African Glass Catfish

The African glass catfish is the best-known member of the family Schilbeidae in the aquarium. Its body is semi-transparent and silvery, with dark longitudinal stripes along the sides. Although it shares a similar name with the glass catfish from Asia (Kryptopterus vitreolus), it belongs to a different family and its behavior is very different: instead of hovering in mid-water, it constantly swims back and forth with its school.

It is one of the few catfish that are also active during the day; for this reason it can be used like a schooling fish in a community aquarium. Adults reach 7–8 cm.

It lives in schools in open water in the rivers and streams of the Congo basin. It prefers flowing, well-oxygenated, soft to moderately hard water. The school moves together in front of shoreline plants and sunken branches.

• Volume: at least 120 liters and 100 cm of length for a school of 6–10; length matters more than volume.
• Current: Gentle to moderate flow and high oxygen.
• Decor: Plants and roots along the edges, with a wide open swimming area in the middle.
• Water: 23–27°C, pH 6.0–7.5; clean, stable water. It is sensitive to nitrate buildup; a 25–30% water change every week.

Omnivorous; it takes food from mid-water and the surface. Give small granules and flakes, frozen brine shrimp, daphnia and bloodworms. Because it is a fast eater, it may snatch food from slow-eating tankmates; leave sinking tablets separately for bottom-dwelling fish.

Peaceful but very active. Its constant swimming as a school may disturb calm and shy species. When kept in small numbers it becomes timid and gathers in the corners.

Good companions: Congo tetras, medium-sized tetras and barbs, rainbowfish, Synodontis species, calm African and American cichlids, corydoras.

Avoid: Very small and slow fish, calm long-finned species such as bettas, large predators whose mouths it would fit into.

It is a true schooling fish: at least 6, ideally 10 or more individuals. In a large school it behaves more calmly and steadily; kept in ones and twos it becomes stressed and prone to disease. The sex ratio does not matter.

It is rarely bred in the aquarium; it is reported to scatter its eggs among plants. There is no parental care. Most fish sold in the trade come from the wild or from farms.

• Oxygen and water quality: It quickly becomes stressed in low-oxygen and dirty water; the first signs are rapid gill movement and the school breaking up.
• Shipping stress: Newly arrived individuals are sensitive; slow acclimation and quarantine are recommended.
• Its scaleless skin is sensitive to medications.

Mature females have a fuller belly and are slightly larger; males are slimmer.