Hypancistrus Zebra L046 (lat. Hypancistrus Zebra L046) is one of the most beautiful and unusual catfish that aquarists can find on our market. However, there is a lot of varied and contradictory information about keeping, feeding and breeding it. Even the story of its discovery is inaccurate, despite the fact that it happened sometime between 1970-80. But what is known for sure is that in 1989 it was assigned the number L046. It has become the flagship of a whole stream of new fish for aquarists, but over the past years it has not only not lost its popularity, but has also gained new fans.
Origin of the species and description
Photo: Som
Catfish belong to the ray-finned fish - the first representatives of this class appeared in the Devonian period, about 390 million years BC. Gradually they settled over larger and larger territories, and new groups and families were formed. The order of catfish is quite ancient - this is confirmed by many features of its representatives. So, among them there are species with spines on the head and fins, or with dermal teeth similar to those that sharks have.
Video: Catfish
Another important feature indicating the antiquity of catfish is the presence in the skull of some of them of a pineal opening, the same as in the lobe-finned or extinct lobe-finned Osteolepis - it is intended for a light-sensitive organ and is not typical for other fish. Catfish are related to characins, cyprinids and gymnotids - they all originated from one original genus, the division occurred in the Cretaceous period, after which this genus became extinct, and they continued to develop. Catfishes retain more archaic features.
The order includes the catfish family, which includes about a hundred species. The most characteristic of them is considered to be the common catfish - it will be discussed further. It was described by Calus Linnaeus in 1758, the scientific name is Silurus glanis.
Interesting fact: Legends about man-eating catfish are associated with the finds of human bones, as well as rings and parts of clothing in the stomachs of giant individuals. Most likely, the catfish simply ate already dead bodies that ended up in the river - there are no reliably recorded cases of them killing people.
Feeding
When keeping ancistrus, it is important to remember that these are not representatives of a cleaning company, but living creatures that require good and varied feeding. Plaque on walls and equipment is only a small part of what this fish likes to eat.
Since ancistrus are phytophagous, they prefer plant food to animal food. In principle, they do not refuse live food and quickly get used to such an additive in the diet; they also need it. But the basis of catfish nutrition is still dry balanced food in the form of flakes and granules, heavy tablets that settle to the bottom. Ancistrus can feed on such a tablet for several days, scraping the softened part from the surface. Anything that can be fed to vegetarian fish will do.
A tasty addition would be pieces of fresh cucumber or zucchini, peas, and lettuce.
Appearance and features
Photo: Catfish fish
Previously, giant catfish were caught in European rivers - their body length was up to 5 meters and their weight was up to 400 kilograms. These data inspire confidence, since the largest of the individuals registered according to all the rules is only slightly inferior - its weight turned out to be 306 kg. However, catfish grow throughout their lives, which means they reach such sizes very rarely: over the past decades, individuals heavier than 160 kg have not been caught - and even this weight is already huge for catfish. A fish weighing between 12-15 kg is considered an adult, and specimens heavier than 30 kg are very rarely found - this is a great success for the fisherman.
The head of the catfish is large relative to the body and looks as if flattened. The jaws are massive, but the teeth are very small - but there are a lot of them, and they are sharp. The eyes are small in comparison with the size of the head. A characteristic feature of a catfish is a mustache, two long and four short. The color of a catfish can vary greatly depending on where it lives and what time of year it is. Most often, its body is dark gray on top, and its belly is lighter. The fish may be light brown, greenish, sandy yellow or very dark. Often there are spots on the body.
The fins are usually darker than the rest of the body, they can be either very dark, close to black, or dark blue or dark green. Often, a catfish combines several shades at once, smoothly transitioning into each other - in young individuals these transitions are sharper, their colors are generally brighter than in adults, and even more so in older catfish.
The body of the catfish in front has a rounded shape, but the further towards the tail, the more it contracts. The tail is very strong and long - about half the entire length of the fish, the fins are generally quite powerful, but due to their size, catfish are inferior in speed and maneuverability to most other fish. There are no scales; instead, their skin is protected by a large amount of mucus - the sebaceous glands that produce it are actively working. Thanks to mucus, the delicate skin of the catfish remains intact, and its body glides more easily in the water.
Compatibility
About compatibility with other fish. In general, it is believed that aquarium catfish do not care who swims there in the upper layers of water. Young ancistrus really don't care. But the older the catfish gets, the more dissatisfied it is with someone’s veiled fins, too playful disposition or encroachment on territory. Catfish can pester neighbors, stick to their fins or the most delicate parts of the body and keep them constantly stressed. But these are rather exceptions; in most cases, Ancistrus is an excellent neighbor for almost any fish. The bone shield will protect even from the teeth of predators.
