Farlowella are related to plecos, and do eat most soft algae like
otos... except they are much larger than otos. There're several species of farlowella, also known as twig catfish, mine is a farlowella vittata and he can get up to 9 inches long and live roughly 15 years with good care. They need to be supplemented with vegetables,
algae wafers, and other herbivore foods. Maybe a weekly feeding of a protein food but 90% of their diet is vegetation. They can be shy and are easily out competed by other fish for foods, so they have to be watched to be sure they have food enough for them. Theyre peaceful fish, but supposedly mostly inactive (mine is actually quite active, and not overly shy). They do need
driftwood, to shelter on, they like thinner branches of driftwood to cling vertically to and rest. Theyre not good swimmers, they move kinda by hopping along the bottom looking for food. They do better with
sand in the bottom. Like other catfish, theyre also scaleless and therefore sensitive to meds. These fish are also delicate in that theyre very sensitive to
water parameters and swings, large
water changes aren't really recommended, its best to do more frequent smaller changes with them.
The minimum tank requirement apparently is 20 gallon but after seeing how active mine is and how large they can get potentially, id say 30 gallon min for one.
They can get tangled easily in nets so its not recommended to net them should you need to capture them. Instead, you can reach in and gently grab them as they sit on driftwood--they don't swim away usually. They have rough skin and will fold themselves tight to look like a stick still. But, only handle them if necessary obviously.
You could house it with other farlowella though males may bully one another, its usually not severe. Sexing juveniles is tricky and varies among species.
Basically, its a glorified lazy pleco that looks like a stick.
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