silver catfish

Shilb striped or Silver catfish, scientific name Schilbe mystus, belongs to the family Schilbeidae (Shilb catfish). Another common name is African Butter Scrap. In the habitat, it is considered an important food fish and, to a lesser extent, ornamental. However, due to the unpretentiousness, omnivorous and peaceful disposition of this catfish, it is often kept in aquariums.

Habitat

Catfish comes from the African continent. Inhabits the Nile River basin, as well as water bodies of West Africa. Lives in various biotopes. Lives in rivers, lakes, swamps. It inhabits areas with stagnant water or places with a slow current with dense aquatic vegetation.

Description

Adults reach a length of up to 40 cm. Young catfish have a light silver body color. With age, the color darkens, the upper part of the body becomes gray, it appears with a pattern of contrasting stripes along the lateral line. The abdomen remains light.

The fish has a large, tall body. Pavliks are short, with the exception of the anal, which stretches like a ribbon from the tail to the middle of the body.

Behavior and Compatibility

Leads a predominantly nocturnal or evening lifestyle. The greatest activity will be shown after the light is turned off. Stays at the bottom. During the day it will tend to hide in shelters.

Being an omnivorous species, it can eat smaller aquarium neighbors. The rest is distinguished by a peaceful, calm disposition.

Brief information:

• The volume of the aquarium – from 400 liters.
• Temperature – 23-27°C
• Value pH — 6.0–8.0
• Water hardness – soft to hard (5-20 dGH)
• Substrate type – any
• Lighting – subdued or moderate
• Brackish water – no
• Water movement – little or no
• The size of the fish is up to 40 cm.
• Food – any food
• Temperament – peaceful, but can be a threat to small fish, shrimps
• Content alone, in pairs or in a group
• Life expectancy is 6-7 years.

Maintenance and care, arrangement of the aquarium

Shilb striped needs a spacious tank from 400-500 liters. The decoration is not essential, however, shelters of a suitable size for the fish should be provided. These can be decorative items, large snags and other natural or artificial decor.

Water parameters can be in a wide range of pH and GH values. A comfortable temperature is considered to be 23–27 ° C with slight deviations in one direction or another.

Aquarium maintenance is standard. The minimum maintenance procedures include weekly replacement of part of the water with fresh water, removing accumulated waste and equipment maintenance.

Food

in the wild it will eat almost anything it can swallow, including small fish, insects, shrimp, snails, plant seeds, fallen fruits, etc. In a home aquarium, it can eat any popular dry, frozen, or live food.

Breeding and reproduction

In nature, it breeds during the rainy season, which is accompanied by migrations upstream. Catfish lay eggs on plants. They do not show concern for masonry and offspring.

In home aquaria, no cases of successful breeding of Silver catfish have been recorded.