Dwarf catfish - Ameiurus nebulosus - 10-15 cm

The American Dwarf Catfish is also called the Brown Catfish. Ameiurus nebulosus is native to North America, where it is found in slow-moving or stagnant waters up to the mouths of rivers. Here you can buy 10-15 cm long specimens.

This cold water fish has a rather flat and broad head. Its mouth is also quite wide and is surrounded by four pairs of barbels. Dwarf catfish are brownish in color, have a whitish belly and can camouflage to their surroundings. The dorsal fin and pectoral fins of Ameiurus nebulosus are covered with short spines. Catfish are popular food fish and are caught by sport anglers in their native country.

The rather predatory Ameiurus nebulosus lives rather bottom-oriented and likes to feed on snails, worms, insect larvae and insects, amphibians and amphinia larvae, juvenile and small to medium-sized pond fish, crustaceans, algae and plant parts. The American Dwarf Catfish is also very fond of pond fish food.

These rather nocturnal dwarf catfish only grow up to 40 inches long, which makes them a great pond fish. In the garden pond, they eat pesky water snails, mosquito larvae and other unwanted co-inhabitants. A catfish will also devotedly take care of excess fry, but will not disdain adult goldfish.

The dwarf catfish can be kept individually in the garden pond without any problems. Because the Brown Catfish grows quite large for a pond fish, it also needs a sufficiently large pond - the more Catfish kept, the larger. American catfish need a fair amount of food. If the pond is about 1-1.3 feet deep, you can let your dwarf catfish overwinter outside. Over the winter, brown catfish go into cold sleep; to do this, they crawl to the bottom of the pond.

If you keep both sexes, catfish can reproduce in the garden pond. To lay their eggs, the females dig a shallow pit near the pond shore between March and May. There they lay their spawn balls, which contain up to 4000 eggs. The male catfish engages in brood care, watches over the clutch and cares for the catfish larvae for some time after hatching until the young catfish, which at first look like tadpoles, begin to swim freely.

Catfish can also be kept in an aquarium. For a pair, a tank from 150 cm edge length or 400 liters volume is required. The water values do not matter, but the water temperature should not exceed 24 °C even in summer. The filter should be dimensioned very large, because the voracious catfish also have a corresponding metabolism. The catfish live hidden in the bottom region and need corresponding hiding places. They also like some foliage on the bottom.

Catfish can survive in nature and have the potential to become an invasive species. Therefore, they must not be released under any circumstances.

Our food recommendation: Behind the NatureHolic Main Feed Flake is a flake food for all fans of classic fish feeding. Like the main feed granules, the flake version of our NatureHolic main feed is perfectly balanced for all aquarium fish and offers a carefully selected blend of valuable raw materials in an optimal nutrient composition, with proteins, minerals and trace elements for a complete diet and a long, healthy fish life.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.