Welse family - Catfish
Usually the Welse family is improper considered a `cleaner fish` family with reduced water and food needs. Most of the beginner breeders have the false impression that these fish feed with other fish rests. This impression is wrong because their needs are at least equal to the other fish, if not superior. It`s true that they are used as complementary fish together to other fish more colored, active and popular. This bad reputation, that they are cleaners, comes because of the fact that they are bottom fish with their mouth situated in the lower part, and they can only eat from the ground. If they feed from the middle aquarium water they do it rarely and without ability. It`s known that Welse fish can survive in a not aerated aquarium because they have an abdominal auxiliary breathing system. The entire Welse family is sensitive to the water chemistry. Concentrations of elements that for other fish are inoffensive can harm these fish from Welse family. They are new fish in aquaria, recently introduced in aquariums. Their reproduction in captivity hasn`t been made since long time, only recently, it`s the case of Dianema longibarbis, Ancistrus, etc. Every sheat fish family contains lots of fish with different behaviors. In aquarium it`s better to have fish for every level of water: surface, middle and bottom. In this last category we include the Welse fish.
Except the poles, they are spread all over the globe. In general they are freshwater fish, but there are some saltwater species too. There are about 2000 species of Welse, in South America you can find about 1200 including the welse covered with bony plates. They prefer the bottom of the aquarium where they search for the food using their mustaches. In the natural habit, they can be found in rivers, lakes and waters without oxygen. There are some species which bury themselves in the mud waiting for the rainy season. That`s why when we set up an aquarium we have to be careful to satisfy at least the minimum of their needs. We`ll have to create places for hiding, caves, roots and especially spaces for resting during night (platforms near the surface of the water). Most of the Welse species are more active during night, that`s why we have to be careful with their feeding (example: Loricariidae family). Some other species have strange ways of swimming (Synodontis swims upside down).