Where does catfish live?
Photo: Catfish in the river
Found in most of Europe, including all of European Russia.
Catfish are found in the basins of such rivers as:
- Rhine;
- Loire;
- Seine;
- Ebro;
- Vistula;
- Danube;
- Dnieper;
- Volga;
- Kuban.
That is, the common catfish is distributed throughout almost all of Europe, with the exception of the lands adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, namely most of the Iberian and Apennine peninsulas, Croatia, Greece, and almost all of Scandinavia.
Previously, it was not found at all in the Pyrenees and Apennines, but was introduced back in the 19th century into the basins of the Ebro and Po rivers, where it successfully reproduced. The same practice was used in many other cases, for example, catfish were not previously found in the rivers of France, the Netherlands and Belgium, Denmark - but after being introduced they took root in them.
Outside of Europe, they are found in the northern part of Asia Minor and Iran, as well as in Central Asia - the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins. In Soviet times, catfish were released into Lake Balkhash, and they now thrive both in the lake itself and in the rivers of its basin.
Catfish are very fond of large, deep rivers and reach especially large sizes in them. Many large catfish are caught in the Volga and Ebro. They prefer warm waters, which is why they are not found in the rivers of the Northern Ocean basin east of the Urals. Although they usually live in fresh water, they are also capable of living in salt water - for example, in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey, in the Baltic and Caspian seas.
All this applies to the common catfish, other representatives of this genus are also common in Asia to the east - for example, the Amur catfish lives in the rivers of China, Korea and Japan, and loves the Amur most of all, other species are found in South America, India, on the islands of Indonesia, and Africa.
Ordinary catfish live at the very bottom of the reservoir; they usually find a quiet place - a hole between snags, and settle there. They do not swim far from their favorite hole even during the hunt, but spend a significant part of the time right there. They rarely change their habitat and can even spend their entire lives in one place.
A change can be prompted by a lack of nutrition - then the catfish swims to where there is more prey, or by cloudiness of the water - they are very picky about its purity. Therefore, if the water becomes cloudy during floods, the catfish may go in search of a new place to live.
Now you know where catfish live. Let's see what the big fish eat.
Varieties of Ancistrus
There are quite a lot of types of ancistrus. They belong to the group of loricarid or chain catfish. They gained popularity in the 60s of the 20th century, when they began to be imported en masse to Europe from South America. For convenience of description, two types of designations were invented: with the L prefix or the LDA prefix and a number. Many numbers have become so popular that an experienced aquarist, having heard the designation L-225 or L-183, can easily imagine what kind of aquarium fish Ancistrus is hiding under it. Thanks to this unscientific, but generally accepted classification, chain catfish are also called numbered.
- Ancistrus vulgaris is a typical representative of the aquarium world of these catfish. It has a modest coloring that helps it blend in with the bottom in its natural habitat: an olive-brown background with lighter spots. Grows up to 15 cm.
- Ancistrus stellate L-183 – has a black body, along which small white spots are randomly located. The edges of the fins and tail have a white border.
- Ancistrus veil - almost every breed of fish can be veiled. It is distinguished by luxurious fins: large, lush, spotted.
- Yellow Ancistrus L-144 – has a rich yellow body color (with constant spots over the entire surface). It can be mistaken for an albino, but albinos have red eyes, and the yellow ancistrus has expressive black ones.
- Red ancistrus - has a red-brown color, similar in shape and body size to other ancistrus.
- Leopard Ancistrus LDA-16 is slightly smaller than its counterparts, up to 10 cm in length. It has an orange body with dark brown-olive spots.
- Ancistrus claro LDA-08 - named after its place of residence - the Claro River. On a light sand background, dark brown spots merge into bizarre chaotic stripes, reminiscent of a labyrinth. They grow up to 7 cm, so the size of the aquarium requires more modest ones - up to 40 liters per couple.
- Ancistrus dark - light spots on a dark background of the body.
What does catfish eat?
Photo: Catfish underwater
The diet of catfish is very diverse, it includes:
- fish;
- freshwater;
- birds;
- shellfish;
- insects;
- fry;
- larvae;
- worms;
- vegetation.
They often eat carrion, which is why there is a common misconception that they are limited to it - it is due to the fact that this large fish looks slow and clumsy. But she is more dexterous than she might seem and, although carrion actually makes up a significant part of the menu, catfish are not averse to eating live animals.
