Aquarium catfish: description, photo

A somersault is a familiarity to experienced aquarists. This fish got to fans of the underwater world in the middle of the last century. Catfish of this species have a unique ability - they swim upward with their belly, like dead fish. Hence their name has gone. Only during feeding they occupy a normal position for all fish.

Catfish-som: habitat

Representatives of the species Synodontis nigriventris are attributed to the group Siluriformes, the family Mochokidae (fimbrial detachment of carpiformes). It's a nice fish from tropical Africa. At home, it lives in the densely overgrown areas of Cameroon and Congo. It is most often found in the tributaries of the rivers Lekini and Congo, in lakes with clear and clear water. In Europe, an aquarium catfish (a photo you can see in this article) appeared in 1950.

External signs

The generic name of this fish Synodontis means "fused teeth", and the name of the species nigriventris is "dark abdomen". As a rule, in pigs the pigmentation of the back is slightly darker than the abdomen. This hides them from predatory fish and birds. The aquarium turtle is an aquarium that, unlike most fish, has a darker abdomen. This allows the fish to move in an inverted form near the surface of the water. Funny that, moving along the walls of the aquarium, the catfish turns its belly toward the glass.

A pivot is the only catfish whose skin is devoid of bone plates. His skin is firm, covered with a mucous secret. Catfish (a photo, dimensions can be found in all publications on aquaristics) is elongated, stocky, somewhat flattened from the sides of the body. Profile of the abdomen is bent slightly less than the back.

On the head are three pairs of whiskers (tactile). Thanks to them the fish is perfectly oriented in the underwater realm. Eyes are large. Mouth - the lower one, allowing the turnip to equally successfully obtain food, both at the bottom of the reservoir, and at the surface of the water.

The caudal fin is bilobate. Dorsal fin has a triangular shape, with a powerful first ray. The most common color is greyish-beige with black-brown spots that are scattered throughout the body and fins in a chaotic manner.

The som-leapophasis, which is often called a black killer whale, is rarely sold. In addition to color, it practically does not differ from the classical representatives of catfish - four pairs of antennae, which reach a length of more than half of the trunk, a powerful dorsal fin, a typical body for the predator. In the aquarium, the black catfish grows to twenty centimeters, and in natural conditions the length of its body can reach even thirty centimeters.

Sexual differences and dimensions

Females of somers-overturns have larger spots, male considerably slender and smaller than females (up to 6 cm, females - 9.5 cm). They live in the aquarium for up to ten years, although there are cases of a longer life of catfish.

If you decide to buy such a fish, you should know that the synodontics, which have a rather spectacular color, an attractive body shape and quite large sizes, are almost invisible in the aquarium. This is due to their habit of hiding. If there are not enough shelters in the aquarium, the fish feel uncomfortable, become sluggish and inactive.

Content

Synodontis - creatures are unpretentious in content. Nevertheless, it must be borne in mind that in a natural environment they live in transparent and clean water bodies, therefore at home they should select the water of the relevant parameters:

• Neutral pH - 6.5-7.5;
• Temperature - +24 ... + 26 ° C;
• The water hardness is 4-15 °.

Catfish, the photo of which you can see below, needs additional filtration and aeration of water. In addition, it is necessary to carry out a 30% water change once a week.

Decoration of an aquarium

The pivot is an aquarium, the skin of which has no bone plates. In addition, he has a rather gentle mustache and lips. All this requires a special approach to the choice of soil. It should not be too sharp and large. The best option may be rounded pebbles or large river sand.

At the back wall of the aquarium, arrange a dense vegetation. In it, the catfish will hunt at night. For this purpose, plants with hard and large leaves are suitable. In the foreground, special artificial openings are usually placed:

• Large stones;
• Grotes;
• Ceramic tubes;
• Snags;
• Small flower pots (without a bottom).

Taking care of the flip-flop, it is necessary to catch it from time to time with the help of a net. This should be done very carefully, as cyanodontis dissolves spiny fins, which are very easy to damage. Often, for this purpose, experienced aquarists use suitable glass jars, to which special handles are attached.

Catfish is a calm and peaceful fish that prefers to live in a pack. During the day, he hides in shelters, activity is manifested at night. For this fish, an aquarium with a volume of at least fifty liters is suitable.

Feeding

In natural conditions, the catfish catfish feed on insects that fall on the surface of the water, but since it has a lower mouth, it often has to collect food, floating upwards by the belly. These fish prefer to receive food and at home from the surface of the water. It can be a feed of both animal and vegetable origin. Combined mixtures are often used.

Catfish - the fish is quite voracious, so if you do not control its nutrition, unwanted fat deposits may appear. Fish are accepted for all kinds of feeds, including live ones - shrimp meat, bloodworm, tubular, minced meat, dry feeds from well-established producers, finely chopped vegetables (cucumbers, zucchini). Due to the tendency to overeating, they need unloading days (1-2 times a week).

Behavior

We have already talked about the fact that somersault-somersault is most active at night. He does not like daylight, so he hides from him in artificial shelters. Despite the completely peace-loving disposition, the change-over can stand up for himself. He will easily get along with more aggressive neighbors - cyclides. And smaller fish species (neons, guppies) are best not to populate the catfish, as cynodontis hunts at night, and can attack its neighbors. They contain inversions in small flocks (5-7 individuals). If you are going to start catfish, but you already have smaller fish, then you will be more suitable for spotted catfish or "suckers" - they certainly will not offend anyone.

Catfish: Reproduction

Sinodontis reaches sexual maturity by 2-3 years. To create the conditions for spawning, you need to acquire an aquarium with a capacity of 50 liters, equip it, as we described earlier. Water should have the following characteristics:

• PH = 7;
• Stiffness - 10 °;
• The temperature is +27 ° C.

Owners of these fish should know that in aquariums they reproduce extremely rarely, therefore, to stimulate spawning it is necessary to use hormonal injections. First isolate the female from the male, providing the fish with an intensive diet containing at least thirty percent of plant food.

During spawning, the male pursues his chosen one, swimming behind her with his belly, at some point the fish stop for a moment, and caviar appears in the water. Its size does not exceed two millimeters. It has a light yellow color. The female swallows about a thousand eggs at a time, which are washed off by a stream of water. In this regard, after completion of spawning, it is necessary to stop the flow in the aquarium, and remove the producers.

Fry

The incubation period lasts 172 hours, the fry that appeared, react negatively to sunlight. Therefore, the reservoir should be darkened. They begin to eat and swim on the fifth day. Feed the fry with live dust.

Young synodontises first swim like ordinary fish in an aquarium. Only after ten weeks they turn into real changers - they turn over their belly, and swim like adult fish. It should be noted that the fry grows quite slowly, so the owners should be patient.