In an aquarium where fish live, decorations play an important role. In addition to plants, you can add decorative elements to it: a model of a sunken ship, stones, shells and bright colorful algae. There is decor that is also functional, for example, in caves fish can hide from restless fellows. To make the design original and unique, you can make a grotto for the aquarium with your own hands.
In addition to plants, you can add decorative elements to the aquarium: a model of a sunken ship, stones, shells and bright colorful algae.
Water and temperature requirements
The temperature in the aquarium affects not only the fish's environment, but also their biological and chemical processes. Therefore, it must be the same in all layers of water so that the creatures are not harmed.
For catfish, the optimal temperature is from 18° to 28°C. But, since this is an unpretentious fish, sometimes they can withstand small deviations from this norm. Water hardness for catfish is in the range of 8-12. The water must not be salty or seawater, otherwise the fish will die.
To maintain the temperature of the aquarium you should use:
- Special aquarium refrigerator.
- Air conditioning in the room.
- Ice or cold accumulator.
Decorations made of pebbles
The easiest option is to make a grotto out of stones for your aquarium with your own hands. Flat river pebbles will do. You just need to glue the stones together in random order to make a small hemisphere. For convenience, you can put something underneath, for example, a toilet paper roll. It will act as a frame that will support the stones in the desired shape until the glue dries. This takes about a day.
The main difficulty here is that you need to glue the first layer of stones directly to the bottom of the aquarium, because the grotto must stand motionless under water, otherwise it will simply fall apart. If the stones are heavy enough, then you don’t have to do this. It should be taken into account that the bottom will still be covered with a layer of soil, so the entrance must either be located above the ground level, or be large enough for the fish to swim inside.
To be on the safe side, you can place the grotto in an aquarium without fish for several days, periodically changing the water. This will help flush out any remaining harmful substances from the materials and check the strength of the structure.
There is another way, but it requires the use of a drill. You will need a stone of a suitable size to drill a fish cave in it. The advantage of this option is that there is no need to glue it to the bottom; there is nothing there to fall apart even when moving. But there are also disadvantages - you need minimal skills in working with drills, a correctly selected stone (not only in size, but also in material, because not everyone can be drilled just like that) and a lot of patience. There will be a lot of noise and dust during operation.
Do catfish need oxygen?
Catfish are also not demanding on the oxygen regime. They breathe through their skin, so they are able to inhale atmospheric air. In order for a catfish to inhale, it needs to swim to the surface, take in a portion of air and sink to the bottom to use up the collected air.
Be careful, if the catfish is on the surface for a long time, it means it simply does not have enough air. As an exception to an aquarium creature that does not breathe through its skin, Pangasius, the shark catfish, is considered.
Original ideas
There are a lot of design ideas: bright toys at the bottom, tunnels made of stones and algae. The castle looks interesting in the aquarium. In the center they place an imitation of an island, a large piece of driftwood, or prepare handicrafts with their own hands. Less commonly, dry bamboo is used as decoration.
Looks like a living landscape, Taiwanese style. There are tall plants, figures, stones. Japanese offers a certain shape, size, number of objects. They use stones, wood, Java moss, sand as a symbol of the sky. An additional decoration is the beautiful lighting.
The famous aquascape designer and photo artist from Japan Takashi Amano uses exclusively natural materials and living plants, microorganisms, and fish in his ideas for an aquarium.
An aquarist is able to create a jungle, a winding path, a fallen tree, the shore of a wild lake, or a stream in an artificial reservoir. There are multi-layered soil, stones, driftwood, and plants. There are few or very small fish.
Photo gallery of Takashi Amano's works:
Not only are the magnificent landscapes striking, but also the compactness, thoughtful content and ease of use. The photographer even developed a line of equipment for home aquariums.
Appearance and habits make catfish extremely interesting fish. Unfortunately, aquarium catfish often suffer from unsuitable living conditions. Recommendations for setting up an aquarium for these fish will help you avoid mistakes.
Ground and shelters
There are also no special requirements or recommendations for the soil. The soil and shelters must be in the aquarium, since catfish are bottom dwellers. It could be anything: plants, decorative figures or some kind of driftwood, fish houses. If you have plants in an aquarium, pay attention to artificial options, as real catfish will quickly eat them.
If the fish have nowhere to hide and be alone, they will be in a state of stress, their appetite will worsen and its lifespan will be shortened.
Design and dimensions of an aquarium for catfish
Almost all aquarium catfish are bottom-dwelling fish. Therefore, the larger the bottom area of the container in which they are contained, the better. The height of the aquarium does not really matter.
The length of the aquarium is important when it is necessary to create a strong current in it, which is preferred by some catfish, for example, loricariids. In this case, you should choose a relatively long aquarium.
