Red-tailed catfish: features of the content

Red-tailed catfish, or fractocephalus, is a very bright, beautiful exotic fish. Usually they grow big enough. And they grow very quickly. Therefore, only small specimens are suitable for small aquariums. These fish do not like to move much and, like all catfish, prefer to rest on the bottom of the aquarium or hide in shelter.

Red-tailed catfish: homeland

Fractocephalus lives in the waters of the Amazon on the South American continent. At home, this fish is very popular with local anglers. The meat of the fractocephalus is dark and saturated with useful trace elements. In addition, according to those who tried it, it is very tasty.

Aquatic red-tailed catfish: appearance

It's quite an attractive fish. The body of the fractocephalus is oblong, its head is large, its eyes are large, protruding. Near the mouth of the fish are as many as three pairs of long white antennae. The red-tailed catfish received its name due to the red tail and fins of the same color. And the fish body itself is usually black or gray in color. It should be borne in mind that with age, the bright color of the tail gradually begins to fade.

As already mentioned, the fractocephalus is quite large. In the river environment, you can meet a fish up to 120 cm in length. And there is even a specimen that has reached almost 1.5 meters! In aquarium conditions, their length is not more than 60 cm.

Red-tailed catfish: content

Somiki like to lead a nocturnal life. Therefore, during the day they most often sleep or hide in shelters. They prefer to spend most of their time on the bottom. They are very calm. But still they are better kept alone or with the same large fish. Otherwise, small fish will be uncomfortable with such a huge neighbor.

In addition, fractocephalus is very voracious. Therefore, small fish that will swim next to it, are in danger of being eaten.

For fractotsefalusa require a large capacity. The aquarium should be no less than 300 liters. This fish does not like bright and direct light, prefers scattered. Primer for the aquarium - gravel and nothing superfluous: no snags, embankments or objects resembling stones. Fractocephalus is very strong and a sudden movement can accidentally pierce the glass of the aquarium with a heavy object, which will turn out under its tail.

Favorable temperature for the content of red-tailed catfish is from 22 ° C to 28 ° C. In addition, he is very fastidious to the purity of water. Therefore, it is necessary to change it once a week, at least 1/5 of the time. You also need to monitor the hardness of the water. It must be at least 4 ° and not more than 12 °.

Eating red-tailed catfish almost everything. He is absolutely unruly. He loves both dry food in granules, and live, and beef meat, and worms, and frozen fish. If it is properly and well fed, then it will grow very quickly.

Red-tailed catfish: reproduction

The fractocephalus begins to multiply not earlier than it reaches the age of 1.5 years. But in aquarium conditions this kind of fish does not multiply at all. So all the red-tailed catfish who live with us are foreigners, and they are imported from Asian countries.