Longfin sturgeon catfish DNZ - Sturisoma festivum

The very calm and peaceful Longfin Sturgeon Catfish (Sturisoma festivum) from tropical Venezuela / South America lives in its native country mainly in moderate to fast flowing waters with lots of dead wood. The elongated body shape of the Sturgeon Catfish, reminiscent of a thick twig, is striking and camouflages it perfectly in its habitat.

The transparent, dark spotted fins are strikingly long and sickle-shaped in Sturisoma festivum. The body color of the Longfin Sturgeon Catfish is brownish, with a conspicuous longitudinal band of dark brown extending from the snout to the caudal fin, which sometimes resolves into a series of dots. The caudal fin may bear long filaments, thread-like extensions. Longfin sturgeon catfishes belong to the loricariid family.

Longfin Sturgeon Catfish grow quite large, up to 30 cm, and therefore require an aquarium 120 cm or longer. An aquarium with a good current is ideal, but the beautiful Longfin Sturgeon Catfish also feels comfortable in a standard community aquarium with shrimp and peaceful fish, provided its requirements are considered.

The calm and compatible Longfin Loricariid is a peaceful, social aquarium fish. Please keep this sociable catfish in a group of at least 4. The Longfin Sturgeon Catfish in your aquarium need hiding places like shallow caves, which you can create with slates. Tubes are also well accepted.

Longfin Sturgeon Catfish need soft wood in their aquarium to scrape off as a source of fiber - bog pine, for example, is a good choice. For the digestion of these beautiful catfishes to work well, they absolutely need fiber, which the wood fibers provide.

The males of the Longfin Loricariid are very slender, the females show a broadened abdomen. Breeding of Sturisoma festivum in the aquarium is possible. Longfin Loricariids are open breeders. As part of the courtship ritual, the spawning site is cleaned by both partners. After spawning, the male guards the clutch for about a week, and the female does not care for the offspring further.

The water hardness in the aquarium for the Longfin Loricarius should be soft to medium hard. High oxygen levels and good water quality are conducive to the well-being of these beautiful catfish. The temperature of the aquarium water should be between 22 and 26 °C.

Sturisoma festivum is an omnivore and takes besides algae and green food also soft and short scalded vegetables very gladly. Also brown autumn leaves are eaten with pleasure. Frozen food and special food for loricariid catfish in the form of wafers or tabs are also good supplementary food for the Longfin Sturgeon Catfish. Plants can be eaten, especially if not enough plant food is fed.

Our food recommendation: NatureHolic professional catfish feed is a professionally formulated complete diet specifically for all sucking catfish. The feed tabs contain important dietary fibers such as chitin and plant fibers, which are essential for the survival of catfish for a well-functioning digestion. With strong proteins from insect larvae as well as carbohydrate-rich vegetables NatureHolic Catfish Feed provides all sucking catfish optimally with all important nutrients for fast and healthy growth. The extra hard chips can be scraped off by the catfish in a natural way - here they really have to do something for their food! An occupation like in nature.

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 when keeping fish 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.