Today, an aquarium is a frequent decoration of home interiors. After all, he brings into the house not only comfort, but also a piece of the underwater world, which is so interesting to watch. And more often than others, freshwater aquariums appear in apartments: after them care is easier than for a marine one, and the variety of underwater inhabitants is not inferior to a marine one. Below we will talk about one of the most popular fish contained in domestic ponds - catfish Antsistrus.
But before moving on to a detailed description of the fish, we make a reservation - as a basis, we take a description of the common ancistrus, most often found in amateur aquariums. Below, we briefly consider some derivatives of its form that are also of great interest from aquarists.
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Som Antsistrus has an elongated shape, grayish-black color. Dots of yellow are evenly scattered throughout the body. The head relative to the body is large, and a mouth with a suction cup is located on it. It is distinguished by large lips. It is with the help of a suction cup that the catfish is fixed on the walls of the aquarium or underwater snags, and it scrapes algae with its lips.
The dorsal fin is large. It has a flag-shaped shape. Adipose fin weakly expressed, and ventral fins and caudal fin well developed. With their help, the fish and moves around the aquarium. On the sides, the body is protected by keratinized plates that protect the fish from predators.
In the water column, the catfish does not swim, moves mainly along the bottom and vertical walls, but moves quickly. It can hang on glass for a long time, attaching itself to it with its suction cup.
According to the color of the catfish, the male ancistrus is no different from the female, but it is not difficult to distinguish between them. With age, the male has a characteristic mustache on the front of the head (horn). The female also has them, but much smaller. Also, males are larger than females: usually reach 12-15 cm in length, the latter are somewhat smaller.
Natural habitat
The birthplace of Antsistrus vulgaris is South America, from where it was brought about 100 years ago. It can be found in stagnant and slow-flowing water bodies in the central and northern parts of the mainland.
Under natural conditions, catfish Antsistrus grows significantly more than in a home aquarium. Although this rule is characteristic of all fish, with the exception of those species that were artificially bred.
Conditions of detention
Antsistrus is undemanding to water parameters, it feels good with medium hardness. The temperature range can also be from 15 to 30 degrees, but the water will be optimal 22-26 degrees.
It is important to keep the aquarium clean so that the water does not get cloudy. The recommended capacity for one fish is from 40-50 liters. Under such conditions, Antsistrus will grow well and will be able to find enough food for itself. But launching two or more fish into a small aquarium is not recommended, since by their nature they are territorial (only in relation to their species), and weaker individuals will be constantly oppressed by their brethren.
Otherwise, all conditions of detention are similar to standard for all species, that is, in the aquarium, it is necessary to provide filtration and oxygen supply to the fish and moderate lighting.
What does ancistrus eat?
In feeding this species there is nothing complicated, usually he finds his own food. Som Antsistrus, the contents of which will not cause difficulties even for a beginner, feeds on algal fouling, scraping them from the walls and leaves of plants. Thus, in a large domestic pond, additional feeding may not be necessary, but this is when the aquarium is densely planted with plants and has an established biological balance. Well, there is no overabundance of bottom dwellers in it.
But more often the fish needs to be fed. For this purpose, you can use specialized feed purchased at a pet store. Or you can do differently and independently give him herbal supplements. It can be:
- peas;
- cabbage;
- lettuce, spinach;
- dried nettle leaves, dandelion;
- chopped cucumber;
- carrots and other vegetables.
Before serving such food, it must be scalded with boiling water. This is done not only to soften, but also to destroy pathogenic bacteria.
It is worth noting that Antsistrus does not belong to the category of shy fish and can easily take food from other species. Often you can observe such a situation in the aquarium, when you feed the fish and the rest of the food sinks to the bottom, then the catfish begins to actively eat them. At the same time, he drives away all the fish that want to pick up food. Consider this fact when selecting feed for the main part of the population of the aquarium.
Why not give live food?
As for feeding with live components, Antsistrus eats well both frozen food and live bloodworms or tubule. But experienced aquarists do not recommend this for two reasons:
- Firstly, catfish, eating such types of feed, can get used to them and stop performing their functions as an aquarium cleaner, which will lead to even greater fouling of the walls and leaves.
- Well, and secondly, with frequent feeding with live food, the fish may die, since its digestive system is not adapted to such a diet. Antsistrus is a herbivorous fish, not an omnivore or predator. This must not be forgotten.
These mistakes are often made by those who start the aquarium catfish ancistrus for the first time. They simply do not have enough experience. In the first case, the situation can be corrected by ceasing to give him live food, but in the second only by stopping feeding the same type of feed on time.
Compatible with other fish
Som Antsistrus, care and maintenance of which is within the power of the child, nevertheless requires the correct selection of neighbors in the aquarium. He gets along well with all types of moving fish, regardless of their size. Catfish will never eat even fry of live-bearing species. But he will not refuse fish roe. This is worth considering. Therefore, it should not be kept in spawning aquariums intended for throwing caviar.
