Gender on my black banded Leporinus  - 6/3/08 Any way I can tell the gender differences on my black banded Leporinus fish? <No; though like most characins you can expect females to be (perhaps) a big bigger and (almost certainly) much more rotund when filled with eggs. Maturity supposedly comes at lengths of 15 cm (according to Fishbase) while maximum size is around 30 cm.> I've had luck with everything else I have bred, but the info on breeding these guys is far and few between compared to other more common fish. <Part of the problem with Leporinus fasciatus is that it is rather an aggressive towards its own kind as well as highly predatory fish. It is also a notorious fin- and scale-eater. It may well be a gregarious fish in the wild (most Anostomidae are) but you'd need a huge tank and at least six specimens for that to work out in captivity. The end result is that most people keep them a single specimens in large, rough-and-tumble show tanks rather than community systems. This makes the demand for them rather small, so little effort has been put into breeding them. As far as I know all specimens in the trade are wild caught. A beautiful fish, but a very challenging one. You might be better off with Anostomus anostomus, a smaller, less aggressive species that is easier to keep in groups and has -- very occasionally -- been spawned. According to Baensch vol. 1, this species spawns like Chilodus punctatus.> Thank you! Skye <Sincerely, Neale.>

Re: Gender on my black banded Leporinus  - 6/3/08 Neale, Thank you so very much for a prompt response. <Happy to help.> Right now, the *only* other tank mates they have are Bala sharks. <"They"? You have more than one...? Do be very careful -- Anostomidae generally become intolerant of one another as they mature. You may be lucky of course and have too females or whatever... but do keep an eye out for fin damage.> The Bala's school together and they all seem to leave one another alone. <Cool. But do watch what happens, and make sure this tank is big enough for all these animals.> The community tank is separate (and smaller) since from what I knew, they are aggressive. <Indeed they can be. Not always, but often. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Gender on my black banded Leporinus -- 6/4/08 Hello again Neale! <Hello!> The guy who gave me these said they were attacking his other fish, hence have me the two black banded Leporinus. The other (freshwater only) fish I have bred was only done for the fun of it, so I have given many away on Craigslist, and is the way I meet people and other enthusiasts. <Fish breeding is great fun. It is also (in my view) an objective test of your fishkeeping skills: happy, healthy fish breed; unhappy fish do not. So if you're getting baby fish, your skills are proven. Of course some fish are more challenging than others, so it's fun to work up the difficulty scale as your skills develop.> The origin on these two I likely will never know. It took a lot of web research to figure out what they were called. After seeing pictures, I'm positive on what they are. <Leporinus should be very distinctive in size, colouration, and also the shape of the mouth.> They are about 5.5-6 inches in length currently, so in the 75 gal, I expect they will reach adulthood. Was hoping if there was a way to sex them, I would be able to find a way to attempt breeding. <I'm sure its possible, but there's nothing published on it. Read up on the other Anostomidae first, and expand outwards from that.> The Bala sharks are all I had in the one tank, so reason I added the Leporinus in. Didn't want my tetras eaten. <Indeed not.> Just for prevention, I have added Melafix and anti-ich to ensure them a good chance at survival. <Prophylactic treatment is often pointless, and sometimes risky because things like formalin and copper are, to some degree, toxic to your fish. Melafix is of questionable value at the best of times.> So far, no nipping, chasing are mean behaviors. Luckily the tank is by the computer so I can watch them VERY close all day. <Very good. I keep pufferfish in the community tank next to my Mac, and so I get to keep a close eye on things. That's allowed me to establish which species are safely mixed with puffers and which are not. People do keep Leporinus in mixed species tanks, it just isn't something you can assume will work in every case.> Skye <Good luck, Neale.>

Leporinus vs. Pleco  6/5/08 I recent wrote and had a nice email exchange with Neale. I had been given a couple of banded Leporinus' who date leave my Bala sharks alone. The Leporinus' are about double the size of the Balas who are only six months old. What surprises me is that I had to move my plecostomus to a hospital tank. The Pleco is larger than the Leporinus' and I thought of all fish, he was last I'd need to move. They kept nipping and attacking the poor thing! <Absolutely typical for Leporinus I'm afraid. Providing a deep cave in which the Plec can hide completely can help, though the catfish will become completely nocturnal if it feels unsure about swimming about during the day.> Could they be "immune" to the Pleco's dorsal stinger - the area where they kept pecking at)? <Not aware that any of the Loricariidae actually have stings. While it is true the pectoral and dorsal fin spines are serrated, I don't think they have venom glands.> The Pleco doesn't show signs of injury and is in a small 10 gal recovery tank alone in the interim for his own safety and relaxation. <If the Plec is a big one, do check water quality: a 10 gallon tank isn't going to usefully dilute the ammonia produced by a big catfish.> The Leporinus LOVE to eat peas, and I thought about dropping some tasty ghost shrimp in to see if they like those. Either way, they are quite graceful despite being a larger fish and fun to look at. <Indeed they are lovely fish, and very opportunistic feeders, and need a mix of greens and animal foods. I've watched them destroy heads of curly lettuce, and don't even think about putting them in a planted tank!> Skye <Cheers, Neale.>

