Green turushuki catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The green turushuki catfish is a slender, sand-sifting doradid for the bottom of a peaceful community tank. It is a step up from the easiest fish.

Caring for the green turushuki catfish

A group of green turushuki catfish fits comfortably in a tank of at least 53 gal (200 L). The key requirement is a soft sand bed they can pick through, spread across an open bottom. Add some driftwood at the margins for shade.

Keep the water soft and slightly acidic to neutral, with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. The temperature should run 73 to 82°F (23 to 28°C). Run a gentle to moderate current, and keep the water clean with routine changes.

Feed sinking pellets, wafers and small frozen foods such as bloodworms and daphnia. Make sure enough of it reaches the sand.

Green turushuki catfish are far more settled in a group, so keep at least four to six together. Expect them to forage as a loose shoal across the bottom. They are peaceful and suit calm community fish of a similar size, though tiny tank mates may be eaten at night. Aquarium spawning is not on record.

Good to know

This thorny catfish of the family Doradidae is built for sifting sand, with a tapered snout and long barbels. It is closely tied to the genus Opsodoras and may be a synonym of Opsodoras boulengeri. As a result, it turns up in the trade under more than one name. Like other doradids, it has bony flank scutes and can click by grinding its pectoral spines.

In the wild

Hemidoras morrisi ranges through the upper Amazon basin in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil. It lives over sandy and muddy river beds near submerged wood.

Common questions

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