Ancistrus vulgaris: photo, maintenance and care, breeding

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Catfish can be seen in almost every amateur aquarium. Fish are actually very popular. And one of the brightest representatives of the family is, of course, the common ancistrus (Ancistrus Dolichopterus). Catfish of this variety are unpretentious, rather attractive in appearance and, among other things, can bring considerable benefits to the aquarium.

Origin

The common ancistrus belongs to the family of chainmail (Loricarius) catfish. In the wild, this interesting fish lives mainly in the fast-flowing mountain rivers of South America. In another way, Ancistrus Dolichopterus is called sticky catfish, sucker or just ancitrus (without "c").

In natural reservoirs, these fish live mainly near the bottom and feed mostly on algae. Most often, ancistrus can be seen in the tributaries of the Amazon and the rivers of the Andes. Also, these fish live in the upper reaches of the Orinoco in Venezuela.

Ancistrus were brought to Russia relatively recently. For the first time, domestic aquarists began to breed thesecute catfish in the 70s of the last century.

General Description

Quite remarkable and noticeable colors - this is what, among other things, distinguishes catfish ancistrus ordinary. The photos of the fish presented on the page certainly confirm this. The body of these catfish is usually painted in dark brown or black. At the same time, contrasting white or simply light spots are clearly visible against a dark background, merging into stripes along the edges of the fins. The entire body of ancistrus is covered with polygonal hard horny plates. They need such "armor" to protect themselves from enemies.

The body shape of ancistrus is flattened and elongated. The head of these fish is wide and flat. The mouth of these catfish is located below. Ancistrus lips are slightly convex. On them, among other things, there are special horny suckers. It is thanks to them that ancistrus are kept on snags and stones in a fast current.

On the horny suckers, these catfish have sharp growths, called “grater” by aquarists. With their help, fish in the wild scrape algae from stones and snags. In the aquarium, with their “grater”, common ancistrus clean the green glass. This is their feature and attracts many amateur aquarists. In artificial containers, ancistrus, among other things, act as cleaners-orderlies.

The size of ancistrus vulgaris is usually not too large. This, of course, is considered by many aquarists as the unconditional advantage of these catfish. In the wild, body lengthAncistrus Dolichopterus can reach 15 cm. But in the aquarium, this figure in most cases does not exceed 12-13 cm.

Behaviors

Ancistrus Dolichopterus belongs to the group of dusky fish. These underwater inhabitants in nature are most active at sunset. In the aquarium, it is desirable for them to create the same conditions by using a low-power lamp, for example, 25 W, for 40-50 minutes in the evening with the main light turned off.

In addition to algae, both in the wild and in artificially equipped containers, Ancistrus can also feed on organic residues. In aquariums, they often pick up pieces of food not eaten by other fish.

Both at home and in the wild, calm water catfish Ancistrus vulgaris prefer the current. In aquariums, they often stick to the filter outlet and can hang there for hours. During the day, these catfish like to hide in all sorts of shelters. During daylight hours, they can rest, for example, in bushes, under stones and behind snags.

Ancistrus males are usually very zealous in guarding their territory. Therefore, it is not recommended to keep two of these fish in small aquariums. Ancistrus Dolichopterus females are usually quite calm in nature. But sometimes both female and male Ancistrus Dolichopterus can show some aggression towards tankmates.

Ancistrus catfish: maintenance and care

Often amateurs, guided by the fact that the size of ancistrus, in contrast tomany other catfish, have small ones, put them in small aquariums - 20-30 liters. But this is absolutely wrong. In small aquariums, these fish, unfortunately, do not live long. It is believed that the minimum allowable volume of artificial capacity for these fish is 50 liters. In such an aquarium, if desired, you can put one male and one female. In a container of 150-200 liters, it is allowed to keep more of these fish. In this case, the optimal number of soms will be one male and 2-3 females.

The content of ancistrus vulgaris is a simple matter. Ancistrus Dolichopterus are considered absolutely unpretentious to water parameters. A heater, for example, when keeping such fish, an aquarium does not need to be equipped. These catfish feel good at a temperature of + 16 … + 32 ° С. But still it is believed that the most suitable water temperature for them is 20-25 ° С.

Ancistrus Dolichopterus do not like too hard water. In such conditions, they usually begin to get sick often. The optimal indicator of water hardness for these fish is 20 dGH. Suitable acidity for keeping Ancistrus Dolichopterus is 6.5-7 pH.

The aquarium should not be too high for the common ancistrus. A feature of this fish, among other things, is the absence of a swim bladder. These catfish, like other fish, cannot stay in the water column. In order to reach the surface, they need to work hard with their fins. It is believed that not too deep, wide aquariums are best suited for ancistrus. In such a container, these catfish willfeel great.

How to equip an aquarium

As already mentioned, in the wild Ancistrus live on the current. Therefore, the aquarium for them should be equipped with a sufficiently powerful pump. Water in mountain rivers is usually well saturated with oxygen. Therefore, equipment such as an aerator is also a must for an aquarium with these catfish.

