Care
The Frogmouth Catfish is a secretive bottom-dweller known from canals, ponds, and rivers with silty substrates. Here it lurks concealed in the soft mire until prey items unwittingly swim past, are lunged at with lightning speed, and are swallowed whole. Due to the capacious mouth, it is capable of taking fish that are almost as big as itself. It goes without saying that this is a fish best kept in a species-only environment. However, groups of Frogmouth Catfish can be kept together, but all specimens should be of very similar size and all should be added simultaneously. Sedentary by nature, this species does not require huge quarters and it will be at home in a tank around 3ft long (larger for a pair or group). The substrate must consist of soft sand as this is a species that habitually burrows. Lighting should be dim and there should be a few shady retreats constructed from driftwood or rocks. Plants that can cope with low levels of lighting, such as Java Fern (Microsorum spp.) may be attached to and trained to grow on some of the decor. Anything planted into the substrate is at risk of being uprooted when the catfish wallows. Leaf litter is also a welcome addition to the Frogmouth Catfish aquarium, as it will enjoy concealing itself beneath these. Dried Indian Almond Leaves (Terminalia catappa) are readily available in many stores and are ideal, but these will require periodic replacement. Filtration should be efficient, but water movement gentle. Frequent partial water changes are a must to prevent the build up of nitrate. Interestingly, the Frogmouth Catfish appears to lower the pH of the water within the confines of the home aquarium (this phenomenon is particularly noticeable in smaller tanks), so it is important to test the water regularly and add a buffer if necessary. It is not clear why this occurs, and several theories abound, but it is something that the aquarist should be prepared to monitor from week to week.
Feeding
May require weaning onto frozen and dried foods using live river shrimp or earthworms. Most will learn to take various meaty frozen foods such as bloodworm, Mysis shrimp, krill, chopped seafood, silversides, small pieces of meat etc. and some will eventually feed on sinking carnivore pellets.
Breeding
The Frogmouth Catfish has been bred in the home aquarium. One breeding report states that a group of catfish were kept in an aquarium that contained an 8" x 3" piece of pipe. Spawning occurred inside the pipe, with a single fish (thought to be male) remaining inside to guard the eggs. The eggs hatched within 3 days and were free-swimming after a further 7 days, at which point they began feeding on baby brineshrimp (Artemia nauplii) and daphnia. Some 400 fry were raised to 1.5" in length and all developed uniformly.
