Plekostomus: varieties and rules of maintenance

Plekostomus is an inhabitant of freshwater and brackish bodies of water. This amazing catfish is known for the fact that it can do without water for more than a day and move along the ground with the help of fins. In the course of evolution, his body has adapted to resisting water currents - his sucker mouth helps him not to float away with the stream, but to stay in its habitat.

Plekostomus is an unpretentious, hardy fish, almost omnivorous and characterized by high adaptive abilities. The homeland of the catfish is the South American continent. The animal has such characteristic features as:

• triangular, flattened head shape;
• the body, covered with several rows of bone plates, like chain mail;
• a suction cup in the lower part of the mouth with lips equipped with horny spines in the form of scrapers;
• small eyes are set high on the head, sometimes the catfish rolls them up, and it looks like a wink;
• the dorsal fin is rather high and continues to grow throughout the life of the plexostomus;
• the pointed first ray on the pectoral fins connects with the glands that secrete poison, so it is not recommended to pick it up;
• thin mustache located on both sides of the mouth - both the organs of touch and receptors of taste;
• the color of the body of the trunk, as a rule, is light brown, and with the abundance of a dark pattern, it seems even darker, which allows the fish to disguise itself as stones and foliage, against which it becomes invisible.

The fish can be impressive in size. In captivity, it grows up to 30–38 cm.In the natural environment, there are also larger specimens - up to 40-60 cm long. True, there are also small catfish that do not grow to large sizes, their length varies from 10 to 15 cm.

In total, there are approximately 120 varieties of the common plekostomus, but they are all outwardly similar in color, so it sometimes seems difficult to distinguish between them. The most popular types are the following:

• plekostomus golden, having an almost jaguar, dark color against the background of a light beige or yellow bodyespecially intense in males; in an artificial environment, an animal can grow up to 35 cm;

• albino - a species obtained by selection that has a pale, almost white or yellow body with a mesh pattern; he prefers fresh water, the dorsal fin of the fish is like a sail, in an aquarium it can reach 24–28 cm in length;

• bristlene - a small aquarium fish, in an adult state, having a length of 12-14 cm.

Ornaments of different types of plecostomus are different. On the body of some there is a pattern similar to the color of a zebra, a leopard, fish of the clown species are interesting.

The main difficulty associated with maintaining a plekostomus is the need for a large aquarium (at least 250-300 liters per juvenile). When purchasing a small fish, do not forget that the catfish is growing rapidly, and soon it may feel embarrassed.

This is one of the main conditions, but there are the following requirements:

• the aquatic environment for fish must be constantly clean, and for this it will be necessary to equip the tank with external and internal filtering devices that can not only regulate the water composition, but also eliminate waste from the wards;
• a weekly replacement of 1/3 of the water is required;
• for catfish, the following water indicators are provided: hardness - no more than 24–25 units, acidity level –7–8 units, temperature - from +20 to +25 degrees;
• it is allowed to place small rounded pebbles and sand on the bottom so that an underwater inhabitant cannot damage his body while digging in the ground;
• the aquarium must have a lid - the container must be kept closed, since plecostomuses like to jump out of the water;
• almost all types of catfish eat algae that grow on snags, so their placement is necessary.

And also in the aquarium, you can plant fast-growing aquatic plants, for example, different varieties of aquarium fern - scabbard, Thai or Indian, decorative Javanese moss, which will also make the design unusual, echinodorus and unassuming cryptocoryne bushes. The main thing is that the selected herbs have strong roots. At the same time, they should not be seated too densely so that the fish do not get entangled in them.

Besides snags, it is advisable to use all kinds of fragments that serve as a shelter for the fish. For this, clay shards and pots with holes made in the bottom, cut pieces of ceramic pipes and other devices are suitable. All this is done so that the catfish, accustomed to actively behaving at night, can calmly rest in their burrows during the day, relieved of the annoying lighting that it cannot stand.

Plecostomus can be considered vegetarians, because they like any plant food better - the fish are quite enough algae and moss that grow on snags, but if there is a shortage of food, catfish can also take on aquarium flowers.

To supplement the diet, it is customary for them to be fed in the form of vegetables, scalded with boiling water for softness. For this purpose, the tender pulp of zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, spinach and cabbage are suitable.

Experts recommend periodically feeding pets with live bloodworms, special flakes containing spirulina, tubifex. The usual time for feeding is evening, but you can also feed the fish during the day, but first turn off the light.

Young catfish have a peaceful disposition and get along well with other fish. But unfortunately, as they grow older, the character of the fish does not change for the better, they begin to jealously defend their territory. Therefore, the plekostomus can enter into conflicts with males of its own species and even arrange real fights. But this does not prevent him from living peacefully with many fish and other neighbors, whose main life takes place in the higher layers of the water.

Despite the peaceful nature, too small representatives of the underwater world should not be attached to the catfish, since it can take them for prey and eat them.

The best compatibility is observed between catfish and fish such as:

• cockerels;
• platies;
• rainbow fish;
• barbs;
• battles;
• guppy;
• swordtails;
• gourami.

With a large volume of the aquarium, a combination with predatory cichlids, carps, even with shrimps of the genus Shrimps, necessarily large, can be allowed, otherwise they will be perceived as food.

Among the good neighbors for the plekostomus are larger representatives - knife fish, river dragons (arowanas). A combination with sedentary fish is undesirable - if the catfish is hungry, scalars, discus and other slow inhabitants can be seriously affected. Plekostomus is a wonderful fish that for many lovers of this species becomes almost a member of the family.

For information on how to distinguish a pterygoplicht from a plekostomus, see the video below.