Canthophrys gongota (Photo courtesy / QHS)
Frog-eyed loach is a very special-looking loach, they belong to the loach family, and the common loach is a family, the most significant feature of this loach is the protruding eyes on the top of the head, like the eyes of frogs, hence the name frog loach. This peculiar eye has something to do with life habits, and they like to hide in the bottom sand and only show their eyes. Frog-eyed loach is small, with a maximum body length of about 8 to 10 cm. There is only one species of fish in the genus. There is a certain difference in the size of the male and female of the frog-eyed loach, the female is larger, the body is more rounded, and the egg is more obvious, but this fish has no artificial breeding record, and the current market is a wild fish.
Females are significantly larger than males (image from the web)
Domestic players breed individuals that should be females (Photo courtesy / Cauliflower)
The loach's habitat is in northeastern India, northern Bangladesh, Nepal and other places, and is common and abundant in the country of origin, but because this fish is relatively fragile and not easy to transport, it is not particularly common in the market and the price is relatively high. In the place of origin this fish prefers rivers with slow flow and thinner bottom sand.
The habitat of the frog-eyed loach (image from the Internet)
Like many fish from northeastern India, frog-eyed loach prefers low water temperatures, but they are tolerant of high temperatures, reaching 34.5 degrees Celsius in summer in their native regions. However, summer is also the season with the lowest population density of frog loach, the season with the highest population density is winter, the lowest water temperature in winter is only 17.5 degrees, the average is about 23 degrees, and 23 to 25 is also the water temperature that frog loach is most suitable for. The water quality of the production area is basically neutral water, and the oxygen content in the water is very high, so the frog-eyed loach cannot adapt to the low dissolved oxygen environment. The water of these rivers is not very deep, and the highest is only 3 meters in summer and only a little more than 1 meter in winter. Fish from the same origin as the frog-eyed loach are some well-known ornamental fish species, such as the Y-striped rat and the diamond rainbow crucian carp.
Botia lohachata (Image from the Internet)
Pethia ticto is abundant in northeastern India and northern Bangladesh (image from the Internet)
Frog-eyed loach leaking only in potential sand (Photo courtesy / QHS)
Isn't the behavior of the frog-eyed loach interesting? (Photo courtesy of / He Ke)
In terms of breeding, it is best to use a relatively fine bottom sand because they have the habit of submerged sand, which is convenient to hide in the sand, but it is rare to have the opportunity to see its full phase. The water temperature is best kept at a relatively low temperature, and the amount of dissolved oxygen must be high.
Text: wzr
The article is reproduced in 38 Aquarium