30.03.2010

Whiptail catfish - Lamontichthys filamentosus & Sturisoma festivum

After a restructuring of my stock in fall 2009 a 1 m aquarium was vacant, so I satisfied myself a wish and set up the tank for Whiptail Catfish.

Fortunately I found the appropriate stocking soon at my fish dealer and after establishing the aquarium a fairly adult trio Sturisoma festivum (1 male, 2 female) and a pair of teenage Filament Whiptails (Lamontichthys filamentosus), a real rarity, moved in.

Family Loricariidae Subfamily Loricariinae Genus Lamontichthys (until now 4 species are known) Species Lamontichthys filamentosus ( Filament Whiptail Catfish) Spreading Brasil (Rio Envira), Bolivia (Rio Huallaga and Lago Cashiboya ( Rio Ucayali ) Ecuador(Rio Bobonoza, province Napo-Pastaza) Size 20 cm

Family Loricariidae Unterfamily Loricariinae Genus Sturisoma (at least 14 species described) Species Sturisoma festivum ( Long Fin Catfish) Spreading Maracaibo-basin (Venezuela), Colombia(e.g. Río Catatumbo) Size 30 cm

There are several articles in the literature and some experiences in keeping and breeding Sturisoma festivum in the Internet. Concerning Filament Catfish I could initially get only very rare information. But there was a notice on the Internet, that the zoological garden in Basel has experiences in keeping and even in breeding Lamontichthys filamentosus.

Upon request, I received the information from Johannes Leuenberger of the vivarium that Filament Catfish were similarly kept in Basel, as it is often recommended for the Sturisoma Catfish. The most important conditions for maintaining was seem in good water conditions and a strong current with enough oxygen. The animals were kept in tanks equipped without soil only with roots and stones. The water conditions were relative moderate with 200 mS, pH 7.3 and a temperature of 24°C. For breeding, however, the water hardness was decreased to 50 mS and the temperature was increases to 27°C. It was managed rearing up the fry to a size of 8 cm.

I got futher information from Norman Behr. According to his information Madörin Dani and Mike Hemmann also had success in breeding Lamontichthys filamentosus in tanks without soil, strong currents and a diet with high vegetable content (self-made feed and catfish chips

Aquarium setup

I have also set up the aquarium essentially according to my information, because I wanted to try breeding at least the Sturisomas. The aquarium has no soil, but instead furnished with a larger amount of wood, therefore to hold the tank clean is easily possible.

To increase the stability of the water Rigid Hornwort(Ceratophyllum demersum) was used. This plant floods at the surface and is capable of removing large amounts of pollutants from the water. Particularly advantageous is that the Hornword is growing very well regardless of the CO₂ content of the water and is therefore very well suited for ventilated tanks.

Since both the Lamontichthys and the Sturisomas prefer a stronger flow of water, I have installed a centrifugal pump with a capacity of 600 liters per hour in addition to a slow flow biofilter. A diffuser provides a sufficient oxygen intake.

Water conditions

The water conditions in Solingen, fortunately, are quite well suited for the catfish, so I have used the water initially without further preparation. The water flows with 240 micro Siemens (KH 3, GH 5) from the line, that should be soft enough for the whiptails. According to information from the literature and the recommendations I have set the temperature to 27°C.

Feeding

Whiptail catfish are in the nature algae eater, that should be recognize that at feeding. I use an own-made frozen food mixture with shrimp, peas and dried nettles. In addition, the animals get every other day fresh vegetables. Peeled zucchini seem to be their favorite food. JBL Pleco chips with a high amount of spirulina complete the offer. These chips are particularly suitable for an aquarium with a strong current as they are very hard and dimensionally stable and does not dissolve directly. Small amounts of frozen black mosquito larvae are also given.

Behavior

Whiptail catfish are by nature rather reserved and site-faithful fish, but do not live so hidden, as it is known by some L-catfish. The animals can also been observed during the day when foraging or when mutual impressing. Especially the mutual impressing with their tails is a show. The Lamontichthys, however, are something calm than the Sturisomas. Most of the time they are sitting or hanging on the wood. Even at feeding, they are not very enthusiastic, but in the end they seem to get enough. Especially when the room was quiet for some time, both catfish species tend to scare starting a careless movement through the tank. Up to now, they are still not injured, but eventually it would be good, to put a few small fish in the tank in order to increase the tolerance of movements in their environment.

Breeding

Only a few weeks after onset the Sturisomas have spawned for the first time. However, I could not observe the spawning process, but one evening, the male was sitting on about 80 light eggs. The catfish had glued the eggs directly on the ground behind a wood, within an area with mean flow.

The male perfectly took care of the the eggs the next few days until I decided to transfer them shortly before hatching into a net that was directly placed in the flow. At this point the little fish in the eggs could be seen very well. Getting the eggs from bottom was not so easy, as they are firmly adhered to the glass. I tried to take them down with a razor blade and succeeded to some extent, but most of the frey hatched, however, directly in contact with the blade in escape.

However, after some time almost all frey were collected in the net, but I have left some of them in the tank to have a comparison if natural breeding has an advantage. Some reports discussed whether the small catfish need bacteria in the feces of their parents to digest plant food.

Once the yolk sacs are significantly decreased after a few days, I've tried to feed the young catfish with finely ground food tablets and decomposing salad. The salad was left in a bowl of aquarium water at room temperature for some days after a recommendation in a report. Unfortunately I could not observe with certainty that the young fish had eaten the offered food.

Even at this time there were some losses among the frey to complain, despite of good water conditions, so I decided to make a water change with temperatured water. Unfortunately, on the next day, no more frey was alive. The young fish have probably react very sensitively to changes in water conditions.

Conclusion

Despite good care, the Sturisomas have currently not spawned again, but I will report on the further course of my efforts. The Lamontichthys are now nearly six months in this tank and are still alive and healthy. Until now they have proven themselves to be not problematic under these conditions.

© Andreas Jäger