Spotted hoplo

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep it as a peaceful bottom dweller in a tank of at least 150 liters, with a small group if you have room. Aim for soft to neutral water, pH 6 to 8, and temperatures in the low to mid 20s C. It is an omnivore that scavenges, so sinking pellets, frozen bloodworms, and the occasional veg all work. It gets along fine with other calm community fish and won't bother tankmates.

In the wild

The spotted hoplo comes from northern South America, including Venezuela, the Guianas, and Colombia. It lives in slow, shallow, often muddy waters that can get low in oxygen, which is why it can gulp air at the surface. Give it a soft sand bottom it can sift through, some leaf litter or driftwood for cover, and gentle filtration. It handles a wide temperature range, anywhere from the high teens to high 20s C.

Good to know

This is an armored catfish in the family Callichthyidae, so its body is covered in bony plates instead of scales. Adults reach about 15 cm. It is an air-breather that can take oxygen from the surface using its gut. Males build and guard a bubble nest, which makes it a substrate and nest spawner rather than an egg scatterer.

Did you know

During spawning the male whips up a foam nest at the surface and packs it under a floating leaf or plant, then guards the eggs there until they hatch. Hobbyists sometimes hear it make a faint croaking sound when handled, made by movement of its pectoral spines.

Related species

• 

  Bar-tailed hoplo

  Megalechis picta

  5.9 in (15 cm)53 gal (200 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Flagtail catfish

  Dianema urostriatum

  4.9 in (12.5 cm)40 gal (150 L)77–82°F (25–28°C)

• 

  Porthole catfish

  Dianema longibarbis

  3.9 in (10 cm)26 gal (100 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Hognosed brochis

  Brochis multiradiatus

  3.5 in (9 cm)40 gal (150 L)70–79°F (21–26°C)
• Giant Brochis

  Brochis britskii

  3.5 in (9 cm)40 gal (150 L)70–79°F (21–26°C)

• 

  Emerald catfish

  Corydoras splendens

  3.1 in (8 cm)40 gal (150 L)70–82°F (21–28°C)