Pterois mombasae
The Pterois mombasae, as this sea fish may be called - African pufferfish, Mombasa pufferfish, deep-sea lionfish, Kenyan zebra fish. In the wild, these fish can be found among coral reefs in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, at depths of between 2 and 50 metres.
The Pterois mombasae is a very beautiful fish, but this beauty for aquarists poses a danger, which comes from the rays of its fins containing poison. That the fish is poisonous is also indicated by its bright colouration. The fish must be handled extremely carefully, as even a small amount of poison can cause paralysis of the body. In natural conditions, these fish reach up to 30 cm in size, but in aquariums they do not exceed 10 cm.
The African Pterois leads a crepuscular lifestyle, hiding in a shelter during the day, then emerge from the shelter as darkness falls and hunt for molluscs, shrimps, crabs and small fish. The Mombasa pied pipefish hides near a rock and if you don't know it's a fish, you might confuse it with a coral or a dainty plant bush. Small fish and crabs that have shown curiosity will approach it and end up in the wingtip's mouth.
Keep Mombasskoy winged preferably one at a time, in an aquarium of 200 liters. If there is still a desire to contain multiple fish, in addition to increasing the volume of the aquarium should take care that each fish has its own shelter. In general, the content of multiple ratlata in a single aquarium should be approached with caution, to avoid aggression between fish they need to be of equal size and run in the aquarium at the same time. The aquarium should be placed in a large number of live rock, which could hide perching, but at the same time, should take care of open space, for free swimming fish.
Water parameters: temperature 25-26° C, pH 8,1-8,4, salinity 1.020-1.025. Requires filtration and a small current of water in the aquarium. Also requires a weekly replacement of 1/10th of the aquarium water with fresh. Fish have a strong immunity, but with poor water quality are susceptible to bacterial diseases.
Ambient light is poor. Daily light duration of 10-12 hours.
In aquarium conditions, fish are fed crustaceans and marine fish meat 2-3 times a week, giving as much food as the fish can eat. It should be noted that newly purchased fish often do not feed, and a lot of patience is required to get them used to frozen food. Goldfish and guppies should not be fed as they can cause liver disease.
Reproduction
The Pterois mombasae is not propagated in the aquarium. All fish are supplied to domestic zoos shops from their natural habitat.
Life expectancy of the Pterois mombasae fish in aquarium conditions is about 10 years.
