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Rescued Twig

CassCats

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My third Farlowella altogether, but my second rescued twig.

Meet Turtwig
A tiny Itty bitty baby Farlowella twig catfish (species is tentatively Farlowella mariaelenae, but will know for sure 100% when he or she grows)
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One of the workers at the store that I talk with a lot has told me these guys don't live longer than 2-5 days with them. I hate seeing these guys waste away, so two of mine have been rescued from that fate.

Part of it is these are delicate fish who are a bit fussy with foods and are vegetarians. Think, big oto. Most are wild caught and are stubborn about trying new foods, so are difficult to transition onto algae wafers and veggies without persistence. And they don't compete well with aggressive tankmates either.
The company at the store doesn't allow the employees to change from their assigned care regimes, so these guys don't get fed the right stuff or put into a tank with adequate biofilm or soft algaes. They also stick them in with dozens of red tailed and rainbow sharks as well as Chinese algae eaters.

This one is a tiny baby, already a little on the thin side, but I expect he should fatten up in time with the right setup. Lots of leaf litter to graze for natural biofilm, a well mature 2 year old setup, and other twigs to convince him to eat prepared foods (my 2nd twig took a whole year to even touch wafers!)

Depending on species, this guy can reach 5-12" in length, though he is more than likely one of the species that reach 6" based off of the pattern of the belly scales.
 

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I've got a royal farlowalla, awesome fish! Constantly cleaning the tank like a champion. Doesn't really get on the algae flakes either but i think there's enough biofilm for him to graze on.
 
I've got a royal farlowalla, awesome fish! Constantly cleaning the tank like a champion. Doesn't really get on the algae flakes either but i think there's enough biofilm for him to graze on.
The royals are easier as they tend to be hardier and have a more diverse diet, and wider parameters :D
They're in a different genus, theyre in the sturisoma group
 
Oh wow i didn't know there was much difference between royal and non-royal other than the fancy tail lol thanks.
Couple of fun things to read.

Sturisoma genus

Sturisomatichthys genus (which the true "real royal" is part of)

The sturisoma group are technically whiptail catfish.

Then there is the true farlowella genus


They're all a really fantastic and fascinating group of catfish, and with the right research can be really rewarding to keep. But its the true Farlowella genus that people have to be careful with, theyre very delicate and are known to die simply after a few months at most with many fish keepers.
Top if off with them being difficult to tell apart too, im still learning the different key features for each species. A lot of it is counting side scales, comparing the number of rows on the belly scales ("schutes"), measuring nose length and comparing it to pectoral fin length, etc. Can make your head spin lol
 
Couple of fun things to read.

Sturisoma genus

Sturisomatichthys genus (which the true "real royal" is part of)

The sturisoma group are technically whiptail catfish.

Then there is the true farlowella genus


They're all a really fantastic and fascinating group of catfish, and with the right research can be really rewarding to keep. But its the true Farlowella genus that people have to be careful with, theyre very delicate and are known to die simply after a few months at most with many fish keepers.
Top if off with them being difficult to tell apart too, im still learning the different key features for each species. A lot of it is counting side scales, comparing the number of rows on the belly scales ("schutes"), measuring nose length and comparing it to pectoral fin length, etc. Can make your head spin lol

what the heck, there's so many variants! i can't even tell which one mine is anymore, thanks lol
 
Post a photo of yours! Will be happy to help!
sorry these are the worst photos but all i got of him atm. i'll try to get some better ones tonight.

Sorry to the op for the thread hijack....promise i'll stop now lol
 

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sorry these are the worst photos but all i got of him atm. i'll try to get some better ones tonight.

Sorry to the op for the thread hijack....promise i'll stop now lol
Looks like the true royal, yep
Hey I am OP! Feel free to hijack anytime if its to talk about catfish :p I really don't mind at all!
 

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