So, they hunt a wide variety of fish - they can swim straight into schools of small fish and, opening their mouths wide, eat dozens of them at once, or they can hunt large ones, like bream or pike perch. They can also dine on large amphibians such as frogs, newts or waterfowl - although they are rarely caught.
They can catch and eat pets caught in the water - cats or small dogs. There are even cases of attacks on calves caught in the water and, moreover, on people. It is difficult to say whether catfish are actually dangerous for humans; we only know for sure about people who were bitten by them and who accidentally stepped on their nest.
Young catfish feed mainly on the fry of other fish, aquatic insects, small crustaceans and larvae. As adults, they can also eat all of the above, but they do not specifically hunt for them - they simply open their mouths and suck all these small animals into it.
They hunt mainly at night, and can either search for prey at the very bottom or rise to the surface where they can find small fish. They remember where the old net was left and constantly check it to see if the fish are entangled there.
For the most part, they feed on fish, and during the hunt they can hide - usually the color of their skin blends with the river bottom, so the prey may not notice the hunter for a long time, until it ends up almost in his very mouth. If she managed to escape, the catfish does not pursue her for a long time.
They are distinguished by their gluttony: even taking into account their size, they eat a lot, especially in the spring, after nature comes to life and there is more prey - during the winter they manage to get pretty hungry. Here everything is eaten, even aquatic vegetation, although catfish usually prefer animal food.
Interesting fact: Whiskers are very important for catfish; they are used by the catfish to search for prey - even in complete darkness, with their help the catfish senses its approach. In addition, they can act as bait - hiding, he exposes them and lures small fish, which take them for prey.
Basic Rules
Feeding ancistrus is not difficult, but it is important to follow some feeding rules
- All food for catfish should be at the bottom, since it is a bottom-dwelling fish.
- Pieces of plants must be scalded with boiling water before feeding to destroy microbes and soften the upper hard crust.
- To prevent pieces of plants from floating, they are pricked on a fork or attached to some weights. Uneaten remains are removed.
- Although at home the catfish is an omnivorous fish, this does not mean that it will eat the rotting remains of food from other fish, as well as their waste products.
- It is worth carefully monitoring the behavior of the “sticky fish”; if the fish begins to eat living leaves of aquatic plants, it means that it does not have enough food and is starving.
- Ancistrus easily scrapes green soft algae from the walls of the aquarium, but the catfish cannot cope with “blackbeard” or flip flops, since it is very tough and does not lend itself to its teeth. Not every metal tip can cope with this algae.
- The ratio of plant and animal foods should be 4 to 1, that is, 80% are plants and 20% are everything else.
- You should not overfeed the fish by pouring food in excessive quantities, as pieces not eaten in time will begin to deteriorate and pollute the environment. Substances released by rotting residues lead to poisoning and death of animals.
- A large amount of protein food can cause indigestion in a catfish, especially if you introduce a large number of bloodworms into the aquarium. The catfish happily hunts for this living creature, sucking it out of its hiding places. Therefore, it is better to give protein foods frozen.
- The fish also feel great with mixed feeding, when ready-made food is diluted with natural additives. The main thing is that the diet is complete and varied, then the ancistrus will not only live long, but also reproduce as much as possible.
Features of character and lifestyle
Photo: Big catfish
Catfish are homebodies and loners - they live for a long time in the quiet hole they like and do not want to let anyone near it. But this applies to adult individuals - just as fry stay in schools, so slightly grown catfish remain in them for the first years of life. If there is a lot of food, then they can stay together until the age of 3-4 years, then they have to disperse because each fish needs a lot to feed, and therefore each adult catfish must occupy its own territory, from which it can feed freely.
Catfish are active at night or at dawn - the latter applies primarily to young individuals who prefer to feed in shallow water near the shore. During the day, catfish prefer to rest in their den. If the weather is very warm, they can get out of the holes during the day and swim slowly, enjoying the sun.
They love warm and clean water. When it rains heavily and the water becomes cloudy, they get out of the den and stay near the surface, where it is cleaner. Catfish swim to the top even before a thunderstorm - they leave smooth traces behind them, different from those that mark the movement of smaller fish; experienced fishermen also know the splash when they move well and can distinguish it from that made by other fish. Fishermen often use the catfish’s good sense of smell by throwing food waste into the water and adding something freshly fried over a fire. The strong smell attracts catfish, and they rise from their depths to see what is coming from it.
In winter, their activity subsides: they gather in flocks of 5-10 individuals and lie down in wintering pits. At this time they feed very rarely, spending most of the time motionless, falling into a kind of hibernation. By spring, they lose most of the fat accumulated during the warm period, but as soon as it gets warmer, they begin to actively eat off again.