Perfect neighbors for him will be all kinds of haracin, barbs, guppies, swordsmen, iris and other moving species. But there are also unwanted neighbors. With whom catfish catfish are incompatible, it is with sedentary species (goldfish, sack-gill catfish, discus, etc.). The reason is simple - it will stick to their bodies and leave wounds on them through which the infection can penetrate.
Another undesirable neighbors for them will be other bottom fish. In this case, there will be competition for food, even if there is enough food for everyone. It has already been verified that in small aquariums the catfish Antsistrus, the size of which is larger than the competitor’s fish, will mercilessly drive it throughout the aquarium. This primarily applies to algae- eater fish, such as girenocheylus and otocinclus affinis.
Residents living in the water column are not affected by catfish, with the exception of feeding time. After all, he drives them away from food that has fallen to the very bottom. Antsistrus soma are compatible with each other, but only in the presence of an aquarium of sufficient volume and food supply.
How does reproduction occur?
When a couple or more fish are kept in the general aquarium, sometimes spawning occurs by itself, but the aquarist usually finds out about this too late, when the fry are almost gone. For this reason, targeted spawning is recommended. At the moment when the female catfish of Antsistrus is ready for this, you can proceed. This can be determined by the full abdomen full of caviar.
A capacity of 30–40 liters is used as a spawning aquarium, a ceramic tube is placed at the bottom and a constant aeration of water is established. The male is the first to be placed in the spawning ground, after a few hours the female. 1/3 of the water is changed to fresh and lowered the temperature by a couple of degrees, this stimulates spawning.
Reproduction of the catfish of Antsistrus usually occurs at night, the female lays on the substrate cleaned by the male from 40 to 200 eggs of pinkish-yellow color. After spawning, the female needs to be removed. The male will look after caviar and larvae, fanning them with fins and removing dead caviar.
After 4-7 days, the first fry appear. From this moment, the male is also removed from the spawning aquarium, and I begin to feed the fry. For this purpose, bottom tablets, manufactured by aquarium companies producing food for fish, are well suited. You can also feed small ancistrus and vegetables such as zucchini or carrots.
As the fry grow, they are necessarily sorted, since larger counterparts can eat lagging behind in growth. In general, cannibalism among aquarium fish is common, so do not be surprised if you notice this in your aquarium.
Antcistrus color variations
Som aquarium ancistrus has several popular variations that differ significantly from the original form. They were bred by aquarists during a long selection and selection, and today are successfully fixed. This means that artificially derived color will prevail in their offspring, and only the natural characters of the species can be found only occasionally.
Consider the most popular of them.
Albino form
Som ancistrus albino is also a frequent inhabitant of home aquariums. All its difference from ordinary catfish is in color. It has a yellow body color. There are veil fish of this color.
Another characteristic that distinguishes it from other varieties is red eyes. This detail stands out against the yellow background. It should be borne in mind that their immunity is weaker than that of ordinary ancistrus. But this is common to all albinos, regardless of species.
In all other respects, these fish are similar to their original form.
Yellow ancistrus
It is very similar to an albino, with the only difference being that it has eyes of an ordinary color and a more saturated yellow color. He also does not have reduced immunity. The content of Antsistrus catfish in this color is similar in all respects to fish of the usual color.
Red variation
In terms of lifestyle, it is similar to ordinary Antsistrus, with the difference that it leads an even more secretive lifestyle and has a shorter body length (up to 4 cm). He also needs more stable parameters of water: temperature within 27-30 degrees, hardness should be moderate. But that is not all. A regular water change is required.
Also in aquariums, you can find other varieties of this catfish, such as star-shaped and leopard ancistrus. All these species can have veil fins, and if you have just such fish, then carefully monitor the hardness of the water - at a high level, the fins can split. This applies to all fish with such a unique feature.
Interesting Facts
Here are some interesting facts about this fish:
- As you know, these fish are often called "sticks" because of their suction cups. In everyday life, it was it that was assigned to them. And not all beginner aquarists know the scientific name of this fish.
- The average life expectancy of ancistrus is 5 years, but on forums and sites about aquarium fish you can find information about much longer life spans. It happens that under good conditions, catfish will live up to 10-12 years, but such cases are quite rare.
- The temperature of the water in which Antsistrus lives directly affects its size. And if catfish grows in an aquarium with a low temperature, then it will be much larger than a fish grown in more comfortable conditions. In the respective markets, you can often see such individuals. Often they are not even sold, but used simply to demonstrate the size, thereby attracting buyers.
- Females of this species have the ability to change sex. This happens if in one aquarium there are many female individuals and not a single male. By the way, females of other species, for example, female swordsmen, have a similar feature. And in a number of marine fish, females from a certain age change sex, and not only in cases when it is necessary.
- Although a photo of an ancistrus catfish can often be seen on aquarium sites where it is positioned as a tireless bottom orderly, in practice it is not so simple. He really cleans glass and plants. But with age, the quality of such cleaning weakens. Therefore, it is best to maintain a clean aquarium for young individuals, not adult fish.