Peace-loving, unpretentious in care, easily getting along with any non-aggressive species of fish, catfish corridors often become inhabitants of aquariums for novice aquarists and delight their owners for many years (the average life expectancy of this species with proper care is 6-10 years).
Preparing the fish house
In order to provide your little pets with a comfortable existence, an aquarium of fifty liters or more is suitable. When equipping an aquarium before settling the corridors, special attention should be paid to the arrangement of the bottom. Since in the natural environment, catfish prefer to settle in silt, it must be covered with medium-sized (no more than 3 mm) sand.
There must be shelters - small decorative caves, sunken ships or castles are suitable for this, but you can also get by with hand-folded caves made of rounded mild stones or ordinary driftwood. In addition, such stones need to be laid out along the bottom of the aquarium, since catfish love to rest, lying on the pebbles. Plants can be planted in the aquarium thicker, without forgetting to leave open several areas at the bottom - this will be a dining room for fish.
Fish can live only in flocks of at least five to six individuals, while for each female there should be two or three males. This is due to the peculiarities of their reproduction. Each female lays only 5-6 eggs at a time, the care of which ends after the eggs are glued to the wall of the aquarium on a cleaned area, abundantly greased with milk. But she is able to make up to six such clutches during spawning, and prefers to mate every time with a new male.
The water should be soft, with neutral Ph, and free from salts. The optimal temperature will be in the range of 22-28 ° C, although, if necessary, catfish can tolerate short-term temperature drops from 3 to 30 ° C. These bottom fish love constant aeration and weekly water changes up to 20-30% of the total.
Since, in addition to the gill, catfish also have intestinal respiration, it is necessary to consider the free access of the fish to the surface of the water, where they will rise from time to time.
Feeding
If, in addition to the corridors, it is planned to keep other fish feeding on the surface in the aquarium, you will have to constantly monitor that part of the food sinks to the bottom. Otherwise, the catfish may die of hunger. You can feed them both with homemade preparations and ready-made food sold in the store.
To diversify the diet, dry food should be alternated with live or frozen food. Catfish also eat vegetable feed with pleasure. Self-prepared live or plant food must be thoroughly rinsed so as not to introduce parasites into the aquarium.
