Among the most popular residents of home aquariums are various catfish, which are surprisingly beautiful and often unpretentious in care. A huge number of species gives you the opportunity to choose, so everyone can choose those fish that really like. We offer you to get acquainted with photos and descriptions of aquarium catfish, find out some useful secrets of these wonderful fish.
general characteristics
In nature, there are several thousand species of catfish, some of which are suitable for keeping at home. Very often, aquarium catfish serve as cleaners, eating leftover food settled on the bottom. This is very convenient for the owner, since it allows cleaning the "pond" much less often. However, it is important to remember that when cleaning the bottom, catfish greatly stir up the water.
The distinctive features of such fish include:
- The absence of scales, their body is covered with a lamellar layer of bone tissue.
- Most often painted in such a way that they become difficult to see at the bottom.
- Very active at night, during the day they prefer to stay at the bottom, hiding behind snags or stones.
- Quite often they grow to impressive sizes.
- They have a modest color - gray, black, greenish-brown, beige, which helps them become almost invisible at the bottom, however, some species look very elegant.
- The organs of touch are the mustache, of which the catfish have several pairs.
- If they are predators, they pose a real threat to other inhabitants of the aquarium, especially neon and guppy.
Most varieties of aquarium catfish are quite unpretentious in care, but prefer neutral acidity of water and its saturation with oxygen. Next, we will get acquainted with the most popular options.
Ancistruses
These beautiful fish are often called sticky because of the fact that special suction cups are placed on their lips, allowing them to cling to snags. They are most often the inhabitants of home aquariums. Antsistruses have a very characteristic appearance: a large head with powerful jaws, a flattened body with a flat belly.
Catfish fins are beautiful and strong, but due to the specifics of the swimming bladder, irregular movements are unusual for fish. Eyes are small, round. Allocate stellate, black, veil ancistruses.
In general, they are unpretentious, but those who are interested in acquiring such aquarium catfish need to prepare the following conditions for them:
- Pure water with a temperature of 20-25 ° C.
- The presence of snags or decor where the fish can hide.
- Living plants.
The average life expectancy is 5-6 years.
Striped platidoras
This beautiful fish has been known since the time of the famous taxonist Karl Linnaeus, found in natural conditions in the Amazon, Orinoco basin. For a home catfish, such appearance features are characteristic:
- Body dimensions - up to 15-19 cm.
- Rounded abdomen.
- Well developed pectoral fins.
- Three pairs of antennae.
Male and female can be distinguished by size: the first are more slender and small. Regardless of gender, the fish look very stylish - yellow stripes on a dark brown background, while the older the catfish, the more faded the colors of its body.
When organizing care, it is important to feed the pets properly, if they suffer from hunger, they will switch to small inhabitants of the aquarium. In general, they are unpretentious in food, they are happy to absorb mollusks, crustaceans, aquatic insects, earthworms, tubule makers, but it is important to build a menu so that it includes foods rich in protein, and a plant component (at least 1/3 of the diet).
Striped platidorases are true long-livers among aquarium catfish, with normal care they can live up to 15 years.
Glass
It is not difficult to recognize an aquarium catfish with the name “glass”, its entire body is really transparent, like glass, so through this beautiful fish you can easily see the outlines of the walls of the aquarium. The body is slightly elongated and compressed laterally, the body color may slightly change under different lighting conditions, becoming blue. It is recommended to keep such catfish in flocks of at least 6 individuals, otherwise they become shy and begin to lose their appetite. Also, for comfort, glass catfish need a large number of living plants, since these fish prefer to swim among the thickets in the middle layers of water.
Because of the transparent body, you can see how the swimming bladder and fish skeleton look, but the rest of the organs are concentrated in the opaque front of the body and are not visible.
Mottled
Mottled aquarium catfish is one of the most common inhabitants of domestic ponds, the average size of a dense stocky body is from 4 to 8 cm, while females are slightly larger than males. The body shape allows the fish to lead a bottom lifestyle: a practically flat belly and a strongly concave back. Male and female can be distinguished not only by size, but also by dorsal fin: in the former it is straight, in the latter it is slightly rounded.
The color is very elegant - a gray-brown body with a yellow tint, a pink-yellow abdomen. Refers to social fish, can be sad alone, so it’s best to start several individuals at once. He likes clean water, at least once a week should 1/3 of the fluid from the aquarium to update.
With proper care and nutrition, it will delight its owners for 7-8 years.