Catfish live for quite a long time - 30-60 years, and the oldest and largest specimens caught were 70-80 years old. With age, the catfish becomes slower, and it requires more and more food; instead of actively hunting, it begins to simply swim with its mouth open, trying to suck in living creatures - it spends more and more time feeding and it becomes more difficult for it to feed itself.
Dropsy
This disease is one of the most difficult in Ancistrus. There is not much information on this matter on the Internet, but I had to dig around on the forums to put the picture together.
This disease in Anzstrus looks like a very swollen belly. As many owners think at first, well, he ate too much Ancistrus and his stomach became swollen. It will go away on its own, no big deal. And a couple of days later Ancistrus died. And here questions arise.
In an ancistrus with a swollen belly, the anus swells and the fish stops defecating.
Several factors can cause this problem:
- drug poisoning;
- ammonia poisoning;
- NO2 poisoning;
- kidney damage;
- fluid imbalance;
- live food poisoning;
- lack of cellulose in the diet.
The options under consideration are possible, but it is impossible to say definitely what caused the dropsy. According to Ancistrus breeders, if young fish grow without driftwood in a nursery aquarium, then with a very high degree of probability the fry will face a similar problem and in most cases the fish will die.
If you see a similarly swollen belly of an ancistrus, you need to remove it from the general aquarium and begin treatment with Baktopur (ciprofloxacin 50 ml/l) or you can use chloramphenicol 75 ml/l and salt 1.5-2 mg/l.
Maintain the temperature at 27 degrees. The benefits of treatment will be obvious when the catfish's belly begins to become smaller and it is able to defecate. After this, you should keep him on medication for another 2-3 days.
The trouble with this disease is that if you pay attention to the problem with the fish too late, the treatment will not lead to a good result and the fish will die anyway. As is not the only opinion of forum members, there is no reason in most cases to drag a catfish from the other world
About 80 percent of the fish cannot be cured. But in refutation on the same forums there are many successful operations to save catfish from dropsy.
Social structure and reproduction
Photo: Little catfish
Catfish begin spawning when the water warms up enough - they require a temperature of 16-18°C. Depending on the habitat, this can occur from early May to early July. Before spawning, the male builds a nest - he finds a convenient place in shallow water, digs a hole in the sand, and then the female lays eggs there.
On average, she lays 30,000 eggs per kilogram of mass - that is, if she weighs 25 kg, then there will be 750,000 eggs! Of course, only a small part of them will become fry, and even fewer will survive to adulthood - but catfish reproduce quite efficiently. This is shown by the practice of releasing them into rivers where they were not previously found: if the habitat suits them, then the initially small population of catfish after just a few decades grows greatly, and after 50-70 years there is no longer any difference with the rivers where they were found historically - in new ones there are just as many of them.
After spawning, the female swims away - she is no longer interested in the fate of the offspring, and all concerns remain with the male. He is almost constantly at the nest and is engaged in protecting the eggs, and also constantly brings fresh water saturated with oxygen to the nest - this is necessary for the better development of the offspring. After 10 days, the fry appear - they are approximately 6-8 millimeters in length and resemble tadpoles. After hatching, they attach themselves to the walls of the nest and remain in this position for about a week and a half, feeding from the yolk sac.
Only then do they begin to swim and look for food - but at first they do not move away from the nest. All this time, the fry are completely defenseless, so the male stays with them and protects them from predators. After four weeks, they disperse - young catfish are divided into several groups and stay together for another year or two, and sometimes longer.
Natural enemies of catfish
Photo: Catfish fish
The only enemy of adult catfish is humans. Not a single river fish can compare with them in size, much less attack them, so they live in the open spaces of the water quite freely and suffer only from human activity. At the same time, adult catfish bite less readily, but still the main cause of their mortality is fishing.
Underwater hunting for catfish is much less common, in which hunters go down with scuba gear - this way you can catch even the largest of them. But many adult catfish still manage to successfully live to old age. It is more difficult for young fish to do this, mainly because they bite much more readily and are caught more often.
But even young catfish are not threatened by anyone except humans. Other predatory fish can be a threat to them only while they are still very young; they also often eat eggs or fry. It can be pike, burbot, asp, and almost any other river fish. But juvenile catfish are usually protected by an adult male.
Interesting fact: The electric catfish is one of the most interesting catfishes. It lives in Africa and is capable of generating strong electric currents - up to 350 volts, thanks to organs located under the skin that cover most of its body. Using electricity, this catfish stuns its victims and protects itself from enemies.
