Black-Banded Leporinus

[i3k]

Any one familiar with the Black-Banded Leporinus fish? I bought two of these about 3 weeks ago and I had no trouble feeding them, but now one of them is being picky. I started out with Wardley's Total Color flake food and TetraMin Color Bits Granules and they both loved both of these foods. Now one of them still loves the flakes and the granules but the other one seems to just taste it and spit it out both the flakes and granules. The only thing it will munch on are the algae tablets I have for the plecos. Any one got any suggestions on what else I can try feeding these fish? maybe some frozen brine shrimp?

By the way this fish is not sick, It is very active and looks real healthy. I did check my water for pH, Ammonia, and nitrite and everything is fine with the water. I guess this one fish is just getting picky. So if anyone has any advice it will be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Allivymar]

Dunno anything about em, so I went and did some research. Interesting fish! Big as adults; around a foot long And apparently get pretty aggressive buggers as they get older n larger; someone wrote their Leps ate: "an elephant nose, a plecostomas, an albino catfish, a clown knike, 2 apple snails, and an astonishing amount of goldfish meant for their bigger tankmates." LOL Jeez. Pretty tho; apparently the stripes double as they mature, giving em a total of 10 stripes by the time they're adults.

Oh, and they're apparently pretty herbivourous as juveniles; you might want to try some algae wafers of herbivourous type foods.

 

[i3k]

Thats crazy! Mine are about 2 " right now, but I can imagine how big they will be in a few months. I just checked out www.liveaquaria.com and they are selling this fish and they say that they eat flake food, live food, plant matters, and frozen foods. I guess I will go buy some frozen brine shrimp and try it out. Any more advice is always welcome...Thanks for the additional info on this species Allivymar.

 

[Allivymar]

No prob ik3 Your asking has added to my lil store of knowledge *grin* I should be thanking YOU.

And do grab some herbivore food; it also mentions on liveaquaria that they are plant eaters. That may be why your one is gettin picky.

 

[cdawson]

They're omnivores, I would definately return them unless you've got 200+ gallons. Try to feed them silversides and romaine lettuce.