| Catfish are a popular fish to keep in your fish | | | | good for cleaning up waste material off the |
| tank because they are generally placid and can | | | | bottom of the tank but they also eat a wide |
| live comfortably with other species of fish in a | | | | variety of food including pellets and flake food and |
| community tank. They also have a distinctive | | | | also blood worms. They are also well adapted to |
| appearance of having barbels around the mouth | | | | cold water and can live in water ranging from |
| that look like whiskers and hence give them their | | | | 18-25 degrees Celsius. |
| colloquial name Catfish. This article will briefly | | | | Synodontis sp. are generally larger fish than the |
| describe the common types of catfish that can | | | | Corys with some notable exceptions being the |
| be kept in an aquarium, some of their habits and | | | | upside down catfish or synodontis nigriventris. |
| how to care for them. | | | | They hail from the river systems and lakes of |
| The two species of catfish that are popular for | | | | Africa where water is quite hard. Again they are |
| aquariums are the Corydoras sp. (also known as | | | | bottom dwellers that prefer fine gravel substrate |
| corys, cory catfish or cory cats) and the | | | | that they can scour for food. Having said that |
| Synodontis sp. | | | | they will eat most types of other food from live |
| Corys are indigenous to the tributaries of the | | | | food to flake and pellets. |
| Amazon river system. These waters are typically | | | | Synodontis are quite shy to some extent and |
| clean and clear and have a constant and gentle | | | | prefer dark surroundings. The lighting should be |
| current. Corys tend to stick at the bottom in the | | | | low and the habitat should include plenty of rocks |
| current searching for food on the river bed or | | | | and wood that can create caves and other place |
| small animal life. Corys are quite small and live in | | | | to hide from time to time. |
| small groups in the wild. In aquariums they are | | | | They also make good inhabitants of a community |
| often on their own. | | | | tank but can be territorial at times. |
| They are fairly hardy in terms of water quality. | | | | Catfish are great additions to any fish tank. They |
| They can tolerate slightly acidic or alkaline water | | | | can provide a contrast to the more classically |
| but are ideally suited to neutral water. They like a | | | | elegant cichlids with their odd looks and unusual |
| fine gravel substrate as most of their time is | | | | behavior. They also serve a useful purpose in |
| spent foraging for food. It is important to keep | | | | eating much of the wasted food that drifts to the |
| the water and gravel clean because Corys will | | | | bottom of the aquarium. Mainly they are peaceful |
| pick up bacterial infections, such as ich or fin rot, | | | | and will live with other species of fish and they |
| from dirty substrate. To this extent, Corys are | | | | are quite hardy to water conditions. |