To Neale. I had acquired two banded Leporinus. 07/07/08 I have previously written to Neale. <'Tis I.> This is just a happy update on my fish. I had acquired two banded Leporinus. They originally were about the same size as my Bala sharks. Now that have easily doubled in size, but seem to like each other. <Lucky! Often these fish become quite territorial, though they are presumably schooling fish in the wild.> They've been doing this "kissy" motion on the lips with each other once in awhile, and will do this "quiver" looking dance while side by side. One now has just a slightly more prominent belly. Another behavior I observed that I haven't seen any other fish do; they will pick up rocks (the pea sized gravel stuff) from the bottom of the tank, and in one corner in particular, keep moving the rocks from there, making a notable dip. <Interesting. Perhaps nest-building behaviour; they inhabit rocky rapids, and like other fish from such habitats may make gravel nests to shelter their eggs.> I put a few of my mollies in the tank now with my "bumble bee fish" (Leporinus - I think they look like swimming bees). They leave the mollies alone and couldn't care less. I leave ample hiding spots and plants in the tank just in case anything were to happen while I'm asleep so that things have a chance. A couple of the mollies are very pregnant and seem perfectly happy, so I'm hoping there will be a delivery of live fry on the menu real soon. My swimming bees have also gotten friendly to the point they will swim up and eat food from my fingers. <You're doing remarkably well! Usually these fish become aggressive or at least nippy; they are omnivores in the wild, and apart from their staple plant-based diet they also eat small fish and the scales/fins of larger fish.> I'm having a lot of fun with these unique fish, so hope to have them for years to come. I read somewhere they can live 35 years! Skye <In the "Baensch Aquarium Atlas" the authors comment that no-one can call themselves an aquarist until they've kept Anostomidae, the family to which your Leporinus belongs. I'm sympathetic to that viewpoint. Although problematic and challenging in many ways, they are also exceptionally characterful and offer lots of curious behaviours. That combination of difficulties and rewards is what makes them an objective test of one's fishkeeping skills. In any case, I'm glad you're enjoying your fish, and look forward to some pictures of their nests and social behaviour! Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Leporinus; diet, behaviour   7/22/08 Hi Neale! (or whoever intercepts this message, could you pass along to him please? Thanks!) <It is me.> I've written about my 2 banded Leporinus. I'm amazed how quickly they continue to grow! I always keep a vacation feeder tablet or two in my tanks (and throw any left over, if any, away after 1-2 weeks.) If the fish have not had their fill of flakes, bloodworms or brine, there is always a treat to peck at. So far, everyone has stayed plump, healthy and happy. The Pleco who was initially nipped up has healed, returned to the main tank, and thinks the tabs are for him. He's growing quite fast as well. <All sounds great. I'd perhaps skip the "vacation feeder tablet" as being a waste of money. Stick in a half a head of lettuce (or cheap aquarium plants like Elodea) and both the Leporinus and the Plecs will enjoy themselves without any water quality/chemistry problems. Vacation feeder tablets are mostly chalk, so all they really do is raise the pH and carbonate hardness. Do remember that fish don't need to be fed over breaks less than a week. Fatten them up beforehand, stick some aquatic plants in the tank for them to graze on, and that's it! Without (much) protein in the system, you are less likely to have water quality problems while you're away, and water changes aren't so important.> The interesting thing I am writing about is what my banded "bees" are up to. I was recently out of town for several days, so had a friend watch after the fish. Just in case any feedings were missed, I sprinkled multiple 3 day feeder tablets into the tanks. I have returned to fine the "bees" have picked up the majority of tablets and moved them to one corner of their tank. Incidentally, this is the same corner they have done the nesting behaviors of picking up the gravel rock at the bottom of the tank and moving it around. I have never seen a fish pick up and hoard feeder tablets. Would you say this is a nesting, territorial or hoarding type of behavior? <Absolutely no idea! There are no reports of breeding behaviour in this species that I'm aware of. What they are doing does sound like nest building, though provisioning a nest with food is not something fish tend to do. My guess would be they simply used the tablets as "pebbles" and thought no more of it. Hoarding food is difficult for fish because water currents would tend to empty the hoard quickly. The closest thing I'm aware of to that is Damselfish guarding their "farms" of algae, but that's really a form of territoriality, just concentrated on a feeding patch rather than a nest. In any even, it would be great to see some photos of this behaviour.> Hope you are your fish are well. Skye <Thanks for writing in! All very interesting! Cheers, Neale.>

