One of the most popular catfish in aquariums is the Shterba corridor. This fish is easily distinguished by its colorful coloring, peace-loving character, unpretentiousness and ease of care. Such a water dweller is good for general aquariums, but it is important for him to have a wide bottom.
Description
The sterba corridor grows to 6.5 cm, however, experts recommend purchasing young individuals whose length is 2.5-3 cm.
It is impossible to confuse this corridor with other catfish - they have too original coloring, the body of the fish is painted in dark gray, almost black, and is literally strewn with white specks, especially a lot of them near the caudal fin. Around the dorsal and lateral fins, a narrow strip of a reddish hue is noticeable, which makes the fish even more spectacular and unusual.
Very rarely, but you can meet an unusual variety of this catfish - albino, it is not pigmented, his whole body, including his eyes, is pure white.
Females and males are clearly distinguishable - males are much smaller, but more elegant, especially if you look at them from above. Females have a stronger structure and a round abdomen.
Advantages and disadvantages
Before you populate the Shterba corridor in a common aquarium, it will be useful to learn about the main advantages and disadvantages of this fish.
Among the advantages can be identified:
- undemanding to food;
- peaceful disposition;
- spectacular appearance;
- ease of breeding.
By cons include:
- exactingness to the quality and purity of water - if the reservoir is contaminated with organic matter, catfish will begin to hurt and in most cases this will lead to their death;
- at least once a week, water should be replaced by about a third.
Content
In order to create a comfortable living environment for the Shterba corridor, he will need a spacious aquarium with a large number of living plants, grottoes and snags, however, open areas of the bottom should also be present.
These catfish are herd animals, so you need to buy them in a large group of at least 6-8 individuals. For such a "company" you will need an aquarium with a volume of 150 liters or more, while its length should be at least 70 cm, since corridors are notable for their activity; free space in the bottom zone is important to them.
These fishes spend most of their time burrowing into the substrate and looking for food for themselves, so it is optimal that the soil consist of river sand or fine-grained smooth gravel.
As we mentioned, water quality is extremely important for sherba catfish, they are sensitive to its chemical composition, categorically do not tolerate the presence of nitrates, salts, chemicals and drugs. If the water does not suit them, the fish experience a stressful state, which manifests itself in rapid breathing and the desire to climb as high as possible on the leaves of plants near the surface of the water.
If these symptoms appear, you should replace the liquid by 40-50%, clean the filter and carefully siphon the bottom. However, if you have a high-quality cleaning system installed and you regularly refresh the water, then problems with catfish can be avoided.
The optimal parameters for the content of the corridors of the sterba:
- temperature - + 25–26 degrees;
- acidity - 76.5-7.5 units.
Feeding
Somics belong to omnivorous fish, and Sterba corridors are no exception, they can swallow everything that they can only catch.
They respond especially well to special tablets for bottom fish present in the assortment line of any major producer of feed. Catfish is very fond of minced seafood, as well as scraped meat - keep in mind that it should be low-fat.
But the favorite for sterba is the pipe maker - they are ready to consume it always and in any quantities. By the way, an increase in the share of this live food in the diet greatly contributes to bringing the sterba to a pre-spawning state.
Compatibility
In nature, corridors exist in huge schools numbering several hundred fish; therefore, they cannot be planted alone in an artificial reservoir, the group should include at least 6 individuals.
The corridors of Sterba are distinguished by a peaceful disposition, they will never touch their neighbors, therefore they are considered ideal residents of common reservoirs. However, not all fish can boast of such friendliness, therefore calm catfish are often the target of attacks by cichlids and some other territorial fish swimming at the bottom. However, such attacks are unlikely to cause damage to catfish, but offenders can be harmed.
The fact is that the corridors have sharp spikes that are released at the moment of danger - they can even kill the predators trying to swallow their predator.
Breeding
The breeding of sterba does not differ in any way from the breeding of other catfish, corridors. In order to get a new population of fry, it is necessary to select 1-2 pairs of fish and transfer to equipped spawning, with a volume of at least 20 liters.
In order to stimulate spawning, it is necessary to increase the water change up to 50%, lower the temperature in the tank by a couple of degrees and offer pets only live food. When females are ready to spawn, males surround them and begin to show increased activity. It is very important that in spawning there were large-leaved plants or Javanese moss - they will become the platform for laid eggs.
For each spawning female spawns from 30 to 200 eggs; immediately after the male fertilizes them, both parents are sent back to the general aquarium, the water in the spawning is heated to 26 degrees and waiting - the incubation usually lasts 5-7 days, after which the fry hatch, and after another 2 days they begin to swim in the water . At this point they need a special starter feed - live dust or ciliates; in a week, young growth can be transferred to Artemia larvae.
Disease
When buying a new fish, it must be kept in a separate quarantine tank for about a month. The reason is that "Newcomers" are often carriers of fungal and bacterial infections, which in a matter of days can infect all other inhabitants of an artificial reservoir, especially often this happens if catfish was purchased on the market.
If you notice that your corridor has become more breathing and it has become increasingly close to the surface of the water - it is possible that he was poisoned by nitrogen or experiencing oxygen starvation.
If stains, smudges or mucous growths appeared on the body of the catfish, it is most likely that fungi got into the water along with the food. External parasites can also cause such phenomena.
Usually, fish are treated with special preparations that a veterinarian should prescribe. The use of any "grandmother's" means - hydrogen peroxide, methylene blue, tea leaves or salt - is fraught with aggravation of the pet’s condition and instead of curing the fish, your actions will lead to its death.
For the care of the fish Corridoras Šterba, see the video below.
