Leopard Bushfish

[moochy13]

what are peoples experiences with these ? from what ive read online, they look like they might be a little bit rude, especially when they're fullsize. theres some at my local pets at home, and i like them, only thing is ive got cherry barbs which i would be a bit concerned about once the bushfish gets bigger. however ive read its a slow grower to 6" fullsize, but im still a bit wary. the other smallest fish i have are red eye tetra, but they are broad bodied so hope woud be ok. the bushfish at the shop are currently only just bigger than the cherry barbs i have.

anybody got any ? as i understand, they should be kept as a single fish with no buddies. im not really thinking abotu getting one, but im intrigued. if somebody says they are amazing i might be tempted.

 

[Jayhawk]

I had one. He was an ideal tankmate to variatus platys and cherry barbs until he hit 4". Then...he became a terror at night and wiped out several tankmates.

They can be pretty shy, but others can be fairly friendly. Mine was friendly until about 4" when his new hobby became hiding and eating everyone else in the tank.

This was in a 36" long 33 gallon tank.

Eric

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I have four, three of which I bought as 2cm SL youngsters last June and one juvenile ~11cm SL I "rescued" in early December. The trio of youngsters have now reached ~6cm SL, so while they have quite a bit more growing to do, they have tripled in size in the the space of eight months. Eventually they should all reach ~14cm SL, noticeably smaller than wild 20cm specimens.

Tankmates really have to be chosen with care, as these predators have MASSIVE mouths, so you don't want to mix them with anything torpedo-shaped and less than one-third of their body size. Jayhawk's tale of losing Cherry Barbs (3-4cm) when the Ctenopoma reached 10cm fits this guideline well, while "mattlee" had a ~5cm youngster try to swallow an Oto almost ots own size last year and sadly lost both fish!

Ctenopoma acutirostre need to be either kept singly or in a group of 3+, as they do tend to get territorial with their own kind, so a bigger group should spread the aggression but then you need a larger tank for three or more adults (I'm still unsure if I could safely move all four into my Rio240, or whether that is pushing things a little).

Lovely, calm and interactive fish... But they can't half shift when they need to and small fish with no body dept are just a snack waiting to happen!

 

[moochy13]

thanks for the info, i reckon i would have gone for one if i didnt have my barbs and tetra, though i expect he tetra would have been safe for a while. still, im not going to risk it, my cherry barbs are great. cheers, maybe one day.....