Among lovers of ornamental fish, platidoras striped takes pride of place. This is a beautiful large catfish with a bright color. It has a peaceful nature, so multi-species aquariums are suitable for it. The fish prefers to lead an active life at night, but in comfortable conditions it can “walk” during the day, delighting the owners with its curious disposition.
Description
The birthplace of the fish are the waters of South America. The catfish striped platidoras belongs to the Bronyakov family, so it’s easy to guess that it has a kind of “armor” in the form of hard plates on the body and head. In addition, there are spikes on the sides that you can prick about. On both sides of the head are two pairs of dark antennae. No less remarkable is the color. Wide streaks of black and light color stretch from head to tail. The older the fish, the less pronounced the pattern becomes. These are large fish. Adult individuals, on average, reach 15 centimeters, although in the wild they grow to 20. Females, when viewed from above, appear larger and thicker than males. According to the external signs of these fish, it can be confused with long-nosed catfish. You can distinguish between them according to the length of the muzzle and the adipose fin; in the long-nosed, they are more oblong. In good conditions, platidoras striped lives for about 12 years.
Catfish Content
This fish is unpretentious and hardy, so it does not require careful care. For catfish it will be enough to change 30% of the water once a month. This pet prefers a medium-hard liquid that will be enriched with oxygen. The volume of the aquarium should be at least 120 liters. The lighting is dim. If you like to watch the life of fish at night, you can install an LED lamp that emits red or moonlight.
Platidoras striped needs shelter, nooks and places for research. Clay pots, drift voids, plastic tubes are suitable for this. In addition, there must be good sand at the bottom, because in the wild these fish like to dig into it. Due to the fact that they dig, a slight plaque may appear on aquarium plants. Somics are not inclined to eat algae, but small plants can be an exception. If you monitor the condition of the aquarium and the quality of food, the likelihood of fish disease is very small.
Feeding
In nature, striped catfish feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, detritus, as well as everything that falls to the bottom, so we can say that these are omnivorous fish. In the main diet, the fish should have protein foods with the addition of plant components. This may be granular feed (which settles) along with an ice cream bloodworm. Somics also like earthworms, pipe makers and even lively moths.
Feeding should be daily, but at the same time you need to control the amount of feed. It is known that catfish platidoras striped is prone to overeating. There were times when they died from excessive consumption of food. The best time to feed is the time before turning off the lights in the aquarium.
Breeding
There are many fish that can be successfully bred at home, but striped platidoras does not apply to them. The reproduction of these catfish for sale is done with hormonal injections, but this is very rare in a natural way, even in large aquariums. There is very little information on this process, since most often with successful spawning, breeders found already swimming fry.
For spawning, it is necessary to prepare a separate aquarium in which temperature (27 0), acidity (up to 7 pH), hardness (up to 6 0) and water level (20 cm) are controlled. Floating plants are also launched. In addition, it is important to keep the producers separate and feed them with live food before spawning. The male should build a nest of leaves. A female tosses about three hundred eggs. But for spawning, it is necessary to use a pituitary suspension. After this process, manufacturers are evicted. The incubation period is 72 hours. On the fifth day, the larvae begin to swim. Young animals are fed live dust, microworms. Growth lasts a long time.