It is highly not recommended to use round aquariums. It is very difficult to install equipment in them. And the fish are uncomfortable in such an aquarium.
The size of the aquarium is selected taking into account the size of the fish that they will reach as adults. Or, conversely, fish for an aquarium are selected taking into account the size of the aquarium, if one already exists. A container of 200 liters is optimal for keeping a school of medium-sized catfish. In any case, it is not recommended to take an aquarium smaller than 50 liters. Before purchasing a fish, be sure to find out how big it will grow! Some representatives of catfish, for example, pterygoplicht or red-tailed catfish, grow more than half a meter in length.
The aquarium must be closed at the top with a lid so that the fish cannot jump out. This is especially true with nervous catfish such as the shark catfish.
Many species of catfish are strong and large fish. If your choice fell on these fish, you should purchase an aquarium with durable, thick glass. If you want to have small, harmless Corydoras, then the thickness of the walls does not matter.
Do catfish clean the aquarium?
Surely, sellers in pet stores and friends who own aquarium catfish often told you that these fish clean the aquarium, so you don’t have to do anything additional. This is not entirely true. Catfish actually clean the aquarium, picking up leftover food, food waste or some kind of scales from the bottom. But, if the area of the aquarium is large enough, and there are very few fish, catfish simply will not cope with their task.
This way the fish will be cleaned up as best they can, but you will still have to do the basic cleaning to keep them from dying. It is necessary to purchase a water purification filter to help aquarium residents.
How to decorate an aquarium yourself so that it attracts abundance.
Well, I think you have already decided on the shape, size and place where an aquarium is desired in the house? And to further strengthen our talisman, there are several ways. Well, first of all, you can put some decor in the water: a shell with a pearl or a chest with jewelry (sold in specialty stores that sell aquariums). You can also attach a color picture with a seascape to the back wall of the aquarium. You can, of course, buy a ready-made one, there are a great many of them in stores, but if you know how to draw, then it will be much more energetic, because this picture will carry your energy, which means it will be even better to attract the energy of wealth and prosperity. So, take a sheet of whatman paper, cut out a figure in the shape of the back wall of your aquarium and then pure creativity: you can, of course, draw algae, pebbles, corals, fish and any other seascape, but it is better, of course, if you draw a half-open chest full of gold against the background of algae bullion, coins and jewelry. It’s huge, you don’t need to cover the entire sheet, it’s enough to draw a chest the size of 1/3 of the entire sheet, and the thickness of the water will increase even more, and the image will be just right. But the decor in the form of a flooded, dilapidated ship (according to Feng Shui) carries negative, negative “Sha” energy, therefore in any sector or object (for example, in an aquarium), it is highly undesirable. That's all, our magical picture is ready, all that remains is to attach it to the back wall of the aquarium (preferably with transparent tape) and get what you dream of. Or you can draw several different pictures and change them periodically depending on your mood. In general, connect your intuition, awaken your creative abilities, create, invent, listen to our advice and get rich, get rich, get rich in health!
Breeding catfish
If you only have catfish in your aquarium, don't worry, you don't have to do anything. And if you have mixed fish, it is better to transplant the catfish into a separate container with clean water, preferably the volume is 30-40 liters.
Usually for one female it is enough to choose 3-5 males. It is necessary to provide their new place of residence with algae and soft soil.
To make the catfish feel comfortable and begin to mate, change the water every day for several days. The temperature should be 17-15°C. Saturate the water with oxygen more often. You can place the aquarium in a dark place or cover it with something, since catfish do not mate during the day. If you follow all the rules, you will see results in 5-7 days.
Clay crafts
If possible, you can make a grotto from red clay. This method is the most labor-intensive of all, because the clay must be fired, otherwise the product will simply break.
So, first you need to build a cave of a suitable shape. For example, in the form of a pot with a broken side or just a rectangular house. To make it spherical, you can use a balloon: inflate it to the desired size, cover it with a layer of clay (not too thin), let it dry and carefully deflate the ball, being careful not to crumple the edges of the clay sphere.
Then the product must be dried. This can be done in the sun or in the microwave. After this, firing is required. If there is a workshop with a muffle furnace nearby, then you can go there. If not, then you will have to use an oven preheated to 220 degrees. It is better to leave the door ajar. Firing takes about an hour, after which the temperature gradually decreases over 15-20 minutes . If you turn off the oven immediately, the clay will become brittle.
After firing, you can place the product next to the fish. If you decide to paint it, you need to make sure that the paints are non-toxic and will not poison the water. It is advisable to additionally burn purchased shards to kill microbes.
The clay grotto is the most labor-intensive of all, because the clay must be fired, otherwise the product will simply break.
