Peruvian royal whiptail

Care at a glance

Overview

The Peruvian royal whiptail is a tall, elegant catfish with long trailing fins, best kept as a small social group rather than singly. It is entirely peaceful and clings to wood and broad leaves, grazing biofilm and soft algae through the day. Choose calm tankmates, since fin-nippers will shred its delicate extensions. Its diet is mostly vegetable, so keep the tank mature enough to grow biofilm and offer algae wafers, blanched courgette, spinach, and softened vegetables, with only light protein. Give it driftwood to perch on, gentle steady flow, and a tank of around 250 liters. Provide flat surfaces such as broad leaves or the glass, which it will use to spawn.

In the wild

Sturisoma nigrirostrum comes from clear tributaries of the upper Amazon in Peru, where it perches on submerged wood in gently flowing water. Set the tank up with plenty of driftwood and some broad-leaved plants, over sand, with open perching spots. Keep the water warm at 24 to 28 C and around pH 6.0 to 7.4, clean and moderately moving. Good oxygen and low waste levels matter, as these long-finned grazers dislike stale or heavily loaded water.

Good to know

Sturisoma nigrirostrum is a whiptail catfish in Loricariidae, reaching about 22 centimeters including its long fin filaments. The name nigrirostrum means black snout, after the dark tip of its long face. Breeding is of moderate difficulty and unusually watchable: the pair cleans a flat surface, often the aquarium glass, the female lays a neat plaque of eggs, and the male guards and fans them in the open until they hatch about a week later.

Did you know

Most catfish hide their eggs in caves, but this whiptail lays a tidy patch of eggs right on the aquarium glass or a leaf, and the father guards them in full view. It is one of the few catfish nurseries you can watch from the sofa.

Tank mates

Peruvian royal whiptail is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• Head-spot delta pleco

  Lasiancistrus tentaculatus

  Freshwater

  6.7 in (17 cm)66 gal (250 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)
• Blue Phantom Pleco (L128)

  Hemiancistrus sp. L128

  Freshwater

  9.8 in (25 cm)66 gal (250 L)81–86°F (27–30°C)
• Van Heurn's rainbowfish

  Melanotaenia vanheurni

  Freshwater

  7.3 in (18.5 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Blackline poropuntius barb

  Poropuntius melanogrammus

  Freshwater

  7.9 in (20 cm)66 gal (250 L)64–77°F (18–25°C)

• 

  Slender hemiodus

  Hemiodus gracilis

  Freshwater

  7.1 in (18 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Thinlip sharkminnow barb

  Labiobarbus leptocheilus

  Freshwater

  8.7 in (22 cm)66 gal (250 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Royal whiptail catfish

  Sturisoma panamense

  Freshwater

  7.9 in (20 cm)40 gal (150 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Rubber pleco

  Parancistrus aurantiacus

  Freshwater

  8.7 in (22 cm)79 gal (300 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)
• Circular whiptail

  Planiloricaria cryptodon

  Freshwater

  8.7 in (22 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Ghost pleco

  Ancistomus snethlageae

  Freshwater

  8.7 in (22 cm)66 gal (250 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)
• Tamana royal farlowella

  Sturisomatichthys tamanae

  Freshwater

  8.7 in (22 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Xingu peppermint pleco

  Parancistrus nudiventris

  Freshwater

  8.7 in (22 cm)79 gal (300 L)81–88°F (27–31°C)