1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful and tough; good for medium-sized fish tanks.
488 species in our list are a good match.
Peaceful and tough; good for medium-sized fish tanks.
Sinking pellets, frozen foods and chopped shrimp or fish; feed at dusk.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Males have a thicker first pectoral-fin ray (spine) that turns orange-yellow, especially when breeding; females are rounder.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Bubble nester · Moderate
Bubble-nester: the male builds a foam nest at the surface and the female lays her eggs in it. The male guards the nest alone; the female can be removed after spawning.
Rarely bred in home tanks; large farms use hormone-induced spawning.
A large tank with caves, soft flow and stable parameters.
Seasonal water changes; commercial breeders use hormones.
Eggs are laid in the floating bubble nest (not on the substrate or in caves) and hatch in about 48 hours.
Fry take infusoria then brine shrimp nauplii; they grow quickly if fed well.
A hardy armoured catfish from northern South America that gulps air at the surface (it is an obligate air-breather) and breeds in bubble nests built by the male. Still widely sold under its old name Hoplosternum thoracatum.
Achille Valenciennes described this armoured catfish in 1840. It is common in swamps and backwaters, where it survives low oxygen by gulping air. Males build floating bubble nests under leaves and guard the eggs fiercely.
First described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840. Named for 'thoracata' means armoured.
16 facts checked with sources
Name is valid, but beware a 2005 name swap (Reis, Le Bail & Mol, Copeia): the fish called M. thoracata in older books is now M. picta, and the former M. personata is now M. thoracata. Both are sold as 'spotted hoplo'/'hoplo catfish' and older literature uses Hoplosternum thoracatum. Telling them apart: M. picta has a conspicuous dark band across the tail fin; M. thoracata has a shorter dorsal spine and usually 6 branched anal-fin rays (picta usually 5). Shop fish may be either species; care is the same. Hoplosternum littorale is a different, related 'hoplo'.
FishBase: Megalechis thoracata summary · Wikipedia: Megalechis (cites Reis, Le Bail & Mol 2005, Copeia 2005(3): 678-682, doi:10.1643/CI-04-353R) · Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracataLegacy had no family; value is new. Subfamily Callichthyinae.
FishBase: Megalechis thoracata summaryFishBase 15.5 cm SL and Seriously Fish 15 cm SL (standard length, tail excluded). ScotCat gives 19 cm, probably total length. Legacy 18 cm is a reasonable total-length figure; recorded the SL value per project rule.
FishBase: Megalechis thoracata summary · Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracata · ScotCat: Megalechis thoracata factsheetSources allow down to 18 °C; legacy 20-28 lies inside.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracata · ScotCat: Megalechis thoracata factsheetLegacy had no hardness; value is new. Seriously Fish lists 0-20 dGH.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracataSeriously Fish base 120 x 38 cm; at 30 cm height = 136.8, about 137 L (page states ~137 L / 36 US gal). Legacy 150 L is a little more generous; the 120 cm length is the key requirement.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracataNo source gives a group size. ScotCat warns a breeding male can get 'tetchy' and has been known to kill the female.
ScotCat: Megalechis thoracata factsheetScotCat adds that it can be boisterous at night with its digging, and a breeding male can be aggressive to his mate.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracataDemersal = bottom-living. It rises to the surface to gulp air.
FishBase: Megalechis thoracata summarySeriously Fish rates it Beginner and hardy.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracataLegacy had no native range; value is new. FishBase range text may still mix the pre-2005 meaning of the name.
FishBase: Megalechis thoracata summary · Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracataThe pectoral spine is the reliable cue, so sexing is not as hard as legacy says. 'Females rounder' is a general cue, not quoted.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracata · ScotCat: Megalechis thoracata factsheetLegacy breeding.pair text ('rarely bred in home tanks; farms use hormones') is not supported: Seriously Fish describes straightforward aquarium breeding.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracata · ScotCat: Megalechis thoracata factsheetNo reliable source gives an egg count. The legacy placement (substrate or caves) contradicts the bubble-nest breeding.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracata · ScotCat: Megalechis thoracata factsheetKeep a gap under the lid so it can reach the surface.
Seriously Fish: Megalechis thoracata · FishBase: Megalechis thoracata summary