Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense) aka Whiptail Catfish - Tank-Bred!
Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense) aka Whiptail Catfish - Tank-Bred!
Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense) aka Whiptail Catfish - Tank-Bred!
Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense) aka Whiptail Catfish - Tank-Bred!
Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense) aka Whiptail Catfish - Tank-Bred!
Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense) aka Whiptail Catfish - Tank-Bred!

Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense) aka Whiptail Catfish - Tank-Bred!

Regular price$ 13.99
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* 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 Royal Farlowella (Sturisoma panamense), also known as the Twig or Whiptail Catfish, is a member of the Loricariidae family of South American suckermouth catfishes.   While many suckermouth catfish species have yet to be bred on any major scale in aquariums, the Royal Farlowella has been bred by a few farms.  This fish is highly unique with its very thin, twig-like appearance and the “streamer” extensions on its tail.

The Royal Farlowella is primarily nocturnal, but will often become active during daytime hours once established in an aquarium with plenty of driftwood, rockwork, and other hiding places.  It is not known to eat wood heavily like some suckermouth catfish (Panaque sp., etc.), but it may benefit from some supplementary wood (or rather the biofilm on driftwood) in its diet.  The Royal Farlowella will not bother most plants, but it will eat plenty of algae in the aquarium, especially as a juvenile.  Feed the Royal Farlowella a diet heavy in vegetable matter, including high-quality vegetable flakes, sinking algae wafers and pellets.  It will also appreciate being fed some fresh vegetables such as shelled peas, spinach, zucchini and cucumber.  Occasional meaty foods such as bloodworms are also beneficial when fed very sparingly.  This fish eats constantly, so too much meat/animal protein in its diet can be unhealthy for the fish as well as the level of waste it produces in the aquarium.  

The Royal Farlowella is very peaceful and is compatible with most other non-aggressive fish and invertebrates.  It is possible that larger specimens might eat very small dwarf shrimp, particularly their fry.  However, many aquarists keep the Royal Farlowella with their shrimp colonies with no problems.  The Royal Farlowella can reach a length of 8 inches, but it is a very thin fish that does not account for the bioload that many thicker fish of a similar length produce.  

 

What We Like About This Fish:
  • The Royal Farlowella is a very peaceful and hardy addition to almost any aquarium.
  • At a maximum size of 8 inches (20.3 cm), this is a very practical and manageable fish.
  • This fish will not bother most plants, but it will likely help with algae control, especially as a juvenile.  It will also scavenge and consume most uneaten fish food.
  • Unique appearance as well as plenty of personality.
 
RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:
  • Temperature:  72° - 86° F (22° - 30° C)
  • pH:  6.5 - 7.5
  • KH:  6 - 10 dKH
  • Minimum tank size:  30 gallons
 
CARE GUIDELINES: 
  • Diet:  Omnivore, but meatier foods should only be fed sparingly (once a week or less).
  • Social behavior:  Generally solitary, but will socialize somewhat, especially during breeding.
  • Origin:  Tank-bred, but indigenous to South America.
  • Average adult size:  8 inches (20.3 cm)
  • Average purchase size:  1 - 3 inches (2.5 - 7.6 cm)
 
All Aquatic Arts brand plants and animals come with a 100% live arrival guarantee, plus free email support!

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

UPS 1 Day: Monday through Thursday
 

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.

 

 

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