Giant Otocinclus Catfish (Hypoptopoma gulare)
- In stock, ready to ship
- Backordered, shipping soon
* For the safety of our animals, we now ship live fish exclusively via UPS Next Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS Next Day Air as a shipping option during checkout *
The Giant Otocinclus Catfish is a true rarity, but its extra large size, peaceful disposition, and algae eating prowess make it a highly desirable fish for the community planted aquarium!
The Giant Otocinclus Catfish (Hypoptompoma gulare) is an extra large "Otocinclus" species that is native to the Amazon River Basin. It has a noticeably armored body and flat, pointed snout. Like its close relatives, it is well known and appreciated for its voracious appetite for algae.
The Giant Otocinclus Catfish is primarily herbivorous and will continuously feed on algae in the aquarium, but it will not harm most ornamental plants. It is compatible with most other peaceful fish and invertebrates that enjoy the same water conditions, but it might inadvertently eat very small dwarf shrimp as it scavenges. Relatively high water flow and clean water are necessary for this species. Like most Otocinclus, the Giant Otocinclus Catfish is a schooling species, although somewhat less so than its smaller relatives.
If sufficient algae is not present in your aquarium, the diet of the Giant Otocinclus Catfish can be supplemented with fresh vegetables (such as romaine lettuce, cucumber, or zucchini), algae wafers, or vegetable-based flake food.
- Very uncommon in the aquarium hobby
- Very social personality
- Safe with plants
- Completely peaceful
- Great algae eater for medium and large tanks
- Temperature: 75° - 79° F (24° - 26° C)
- pH: 6.5 - 7.5
- KH: 5 - 10 dKH
- Minimum tank size: 30 gallons
- Diet: Can mostly sustain on algae. If sufficient algae is not present, diet can be supplemented with fresh vegetables, algae wafers, or vegetable-based flake foods.
- Social behavior: Peaceful, schooling/shoaling.
- Origin: Amazon River Basin, South America
- Average adult size: 4 inches (10 cm)
- Average purchase size: 2 - 3 inches (5 - 7.5 cm)
For the safety of our animals, we only ship live fish, crabs, and select other inverts exclusively via UPS 1 Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS 1 Day Air as a shipping option during checkout. If other items are in your cart that can ship with 2 day or standard shipping options the only shipping method you can still select is UPS 1 Day Air.
UPS 1 Day is a description of the duration of time a shipment will spend in transit once it has been shipped. This does not guarantee the package will be shipped the same or next day from which the order was placed.
Shipping Schedule for this service
Current Handling Time:
1-9 business days
Here at Aquatic Arts, we consider the welfare of the live animals we are shipping to be of the foremost importance. This process is much more involved than simply creating a shipping label and affixing it to a box. Depending on the order, it takes from 4 to 7 people to complete this process properly. We check the weather conditions here where they fly out of the Indianapolis UPS facility and the destination for each shipment. We start early each morning and go through a multi-step process to have the day's shipments prepared in time for the UPS pickup. The volume of orders in our system also affects the processing time. Therefore our stated handling time is 1-9 business days.
Shipping Rate
Pricing is by size of package needed to fill entire order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.