South African Leaf Fish.

[rob newland]

Ok about 3 weeks ago I purchased a couple of these for about £7 each at about 1" . They are fine but I just have a few questions:
1. They never seem to eat anything - the guy who sold me them said feed them bloodworm etc - but they just ignore it in my tank.
2. One has stayed a dark brown with brown eyes - yet the other has gone a pale brown with red eyes - could this be male/female?
3. Are these fish rare or something as I have never come across them before, they can hardly be found on google and they were so expensive.
Thanks alot,
Rob.

 

[steelhealr]

Split off from the TFF Index. SH

 

[nmonks]

South American leaf-fish tend to want live food. I'd start with live mosquito larvae. This time of year, you can probably find lots in your garden anywhere there is some trapped water (I grow them in buckets for feeding to baby halfbeaks and such). Live bloodworms sink, so might not get registered as food. Mosquito larvae stays at the top, and predatory fish snap them up. One thing you might try is hand feeding. I use long-nose forceps for this, but find that fish that "miss" bloodworms that sink will take them from the forceps if I hold them at the surface of the water.

Daphnia might be another option. Few fish seem to pass them up. Once settled in and they figure out that you are "serving the dinner", they will probably be a bit easier to feed.

If all else fails, livebearer fry will work. These are, after all, predators, and while insects and crustaceans probably are on the menu, they do feed primarily on smaller fish. As ever, avoid rosy-red minnows and goldfish because of the thiaminase content. Guppies, mollies, etc., will work well, but these fish are able to eat small cichlids too, so convict or tilapia fry might be an option.

Females are bigger, according to Baesnch. They have been bred. Cichlid-like, spawning on flat surfaces, with the male guarding the eggs and fry until they are free swimming.

Cheers,

Neale