Longnose squeaker

Care at a glance

Overview

This squeaker grows very large, to around 60 centimeters, so it needs a big tank of roughly 700 liters or more and is a project for experienced keepers. It is solitary and best kept one to a tank, and although it is mostly peaceful it will eat fish small enough to fit in its mouth, so tankmates must be large and robust. It is nocturnal, hiding among wood by day and foraging the floor at night. Feed substantial sinking foods, large pellets, and meaty frozen or prepared items. Keep only a single specimen unless the tank is enormous.

In the wild

It lives in the large channels of the Congo river system, over sand and rock in flowing water. A tank for it needs a big footprint, a soft sand bed, heavy bogwood, and strong filtration with good flow and oxygen. Keep the water warm, from 23 to 27 C, at a pH of 6.2 to 7.8 ranging from soft and slightly acidic to neutral.

Good to know

A member of the catfish family Mochokidae, it is one of the largest squeakers, reaching about 60 centimeters, with records near 66 centimeters. Its name, longirostris, means long snouted, and the drawn out snout, a shape suited to rooting through soft substrate, sets it apart from other squeakers. Breeding is not recorded in captivity.

Did you know

Where most squeakers have a blunt face, longirostris has a long, tapering snout that gives it both its scientific and common names and marks it out at any age as it grows into one of the giants of the genus.

Common questions

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