ideally 10 or more. Good companions are peaceful cyprinids and other calm bottom dwellers; avoid much smaller fish and slow, long-finned species.13
The story where it all began
Indian zoologist C. R. Narayan Rao described the zebra loach in 1920. It has a very small natural range in the Western Ghats and has become a well-known aquarium fish, valued for its tidy size and bold stripes.13
Fun facts for the dinner table
- 1
The whole natural range of the zebra loach fits within an area of about 400 square kilometres in India's Western Ghats.3
- 2
Zebra loaches can briefly turn greyish as part of normal status displays within their group.1
- 3
Between 2005 and 2012, 382,575 zebra loaches were exported from India for the aquarium trade.3
- 4
Their mouthparts are usually reddish, a nice contrast to the yellow and dark stripes.1
Recognised by the official bits
- IUCN Red List
- Endangered (assessed March 2011)2
- Taxonomy
- Family Botiidae. Described by C. R. Narayan Rao in 1920. The name striata comes from Latin for 'striped'.1
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Zebra Loach. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- FeedingSmall amounts once or twice a dayevery day
- Temperature checkevery day
- Water changeAbout 25% of the waterevery week
- Water testevery week
- Glass cleanevery week
- Filter rinseRinse in old tank water, never tap waterevery month
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Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
- Seriously Fish: Botia striata seriouslyfish.comused for origin, size, tank and water, diet, behaviour, colour, taxonomy
- FishBase: Botia striata summary fishbase.seused for distribution, length, environment, IUCN status
- Wikipedia: Zebra loach en.wikipedia.orgused for range size, care, export figure, colour variants
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.