Oligolepis acutipennis
Oligolepis acutipennis (synonyms: Ctenogobius acutipennis, Gobius acutipennis, Gobius melanostigma, Gobius setosus) occurs naturally over a wide area from coastal South Africa and Madagascar to Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, China and on to Papua New Guinea, Taiwan and Japan. In its native habitat, the goby is one of the most common fish.
The entire colouration of Oligolepis acutipennis indicates that sandy bottoms are their preferred habitat. The body is greyish with black spots. The males have longer unpaired fins, coloured in different colours (red, yellow, orange ...). A pair of vertical black stripes runs through the eyes and gills. The females are similar in colour to the males, but have less developed fins. The maximum size of the fish is 15 cm.
These beautiful coastal dwellers are excellent candidates for keeping in a brackish aquarium. They prey upon small fish as adults, so please select larger or commensurate fish for Oligolepis acutipennis when keeping them in the community tank. All fish that can fit into the mouth of Oligolepis acutipennis will certainly be eaten. Also, it should be taken into account that Oligolepis territorial fish, and in order between them did not arise because of this conflict should be placed at the bottom of the aquarium numerous rocky caves, large rocks with splits between them, so each individual has its own territory.
When the males quarrel, and they love to quarrel with each other - a fantastic spectacle. With their mouths wide open and their fins stretched smoothly, they circle around each other until one of them gives up.
The substrate should be used as fine sand as possible, as these fish spend most of their time at the bottom of the aquarium, often sifting the ground through their gills in search of food.
Bullfishes can live in either fresh or clear sea water, and any salt concentration in between is acceptable. Only the pH-value should never fall below 7.0 and should be between 7.5 and 8.8. The water temperature should be 22 - 26° C and the hardness dH 12 - 25°. Quality filtration, aeration and weekly change of ¼ of the aquarium water with fresh. An aquarium cover is a must, as Oligolepis acutipennis is very bouncy and may at one point leave the aquarium.
The lighting is low. The fish feel uncomfortable in bright light and will hide in a shelter. The daylight hours are about 10 hours a day.
The fish are fed with small frozen food such as bloodworms, marine shrimp, spirulina. Whenever possible, the fish are also fed with small fish. Feed Oligolepis before lights out in the aquarium.
Reproduction
Obtain offspring from Oligolepis acutipennis in aquarium conditions is not an easy task. This is primarily due to the fact that fry pass the larval stage for one month in salt water, and then move to fresh water. Males are known to guard the clutch until the fry hatch.
Oligolepis acutipennis is very rare on the domestic aquarium market. It should be noted that the cost of the fish is directly affected by its origin, rarity and size.