Panda
Let's continue the description of aquarium catfish and get acquainted with an unusual creation of nature, a panda named so because of its characteristic color. The average body length is 5 cm, the females are larger, they have a rounded dorsal fin, in males it is slightly pointed.
To keep these unusual pets, you must purchase an aquarium with a capacity of at least 30 liters, in which live plants will necessarily grow. Somics prefer a nocturnal lifestyle, but if you make the lighting muffled, you will be happy to be active during the day. These species of fish do not perform the functions of orderlies, rather, they are an ornament to the aquarium.
Sack-gill catfish
This representative of aquarium catfish looks unusual, its body resembles an eel with its outlines, flattened on its sides, the muzzle is flat, it contains 4 pairs of hard whiskers. During swimming, catfish, like an eel, wriggle with the whole body. It can grow in length up to 40 cm, if you select an impressive size aquarium. It rarely starts at home due to maintenance difficulties and inconspicuous color (gray or brown). It is a predator, so owners need to make the fish have the opportunity to hunt live fry. With good care, it can live up to 20 years.
Ototsinklus
We continue our acquaintance with the photos and names of aquarium catfish. For those who are unable to put up a large aquarium, Ototsinklus, a small fish no more than 5.5 cm in length, will be an ideal option. However, these creatures prefer to live in small flocks. The body is elongated, the abdomen is light, the back, on the contrary, has a dark color, fins are transparent. Like all representatives sticking, otocinclus has a mouth with a suction cup.
He has a good-natured, calm disposition. For successful maintenance, it is necessary to provide the fish with clean water and a large number of aquatic plants.
Taracatum
The aquarium catfish photo shows that the taracatum is a very beautiful fish, but its impressive size is about 15 cm. You can recognize this water inhabitant by its long antennae, elongated body, and strong fins. The color is quite diverse:
- Black with light stains throughout the surface of the body.
- Spotted “leopard” - dark spots are scattered on the light body of pink or greenish color.
- Striped catfish looks like a formidable land predator - a tiger.
In addition, the fish is distinguished by its restless nature - the restless taracatum swirls at the bottom of the aquarium all day, as well as its unpretentiousness. For maintenance, you will need a large aquarium - at least 100 liters, as well as fine rocky or sandy soil. Interestingly, these water inhabitants have amazing ability - they can jump, so the aquarium must be kept closed.
Shark som
Its appearance is very similar to a toothy predator, it has the same elongated, like a torpedo, body of gray color. At home, it is able to grow up to 30 cm, eats both plant and animal food, eats 2-3 times a day in medium-sized portions, the remnants of food must be removed in a timely manner.
Like the previously considered taracatum, it is able to jump out of the aquarium, so the container must be closed with a lid. It is distinguished by a cowardly disposition, so the owner needs to arrange the bottom so that the mini-shark has where to hide. A large number of smooth stones, fancy driftwood, dense thickets will do. You can buy in specialized stores and a beautiful stylized decor, for example, a sunken pirate frigate, but the dimensions of the product must be quite large, otherwise the fish will get stuck.
Changeling
We continue to consider photos of aquarium catfish with names and descriptions. The representative of fringed, Changeling, is very interesting for owners of home reservoirs. His body has a triangular section, and the dorsal and pectoral fins are decorated with thorns. Two of the three pairs of mustaches seemed to be covered with fringe, which makes the fish look very elegant.
It got its name because of the nutrition features: in order to capture an insect that has fallen into the water with its mouth, the catfish has to turn upside down. Owners of such fish should be fed in a balanced way, preferably live food, but remember that you can’t overfeed, the water inhabitant is prone to obesity.
Specificity of feeding catfish
We examined various types of aquarium catfish with photos, now we will briefly get acquainted with what it is necessary to use such unusual pets as food. These large beautiful fish are omnivores, so feeding them is not difficult. The “dishes” include:
- Live algae growing in an aquarium.
- Various invertebrates.
- Feed for bottom fish.
- Sometimes small pieces of vegetables, especially zucchini and cucumbers, go to feed the catfish, and it is very important to immediately remove the remains of uneaten food, preventing it from settling at the bottom and decay.
Owners should feed their pets well, otherwise they can start to get their own food by eating other residents of the home reservoir.
Types of aquarium catfish are diverse, we examined some of them. For the owner of the aquarium, it is important to understand that catfish are large enough fish, therefore they need an appropriate aquarium with clean water, in addition, they do not like loneliness, therefore they feel most comfortable in small flocks.