leopard ctenpoma (climbing perch)

[lornajane89]

Hi guys i was wondering if anybody has any experience keeping these. Ive always wanted a predator tank and was wondering if these are particulary aggressive. My community tank is slowly gettin over ran with guppy fry which i figured would be a good feeder fish. How big of a tank would you recommend for the species. I would only want one or two.

Also any recommendations on any other ideas for a small carnivore i could house. I dont have the room for an enormous tank and i am very much biased into humanley housing my fish im not dead set on the perch i just think they look like very interesting fish. Any info suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Rokuzachi]

I keep two of these.

They're so passive that they'll let themselves get beat up by much smaller semi-aggressive fish. They seem to dislike 'busy' tanks and enjoy hiding and cruising around at a leisurely pace. They'll ambush things they feel are food, and have impressively large mouths for their size, but I honestly wouldn't keep them with anything that will defend territory or pick on other fish. They're just too timid.

They're slow growers and top out at 5-6", I think they'd be comfortable in a 30-40+ with peaceful fish that they can't fit in their mouth. I keep mine in a 56. They enjoy a lot of plants/caves/wood/whatever to hide and creep in, and I've noticed that when I remove a lot of vegetation from the tank they will be very shy for weeks, or until I put a lot of plants in.

I think it's very important to make these fish comfortable in particular, because they are very personable when they are. They'll follow you around the tank, take food from your hand, and always be inspecting things with their huge eyes and seeing if it can fit in their mouths. It's also neat to see them act like a leaf to catch food (I feed them ghost shrimp sometimes to see this).

These are just my experiences with them, YMMV. I think you should get them, and just be wary of adding anything else to their tank that might send them into hiding.

 

[lornajane89]

Im not interested in having anything else just the perch. I meant other ideas instead. Ill have too look at 30g options i think dont kno how much room i can have. The missus is reluctant for me to have another tank at all lol

 

[oddballfan33]

Maybe if you are getting a small one, start with a 15-20 gallon tank. My cteno is such a slow grower. He has been well fed and happy, but in my 20 gallon, he only grew an inch and a half in 6 months. If you get them small, they would be perfectly happy in a 20 gallon for up to two years. Mine is extremely personable, and he loves eating bloodworms out of my hand. This is my favorite fish species I have ever kept, and I would recommend them to anyone!

 

[lornajane89]

Mine would be eating guppy fry lol i know some might not approve but IMO i think using feeder fish is on par with using live shrimp and worm. Well thanks for the info. Our native perch was one of my favorite species when i used to go fishing and i fell in love with the idea of the leopard when i read my first article on them, although unrelated they are beautiful fish. Im gonna look into getting a tank and getting it cycled up ready. I believe they prefer soft water.. Ours is pretty hard so will have to do some work with that.

 

[Rokuzachi]

I wouldn't worry too much about your water. Most fish can be acclimated to a wide range of conditions. Despite being wild-caught, I've found the SCP to be rather resilient in the aquarium.

I highly recommend doing a planted tank for them, they look pretty spectacular cruising through bright, lush greenery. A 15 or 20 would also be very easy to plant and light if you started with that too.

 

[lornajane89]

Just tryin to get a good deal on on 30 or 40g ... I like the idea of a 30g in my kitchen lol will keep you posted. Might find trouble in actually finding a fish ive never seen em for sale. Funny its took some talkin but even the boss (the missus) is even lookin for me online now lol

 

[Rokuzachi]

I had trouble finding mine initially, there were no juveniles for sale for months at any of the five LFS near me. Then all the sudden three stores had tanks swarming with little ones - must have been breeding season in the wild or something. I experienced the same thing with other fish I own... no sign of them in the store for months, then a whole bunch, and now nothing again.

 

[lornajane89]

Ive managed to get a full 25g 3ft set up inc heater and filter for a deal i couldnt refuse. Im running the filter in my other tank for now until i have cleaned the tank. Im wondering what sort of plants would look good for an african biotope.
Ive heard of anubias and im confident my lfs sells them. I was going to find a suitable piece of root wood to put in and was hoping to try and get some plants rooted to. Also can anyone suggest any floating plants and offer any tips on attaching plants to wood.

Im thinking of gettin one lcp and perhaps a some smallish bottom feeders. Do u think 2 lcps is pushing it?

Thanks

 

[Rokuzachi]

I highly recommend watersprite as a floater. When the roots get long and the leaves flare out, it looks stunning with light filtering through it. When I had it, my SCP liked to play around in the roots or take cover in them. The main issue with it is that it doesn't seem to grow well at all if there's much surface movement.

Although if you plan to keep an understocked tank with heavy plants, you shouldn't need much surface movement. The wood is also a great idea - ever since I put some in, it's become their favorite hidey spot, no matter where I move it to.

I think I have a pic of floating watersprite at its height in my grow out tank at home, I'll see if I can find it.

 

[lornajane89]

So a couple of medium corys or small plecs would be ok. Will the perch hunt bottom dwellers. There will be an abundance of guppy fry. Still unable to find thr fish tho. This will be fun but hopefully worthwhile.

 

[Rokuzachi]

I think your corys would be safe. I keep mine well fed and unless they've been without food for longer than usual, they don't seem to hunt much (even ghost shrimp last for a week with them sometimes). They don't even bother my smallest Rosy Barb which is about 1/4 the size of the larger perch.

I've had a lot of fish that are the same way though - keep them fed and they won't bother anything. Skip a day or two for whatever reason and suddenly the smallest members of the tank are nowhere to be found.

 

[lornajane89]

I should probably start a new thread but i figured it is related.
I was wondering if i could mix a leaf fish with a bush fish and maybe 1 or 2 leopard frog plecos and a snail clean up crew? Im gonna check sizes in a minute with an online calculator, but im wondering more on aggression compatability and water parameters i know bush fish can get to 6" and plecos to 4" and are none aggressive

I was going for an african biotope but the fish id really like are from all over the place i.e africa, america & brazil do u think that they will be alright?

Thanks

Dean