Picture of the Leporinus  9/27/08 Bob, Neale, crew; This is a picture of the boy. He is about 6-8 months old. I'm pretty sure this is a banded Leporinus. Skye <Is a L. fasciatus. BobF>

Re: Picture of the Leporinus Thank you Bob. I'm glad uploading the picture worked! As I understand, the L. fasciatus is the common pet-store variety? <Yes... the most common, though have seen a handful of species of this genus, sometimes a dozen or more of the family/subfamily in older literature, at "more progressive", larger stores. BobF>

Re: Dramatic Fish or Personality Disorder? Leporinus   12/5/08 Hi Neale! <Hello!> Nice to hear from you again. Perhaps you don't remember me, as I'm sure the crew gets inundated with emails on a regular basis. <Indeed we do!> You've given me a lot of great advice on these black banded Leporinus fasciatus before. The ill look they had after cleaning the inside resolved minutes after I finished siphoning the rocks. They are curious and will get within a couple inches of the glass to look at me, but any sudden movement and they swim away. <Sounds typical for the species. This is indeed typical behaviour with large characins generally: curious, but nervous.> In the attached picture, my puffer is on the right side of the pic. This picture is a little older, as the banded Leporinus (I have 2) are about double the size now. The puffer is about 3 years old and one surprisingly docile for a fish. I had to add hiding spaces, as he was the one the Leporinus were picking on. He's never pecked at anyone, and couldn't seem to care less about the other fish. He does puff as a defense mechanism when chased, which fortunately is not often. My computer is set up next to the tank, so I'm literally watching my fish hours per day, turning the lights out so they have downtime when I go to bed. <Hmm... does look like a common or garden Tetraodon nigroviridis to me, rather that Tetraodon cutcutia (the species traditionally called the Emerald Puffer in the hobby). Tetraodon nigroviridis is an odd species in some ways: while adults are supposedly freshwater fish in the wild, with juveniles being found in brackish water, in aquaria they seem to do better across the board kept in brackish water. Specimens in brackish water get bigger and live twice as long. Some folks recommend keeping adults in marine tanks! You may well be lucky, but if your specimen ever starts showing odd colours, persistent fungal infections, etc., then it may well be time to move him to at least slightly brackish conditions.> The cobalt blue cichlid in the pic (your crew assisted in identification of) was unfortunately the result of a fatal attack by the Leporinus. They got his eye, gill and mouth. I put him in a hospital tank, but his injuries were too much for him. The Plecos like to suck on the glass on top of the tank (divided in sections of it), and the Leporinus always chew up the dorsal fins <Leporinus are indeed "fin biters" and wild fish likely eat small fish as well, so they're certainly opportunistic predators to some degree. They're quite fashionable additions to Malawi-type community tanks here in England, and you'll often see them in display tanks in department stores and sushi bars, alongside bright blue Mbuna and so on. But as you're observing, they're less than trustworthy animals.> My salinity is probably negligible. 1 tablespoon per 5 gal. <Indeed, doing little if anything useful or harmful. Do be careful with salt though: some vets maintain it is a stress factor on Mbuna, leading to the infamous Malawi Bloat syndrome. Not everyone agrees, but it's something to consider. When keeping Mbuna, it's more important to maintain a reasonably high carbonate hardness; if you do that, everything else "comes out in the wash" as we say in England. In other words, take care of the carbonate hardness, and general hardness and pH and pH stability usually balance out just right all by themselves.> Everyone seems happy, healthy and active. It was later I read that the banded guys are native to freshwater, but no "burnt" looking fins or signs suggestive in an adverse way. Also, they peck lips, build nests, and are happy. <One tablespoon of salt is about 18 grammes of salt (one teaspoon is 6 grammes). So that's about 18 grammes per 18 litres (5 gallons), or a gramme per litre. Normal seawater is 35 grammes per litre, so you have one thirty-fifth normal salinity, obviously not much at all. You could drink that salinity and be fine!> Thank you for your answer to my other email. You answer my question well in that they (the Leporinus') are a naturally nervous fish. <There you go!> Neale, do you have a 'private' or separate email so I can send you better quality pics sometime, and just say hello, share what's up with my finned friends? Skye <I do, and it's on my web site, which you can find by Googling. But I'd suggest subscribing to the WWM forum, and that'll allow you to upload links to high resolution images just fine (there are various free image hosting sites if you need one, such as Flickr). Give me a heads-up, and I will stop by and comment, and the advantage is that other folks can take a look and contribute. Cheers, Neale.>