There are fish that are interesting both in appearance and in their behavior. These include catfish-sticky, which are also called catfish-ancytrus. Such funny creatures have a round muzzle suction cup. With its help, they clean algae from the walls of the aquarium, which serve as fish for fish.
Somiki-sticks are aquarium fish that cannot be confused with any other individuals. In addition to the suction cup, they also have other characteristic features:
- large head;
- in front a slightly flattened drop-shaped body;
- wide bony plates instead of ordinary scales;
- large dorsal fin in the shape of a sail, which is always pressed to the body;
- sharp spikes at the ends of the fins.
Such fish in color mainly vary from light gray to black individuals. Sometimes there are yellow catfish sticky. You can also see albinos with yellowish weakly interspersed.
Somiki-sticky: types
Specialists distinguish several types of catfish, while each of them has its own characteristics. Consider them in the article below.
Red Antsistrus
This kind of sticking was bred in Germany under artificial conditions. They have a color close to red or orange. Due to the artificial appearance of this species, they have a very high price. They are considered by experts as the next variety of common catfish-sticky, since the internal structure of this fish is not different from most relatives.
Golden albino
Somiki-sticks very often turn pale, thus becoming albinos. They are distinguished in a separate form. Periodically, such fish become golden in color, thus taking on a truly bewitching and magical look. They have gained popularity with true connoisseurs, being considered an exotic and wonderful addition to the aquarium.
Star Antsistrus
This representative of the catfish is home to the Amazon. It has a dark brown or black color. Large white specks gradually turn brown, and the white border of the fins on the back forms pale small dots with a frame of dark shades. Females are larger and lighter than males. In males on the face at the age of 10 months, skin growths begin to appear.
Antsistrus Claro
These catfish-sticks were discovered in Brazil, as evidenced by the name obtained in honor of r. Claro. The length of the body of the fish is about 8 cm. It adhered to other species differs in color - it varies from gray to black. At the same time, a large white speck dilutes the dark shade. He, unlike lazy relatives, is active throughout the day.
Content
Before you start a fish, you need to learn how to feed the catfish-sticky. Gentle green algae, which very often cover the glass of aquariums, are suitable for him. You can also feed: boiled leaves of cabbage, nettle, lettuce. Somikov is best fed in the evening, when the lighting turns off, and the rest of the fish fall asleep. At the same time, the Antsistruses retain their activity for a rather long time, crawling along the bottom of the aquarium and finding the tubers or bloodworms abandoned by it. In addition, you can use the pellets, which very quickly reach the bottom, which means they go specifically to these fish.
They can adapt with ease to living in any water. The size of the catfish depends on the volume of the aquarium. So, the bigger it is, the bigger the fish will become with age. But, basically, aquariums are selected for them, the volume of which is 100 liters or more.
Catfish are usually not active during the day, and “come to life” either at night, or when the pressure in the atmosphere changes. Therefore, they need the aquarium to have rich content - caves, shelters, various plants, pebbles. Somiki-sticks in an aquarium usually occupy immediately the best cave in which they hide and relax during the day.
Fish diseases are associated with chemical poisoning or animal feed, as well as gas in the stomach. Although in general they are quite unpretentious and very rarely get sick.
Breeding
Antcistruses become sexually mature in their first year of life. To lay eggs, it is advisable for fish to shelter in the form of tubes, towers of decorative castles, coconut halves, ceramic flower pot, etc.
If there are no shelters, eggs can be laid anywhere in the aquarium. It is advisable to take catfish not closely related. For example, you can exchange females or males with someone. A sexually mature couple spawns in good conditions once every three weeks. In this case, spawning is perfectly stimulated by the addition of softened water. At temperatures above 30 ° C, spawning usually ceases.
In the aquarium, it is important that there is room for spawning - a tube, preferably a ceramic one, is 1.5-2 times larger than the length of the male, and the width should be equal to the width of the male with the pectoral fin extended. The socket is closed at one end. It does not have to be cross-cutting. You can place several suitable options, in this case the male will choose what he likes best. If the nest is too large, then in this case not all the eggs can be fertilized, and the fry will be much smaller.
The female is able to lay eggs regularly with a frequency of one and a half to two months. If you don’t spawn eggs with dad catfish in another aquarium, then the probability of eating eggs by the female and other fish is almost 100%. Near caviar without a male, it is necessary to install a nebulizer of air.
During the period of courtship for caviar, the male Antsistrus, fanning it with fins, stops eating.
Experienced breeders actively use sticky fish as irreplaceable assistants in cleaning the aquarium. The unique structure of the mouth allows the ancistruses to stick tightly to various smooth surfaces. Crawling along them, they carefully scrape off various food debris, as well as the greens of unicellular algae. In the same way, sticking cleans the soil. Due to the similar activity of these fish, water spoils the usual much later, while the allowable interval between cleaning the aquarium increases (up to 2-3 weeks).