Dwarf hoplo

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep dwarf hoplos in a group over soft sand with plenty of plants and cover, in water around 20 to 24 C. They are peaceful, hardy and can breathe air, so they cope with less than perfect conditions. Feed sinking pellets, frozen bloodworm and other meaty sinking foods.

In the wild

The dwarf hoplo lives in slow, weedy waters of the Paraguay basin, often in oxygen poor pools and marshes. It gulps air at the surface to breathe when oxygen runs low. The fish forages over soft bottoms among plants and leaf litter.

Good to know

This is a small armored catfish in the same subfamily as the larger hoplos, with a dark brown body dusted with small black spots. Unlike its Amazon relatives, it is a southern species restricted to the Paraguay and Chaco region. Males build and guard a floating bubble nest at spawning time.

Did you know

The dwarf hoplo can breathe air from the surface, which lets it survive in warm, stagnant pools that would suffocate most fish.

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