There are a lot of varieties of aquarium catfish. This is a tiny corridor, and a large, but peace-loving catfish, pterigoplicht adhered, and an unusual bag-branch catfish, which can breathe atmospheric air. In one small article it is impossible to list all their varieties, to describe in detail what they prefer to eat and how much aquarium catfish lives. Here is a description of the most common types of catfish.
Shell Catfish
This is practically the most popular type of aquarium catfish. These include frequent residents of home aquariums such as corridors. Good-natured medium-sized fish rarely grow longer than 5-6 cm. They like to hide in quiet shady places and rarely go out of shelters during the day. But at night the fish are very active.
Another interesting representative of armored catfish is thoracicum. These are rather large inhabitants of the aquarium, they grow up to 18-20 cm. Despite their size, they are peaceful, calm fish. Thoracatums have rather strong armor (it is not in vain that the species of these catfish was called shell-shaped), therefore they can even be kept with rather aggressive fish.
How long an aquarium catfish lives depends heavily on the nature and aggressiveness of its neighbors. This is especially true for small catfish, but even large fish inappropriate neighborhood can be very worrying.
Chain catfish (sticky fish)
Catfish of this species are certainly loved by both experienced aquarists and beginners. Any catfish aquarium variety of chain mail will become an indispensable tool, because they are the best soil cleaners from the remains of food of other fish. Also, thanks to the structural features of the oral system, they clean the walls of the aquarium of plaque and small algae.
The mouth of the aquarium catfish-sticky has an unusual structure. Most of all, it resembles a suction cup equipped with a special “grater” instead of teeth. In the evening, you can often watch how the catfish-sticks literally hang vertically on the aquarium glass, sucking on their mouth.
Of chain catfish, most often in home aquariums you can find ancistruses. These are funny fish, with calm neighbors they are active even in the afternoon. As fish of this species grow, unusual growths in the form of tentacles appear on the muzzle. In fact, these are peculiar antennae that help catfish find food at the bottom of the aquarium.
Aquarium decoration - brocade pteriogoplicht
Another type of aquarium catfish-sticky looks very impressive - brocade pteriogoplicht. This fish has an unusual interesting color; it resembles a pattern composed of individual spots. The color of the spots varies from light brown to completely black, and each spot is surrounded by a border of light color. The high dorsal fin of brocade pterioglichchitis is also colored. It’s hard to see such a beautiful fish and not get it.
Usually in pet stores they sell juveniles of these fish no larger than 4-6 cm in size, and do not always warn novice aquarium lovers about the real sizes of this fish. Under good conditions, the aquarium catfish pteriogoplicht grows up to 30-35 cm, and in a small aquarium it can become a real problem.
The answer to the question how long aquarium catfish lives often depends on the conditions of keeping the fish. Pteriogoplichty are considered one of the aquarium centenarians, they can live up to 18 years. Smaller anticistruses will also please their owners for a long time - 8-10 years.
Sack-gill catfish
Sack-gill catfish can become a very unusual decoration for an aquarium. This species of aquarium catfish has an elongated flexible body, with addition and habits it resembles a well-fed snake. On his head are thin long antennae, with the help of which the catfish is looking for food.
These fish have a unique structure: air sacs are located along the lower part of the body, so that the fish can breathe atmospheric air, swallowing it from the surface. It is best to ensure that the lid of the aquarium is always closed. This allows you to maintain a constant temperature of the air for breathing and prevents the catfish from jumping out of the aquarium.
Another feature of this type of catfish is the poisonous endings of the dorsal and pectoral fins. When caring for the aquarium where sack-gill catfish lives, care must be taken, the injection of toxic fins is quite painful.
These fish can be quite active in the daytime, rising to the surface for air or picking up the remains of food at the bottom.
It should be borne in mind that sack-gill catfish is a predatory fish, therefore the content of aquarium catfish is possible only with sufficiently large mobile fish. He can take small fish as a variety of food, and territorial disputes are possible with other large bottom inhabitants.
How to properly maintain aquarium catfish
For such an aquarium resident as catfish, there is absolutely no need to improve existing conditions. All types of these fish are absolutely unpretentious to the chemical parameters of water, to the acid regime and the presence of aeration. Therefore, the maintenance of aquarium catfish will not be problematic even for an inexperienced beginner.
An important condition for the maintenance of catfish: most species lead a twilight lifestyle, relaxing during the day in the thickets of vegetation or in shelters from snags or stones. If there is no place for shelter, the behavior of these fish becomes chaotic, the movements become nervous, and in the future this can affect the health and life expectancy of the fish.
If the choice rests on a large catfish, it is better to take care in advance of the sufficient volume of the aquarium in which it will grow.
In addition, there is no need to think at all what to feed the aquarium catfish: most of their species are absolutely unpretentious in food. Small catfishes often have enough food leftovers that they pick up from the ground, while large catfishes can be additionally fed with special tablet food for bottom fish. Still catfish love to enjoy a leaf of lettuce or a slice of fresh cucumber, but you can not get carried away with such feeds, their residues strongly affect the parameters of the water and can harm other fish.
Aquarium Catfish Life Span
Almost no fish will live in an apartment as long as an aquarium catfish lives. What is their life span? Small varieties of aquarium catfish (such as ancistruses or corridors) will live for 6-8 years, and large sack-gill catfish, for example, survive to 20 years.