Of course, a large number of snags should also be provided for ancistrus. Also in the aquarium is to put a few large stones. Plants container with ancistrus should be planted quite densely.

Feeding

Ancistrus Dolichopterus belongs to the group of herbivorous fish. But in some cases, they can also eat food of animal origin. You can feed these catfish both with artificial flakes and tablets, and with natural food. Experienced aquarists advise simply alternating these two types of catfish food.

Green food tablets intended for catfish, ancistrus are very fond of and eat with pleasure. Also Ancistrus Dolichopterus can be given boiled carrots, scalded lettuce and other similar foods. Like other aquarium fish, ancistrus are fed 1-2 times a day. At the same time, once a week, catfish are satisfied with a fasting day.

Compatibility

The content of common ancistrus in the same container with almost any other fish will not cause any problems for the aquarist. This catfish is compatible with almost all representatives of the underwater fauna,artificially bred at home. They don't put them in the same aquarium except with cichlids.

To sluggish fish, these catfish in some cases may show aggression. Therefore, only large representatives of aquatic fauna with a phlegmatic character can be planted with them in the same aquarium.

Keeping ancistrus ordinary with other fish of almost any species is, therefore, quite acceptable. But often Ancistrus Dolichopterus, unfortunately, show aggression not only to slow neighbors, but also to direct competitors that have reappeared on their territory - bottom fish. It is impossible, for example, to contain ancistrus together with catfish deprived of scales. Such representatives of the underwater fauna, they can cause quite severe injuries.

How to tell a male from a female

Maturity in these fish occurs at the age of about 8-10 months. However, their sexual characteristics are clearly manifested only by about 12 months. Distinguishing a female from an ancistrus is quite simple. Different-sex catfish of this species have, first of all, a different body shape.

Female Ancistrus Dolichopterus are usually larger than males. At the same time, their body is longer, and the fins are pointed. The easiest way to distinguish heterosexual catfish is by looking at the head. The male Ancistrus vulgaris has a large number of tentacules, referred to by many aquarists simply as "antennae". Females do not have such processes.

Reproduction

Offspring from ancistrus when kept at home to getpretty easy. Sometimes these catfish spawn even in a common aquarium. True, in this case, their offspring usually do not survive.

For purposeful propagation of ancistrus at home, spawners without soil and plants with a volume of 40 liters or more are used. Water in such containers is poured directly from the aquarium. For greater reliability, you can pre-cool it a little.

Ancistrus spawn usually in special plastic tubes or on long snags. They rarely spawn on rocks. Therefore, in an aquarium with a pair of catfish, you must definitely put at least 2-3 tubes.

Ancistrus spawning usually occurs at night immediately after transplantation. However, sometimes the male can inspect the aquarium for several days beforehand and choose the most attractive pipe, from his point of view.

Ancistrus female lays up to 200-300 eggs at a time. This is, of course, quite a lot. However, only adult females usually lay such a number of eggs. You won't be able to get too many fry from young ones.

Ancistrus breeding: caring for fry

Male Ancistrus take care of the offspring. The female is immediately expelled from the tube after spawning. It is advisable to immediately transplant it from the spawning ground. In a small aquarium, the male can even kill her.

Ancistrus ordinary take care of their offspring very well. After spawning, the male constantly sits in the tube and fans the eggs with his fins. Ancistrus fry hatchabout 8 days after spawning. At first, they hang on the walls of the nest and feed from the bladder they have on their abdomen. After the fry swim, the male should be removed from the spawning ground. Otherwise, he may eat the young.

Swimming Ancistrus fry can be given both dry and natural food. The main thing is that the “crumbs” of food are small enough so that the young can swallow them. Some aquarists simply toss ordinary food sinking tablets to small catfish. Young growth immediately sticks around them from all sides and gnaws hard. In any case, for the fry of these catfish, of course, it is best to use only the highest quality ready-made food.

If Ancistrus spawned in a common aquarium, if desired, it can be placed in a separate container, cut off with a sharp razor. In this case, the male is not transplanted into the spawning ground. Due to the stress of losing eggs, ancistrus usually lose their paternal feelings and can easily eat their own eggs.

Varieties

Most often in aquariums they keep ordinary dark ancistrus with white dots. However, breeders have bred several varieties of this fish and other colors. If desired, today you can get such albino catfish, red, pink, brown, star-shaped. Veiled Ancistrus with long fins, of course, also look very impressive.

The most common diseases

Ancistrus fish are unpretentious. When properly maintained, they get sick relatively infrequently. But sometimes he alth problems, of course, occur in these catfish. by the mostcommon ancistrus diseases are:

• ichthyphthiriosis (semolina);
• oodinioz;
• dropsy.

With ichthyophthyriasis, a large number of small white spots are noticeable on the body of a catfish. In most cases, amateur aquarists treat semolina with malachite green. Oodiniosis is manifested by a decrease in mobility, gluing and subsequent destruction of the fins. This disease is usually treated with bicillin-5. With dropsy in catfish, the stomach swells strongly. The fish stops defecating. Treat dropsy in ancistrus usually using the drug "Bactopur".