Anyone know about Banded Leporinus?

[quikv6]

Hello all,

I found an adjacent office at my job that has a fish tank...a 46 gallon bowfront with a single banded leporinus fish. He's about 7 years old, and about 10 inches. When I asked who took care of the tank, everyone looked a bit puzzled, and said "we put a bucket of water in ever now and then."

So I decided to test the water, and lo and behold...not good. Perhaps really bad. Nitrates were way off the charts. I estimate 400ppm+, as it took a few 50% water changes to get it back on the charts. Also, PH was off the charts acidic...around 5 or 5.5. There was 0 KH as well.

As I did daily water changes, the PH rose to the low - mid 6s, and the KH rose to 20-40ppm. I got the nitrates down to 20ppm. The fish mainly just sits on the bottom behind a piece of slate, as he did before.  My questions:

1) Is this typical behavior for this species?

2) Would there be a range of parameters that would be preferable? He probably lived in nitrates 200+ for years. Can fish adapt to that, or does it have any long term effects on them?

Any and all info on the banded leporinus is appreciated, as I am probably taking over maintenance of this tank. Thanks!

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by quikv6

[Colu]

How levels of nitrates suppress a  fish appetite and immune system and can have long term effects on there health

[quikv6]

Thanks Colu....anyone have any hands-on experience with this species?

[Biotope Biologist]

They are very active in a large tank. Think 100+ can grow to a decent size of 10"+. They are from the Amazon river tributaries I believe around the mountainous areas of Venezuela and Guyana. Perhaps parts of Suriname as well. They are used to the acidic black waters there so they can tolerate down to 5.0 no sweat. Other than that they are omnivorous and peaceful amongst large community fish such as silver dollar and are quite often used as a dither fish in cichlid tanks as they can hold their own against the abuse.

[quikv6]

Thanks so much for the info. That's a big help. Being he's 10 inches already, I am going to explore the idea of getting him a larger tank.

[Captain Salad]

Keep a few years ago, mine were quiet shy hiding in caves about 50% of the time, keeping them with plants and smaller fish was a mistake I made while keeping them, very hardy fish not to keen on their own kind in my experience. probably doesn't help 🙂

[quikv6]

Thank you. The tank is pretty barren, but I was thinking of adding a few silk plants. Right now, there is just a few pieces of slate, which the fish hides behind. I don't want to take away swimming space, though, as the tank is pretty small as it is for a 10 inch fish.

Thanks again