Farlovella Vulgaris (Farlowella Acus)

Farlovella Vulgaris (Farlowella Acus)
Farlovella Vulgaris (Farlowella Acus)

Video: Farlovella Vulgaris (Farlowella Acus)

Video: Farlovella Vulgaris (Farlowella Acus)
Video: ФАРЛОВЕЛЛА АКУС (Farlowella acus) 2024, March
Anonim

Farlovella vulgaris, or acicular farlovella, or nosy farlovella, or acus farlovella (Whiptail catfish, Twig catfish) is a fish with a memorable appearance that resembles the root or stem of an aquatic plant. Completes such an unusual type of fish - its long nose, like a needle. This is a peaceful and calm catfish, preferring plant foods. It eats diatoms and green algae well. An adult couple will need an aquarium with a volume of 150 liters or more. Loves clean, old water. Breeds in aquariums, but fry are difficult to feed. The acclimatization period is hard to bear.

acicular farlovella, farlovella nasal, farlovella acus or common (Farlowella acus), photo photography aquarium fish
acicular farlovella, farlovella nasal, farlovella acus or common (Farlowella acus), photo photography aquarium fish

Etymology: the name of the genus - Farlowella - was given in honor of the American mycologist, botanist and algologist W. D. Farlow (1844-1919), the specific name comes from the Greek. acus - "needle" (an indication of the long, thin nose of this fish).

Habitat: South and Central America - Brazil and Venezuela (river basins - La Plata, Amazon, Torito and Valencia Island).

Habitat: cool muddy bodies of water with relatively stagnant water. Fish stay at the bottom between numerous snags, trunks and tree roots.

Description: the body is elongated, almost round in cross-section. The caudal peduncle is very long, thin, flattened in the upper and lower parts. The caudal fin has two filaments. The snout ends in a long, flattened from top to bottom, thin, slightly bent upward outgrowth. The body, up to the belly, is covered with two rows of bone plates. The dorsal fin is displaced back and located above the anal.

Color:the basic background of the body is from olive green to yellowish brown, the belly is white or gray. The fins are transparent, the rays are in dark spots. From the head to the root of the tail, a distinct dark stripe, often spotted, can be seen.

Size: in nature, farlovella grows up to 25 cm, in aquariums - up to 15 cm.

Life expectancy: 6-12 years.

Needle-shaped farlovella (Farlowella acus), photo photography aquarium fish
Needle-shaped farlovella (Farlowella acus), photo photography aquarium fish

Aquarium: general or specific, oblong, tightly closed with a lid on top.

Dimensions: at least 150 liters per pair of adult fish.

Water: dH up to 12 °, pH up to 7, filtration (biofilter or through activated carbon), active aeration, medium flow. With abrupt changes in the chemical parameters of water, for example, when changing a large amount of water at once, these catfish fall into shock. Therefore, it is advisable to make changes of no more than 5-10% two to three times a week with well-settled water. Farlovella is demanding on the purity of water and does not tolerate the presence of nitrogen compounds in water.

Temperature: 22-26 ° C.

Lighting: moderate, diffused.

Soil: fine sand or rounded small pebbles.

Plants:thickets of large-leaved plants with a powerful root system; there are several bushes of floating plants on the surface of the water.

Decoration: natural driftwood (willow, apple or pear), roots and branches located horizontally; heaps of stones and other decor.

Farlovella acus or common (Farlowella acus), photo photograph of catfish fish
Farlovella acus or common (Farlowella acus), photo photograph of catfish fish

Feeding: In the wild, Farlovella primarily feeds on plant foods, small crustaceans and worms. In aquariums, he willingly takes vegetable (detritus, periphyton, mossy snag, lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers, boiled pumpkin, split peas, nettles, dandelion leaves, Brussels sprouts, spinach - up to 70%), animals (macerated squid fillet, cyclops, daphnia, brine shrimp, cortetra) and combined feed (high in spirulina).

Food is given in the evening. It must be remembered that even a short starvation leads to the death of fish. When looking for food, it digs in the ground, pulls out plants and raises dregs from the bottom.

Farlovella eats diatoms and green algae well, but will not pay attention to the "black beard" and thread.

Behavior: The farlovella acus is crepuscular and nocturnal. It does not swim, but crawls from place to place. It can be kept both singly and in groups, but in the latter case, there should be at least 2-3 females per 1 male.

Personality: peaceful, calm, rather timid. Adult males are territorial, so for each male (if there are several of them in the aquarium), there should be at least 60-80 cm of the length of the aquarium.

Water zone: bottom and middle layer of water.

Can be kept with: non-aggressive, calm fish (corridors, small haracins and rasbora, discus, tetras, apistograms, guppies, ototsinkles, parotocyclus).

Not to be kept with: aggressive fish (Sumatran barbs, large cichlids).

Farlowella acus, photo photo of catfish
Farlowella acus, photo photo of catfish

Breeding fish:nesting spawning (1 male and 2-3 females), seasonal, in the wild in November-March. The beginning of reproduction is stimulated by sprinkling (watering from a watering can), an increase in water temperature and a decrease in its hardness, with a daily change of 10-20% of the volume. Producers are abundantly fed with vegetable feed. A spawning aquarium with a volume of 70 liters or more, at least 60-80 cm long, without soil, several bushes of large-leaved plants, natural driftwood, a ceramic or plastic tube installed vertically in a dimly lit place, strong aeration. Water parameters: T 27-28 ° C, dH 5-10 °, pH 3.5-6.8. Spawning is nocturnal or morning. The female lays eggs on the walls of the aquarium, a flat stone or large plant leaves. The male protects eggs (sometimes from several females at once) and fry. With constant concern, producers can destroy the masonry.

Farlovells can spawn every 1.5-2 months, but it is not recommended to arrange more than three spawning in a row.

Sexual differences: in males, the elongated rostrum is wider than in females, and covered with a large number of setae. In females, an ovipositor appears shortly before spawning.

Puberty: begins at the age of 1.5-2 years.

Number of caviar: 60-80 milk-white eggs with a diameter of about 3 mm.

Incubation period: 4-10 days.

Offspring: newborn larvae 8-10 mm long. Juveniles swim for 1-4 days.

Growth rate: fast. By two months the fry grow up to 4-5 cm. The fry are extremely sensitive to water quality and poorly tolerate various medications.

Feeding juveniles:starter feed - "live dust", rotifer, algae, mashed spinach, lettuce (they are pre-soaked in water for a couple of days, since blanching leads to the loss of many nutrients) or green peas. The fry should have plant food in constant access. To do this, some aquarists recommend preparing a snag or a stone well overgrown with algae in advance and placing them in a nursery aquarium as soon as the fry swim.

Ditching from parents: the female is deposited immediately after spawning; male after the fry begin to feed on their own.

Farlovella vulgaris (Farlowella acus), photo photography aquarium fish
Farlovella vulgaris (Farlowella acus), photo photography aquarium fish

Diseases: acicular farlovella is easily affected by ichthyophthyriosis. In this case, the water temperature is raised to 28 ° C or trypaflavin is used.

Treatment with salt and antibiotics is contraindicated.

When worms are affected, fenasal, tetramisole or niclosamide are added to the feed in an amount of 2-3% of the mass of fish. If necessary, processing is carried out 3-5 times.

Comments: The common farlovella has a hard time acclimatizing.

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