Species Name: Hoplosternum thoracatum

Common Names: Hoplo Catfish
Synonyms: None

Family: Callicthidae

Order: Siluriformes

Class: Actinopterygii

Max Size: 10 cm / 6 inches

Environment: Freshwater

Origin: They come from the Amazon Basin.

Temperament: The Hoplo Catfish is a all around good catfish. They swim around, minding the own business, and eating. They like the sex ratio 1m/3f. They are like a giant version of a Cory catfish with the same characteristics. If you have a big enough tank, 6-8 is a great starting group.

Company: The Hoplo Catfish can be housed with small fish and big fish (that don’t consider them food). You can keep with slower moving fish, or even smaller tetras. All around, they are a nice catfish.

Water Parameters: pH 6.5-7.9 , temperature ° C / 70-85 ° F

Aquarium Setup: When setting up the Hoplo Catfish aquarium, I would recommend many caves, rocks and other things the Hoplo catfish can go through. The tank should be no smaller then 50 gallons / 200L, and preferably have a sand bottom. They like to dig and shift the sand of the bottom of your tank, looking for food. They also have sensitive barbels.

Feeding: The Hoplo Catfish are pretty much hogs and will eat anything your other fish will eat. Flakes pellets, brine, black worms, bloodworms all make excellent foods.

Breeding: They breed in a similar fashion to the Betta as the male builds the bubble nest. To trigger them to breed, do a water change and add about half cool water to the tank, maybe 5 degrees colder than the water in the tank. The mother and father take good care of the babies. Watch the water movement at the top, because this can prevent the making of a bubble nest.