Fishes The Asian red-tailed catfish or Hemibagrus, the scientific name Hemibagrus wyckioides, belongs to the Bagridae (Orca catfish) family. A very large, aggressive predatory fish is not the best choice for a beginner hobbyist.
- Habitat
- Description
- Food
- Maintenance and care, arrangement of the aquarium
- Behavior and compatibility
- Breeding / reproduction
- Diseases of fish
Habitat
They originate from Southeast Asia. In the descriptions, the terrain type is indicated as "Cambodia", however, this species is widespread in the basins of the Mekong and Chao Phraya (Menam Chao Praya) rivers and, accordingly, occurs in southern China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Inhabits the main canals of rivers, including regions with turbulent currents. During the wet season, it swims to the flooded coastal areas of tropical forests.
Brief information:
- The volume of the aquarium is from 1000 liters.
- Temperature - 19-29 ° C
- PH value - 6.0-8.0
- Water hardness - 1–21 dGH
- Substrate type - any
- Lighting - dim
- Brackish water - no
- Little or no water movement
- The size of the fish is up to 100 cm.
- Food - live fish and crustaceans
- Temperament - aggressive
- Content single
Description
Adults reach a length of about a meter and a weight of 70–80 kg. The largest specimen known to date was 1.3 meters. The coloration is dark or gray. The fins have reddish edges and the tail is completely red. In young fish, the color is dark gray. Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed, males and females are practically indistinguishable in appearance.
Food
In nature, it belongs to predatory species, the basis of the diet is other fish and crustaceans. In an artificial environment, nutrition must be adequate. Young catfish can host large earthworms. Feed 1-2 times a week.
Animal products (chicken, beef, etc.) should not be used, they are difficult to digest and, in the long term, cause excess fat deposition and even degeneration of the digestive organ.
Maintenance and care, arrangement of the aquarium
Due to its size, the Asian red-tailed catfish needs very large reservoirs, with more than 1000 liters. The design repeats the features of the river bottom relief and contains sandy soil with heaps of stones, boulders and numerous snags.
Large fish generate a lot of waste. Feed residues are also an additional source of contamination. To maintain the balance of the aquarium ecosystem, part of the water is regularly replaced with fresh water and efficient filtration systems are installed. As a rule, the entire set of equipment with communications takes up no less space than the tank itself.
The installation and maintenance of such aquariums requires no small financial costs and a lot of experience and goes beyond the scope of amateur aquaristics.
Behavior and compatibility
Aggressive territorial fish, incompatible with most other species. Any fish that can fit in her mouth will certainly be eaten.
Breeding / reproduction
At the time of this writing, there are no cases of successful breeding in aquariums. For commercial purposes, breeding is carried out using hormonal injections. Under these conditions, the observed incubation period is 30–38 hours. The emerging fry are only 5 mm long and feed on the remains of the yolk sac in the first three days. A month later, young catfish already reach 4 cm or more.
Diseases of fish
Finding in favorable conditions is rarely accompanied by a deterioration in fish health. The occurrence of this or that disease will indicate problems in the maintenance: dirty water, poor quality food, injuries, etc. As a rule, elimination of the cause leads to recovery, however, sometimes you have to carry out medication. Read more about the symptoms and treatment methods in the "Diseases of aquarium fish" section.
