Contents of the astronotus
Such a large fish with bright colors looks very impressive, but it is not easy to keep. This option is not suitable for beginner aquarists. These fish are often bred in decorative office aquariums.
Astronotus lives best in a largeAquariumPhoto: Getty The optimal water temperature is from 21 to 30 degrees, hardness - up to 23°. The water must be constantly filtered and a fifth of it must be changed daily. The lighting should be soft. It is useless to plant live plants in a container with an astronotus. Over time, it destroys and pulls out everything that can be pulled out, so you have to decorate the aquarium with artificial algae, securely fixing them. It is better to pour large smooth pebbles on the bottom so that the fish do not get hurt on the sharp edges of the stones. All decorative elements, stones and driftwood must be strong and securely fixed so that the fish cannot move them. The aquarium must always be covered. Seeing a fly flying over the water, the predator can rush after it and end up on the floor. Feeding such a fish is not as easy as feeding the usual inhabitants of the aquarium. Buying ready-made food is expensive, so you often have to cook food yourself. Adults are fed once a day, fry – three times. The approximate menu looks like this:
- large moths;
- tadpoles;
- earthworms;
- correter in large numbers;
- scalded leaves of cabbage and lettuce;
- beef heart;
- frozen squid;
- pieces of cod, hake, pollock.
It is convenient to prepare a portion of food for several days.Individual components are ground in a blender or cut into small pieces and frozen in polyethylene film in the form of a thin pancake. It is very easy to break off a piece of food from such a preparation.
Compatibility of astronotus with other living beings
Keeping Astronotus with other small fishinhabitants are not allowed. These predators are aggressive, so victims are possible. It is better to keep a couple of fish of this type in a large aquarium with a capacity of at least 200 liters. It is difficult to select other inhabitants, unless you have to buy an even larger aquarium. Large individuals with hard scales and sharp fins are suitable as neighbors. In order not to have to clean the aquarium often, you can select a large spiny catfish as cohabitants. It will not be afraid of these fish and at the same time will pick up the remains of food from the bottom. When buying, it is better to immediately buy 4-5 fish and keep them until they grow up. Then you can choose the most successful pair for yourself, and sell the rest. Adult individuals easily produce offspring in captivity. An aquarium with such a large fish will decorate any office or home. But care and feeding take a lot of time. Also interesting:
