From the article: Black Banded Leporinus (Leporinus fasciatus)
Have you kept a Black Banded Leporinus? If so, share your experiences about care, habitat, feeding and breeding of Black Banded Leporinus. Your knowledge could help other owners! Share Your Experiences
Leporinus fish
- I bought one of these type of fish a month ago from a local pet store he is only about 3" or 4" long but the attitude of a monster. It immediately killed my Silver datinoid and then our large Blue Crayfish by eating his feet off and the crayfish starved. My wife hates him, but the fish cant pick what it is. A VERY aggressive fish. Hides in the coral decorations whenever we approach the tank and even chases our much larger Pleco around. Its got a horizontal stripe down its body and 3 black spots nearer the head. these may turn into vertical stripes. Greedily eats alge discs till his belly bulges out. We named him Hannibal.
- —Guest Brandon
Defintely aggressive
- I agree with everything everyone else has said. The beast grew to 12in and is about four years old now. Every time I change the water I either get soaked from his jumping or, a few times, have had to get him off the floor. The thing launches itself whenever I get in there. I had a great tank of south american cichlids that I had originally introduced it to and they are no more. It was fine for about a year and then ate everything, and these were full grown cichlids. The only things this fish hasnt eaten are two 8in plecos, so I now have a 3-fish tank.
- —Guest Alex
Our Big Guy
- Our guy is well over 5 years old now and since we discovered today that their lifespan is only around 5 years; are now wondering how much longer we will have him. Our story is similar to all the other stories above. He grew very fast, very large, ate everything and everyone in sight (excepty our beloved little clown loach). He is beautiful but dangerous to anything else in the tank. We tried everything: cichlids, sharks, barbs, gourami's, oscars. They all found their demise within a short time. We have only found success with having other fish that can swim faster than him and stay out of his way. I suppose he will pass away soon. I'm guessing him to be around 7-8 years old now. Though I will be able to finally add and keep some beautiful species of fish, I will be a little sad to see him go. He is, after all, apart of the family now.
- —Guest Dee and Mark
black banded killers
- I had a tank full of gorgeous fish before purchases theses so-called "peaceful toward other species" fish. (That came straight out of a book.) These 2 fish have killed everything in my tank except 1 guppy, 2 neon tetras, and 1 pleco. I'm getting rid of them before they strike again. I do not recommend them to anyone with a community tank.
- —Guest barbara
Dito!!
- We were given a tank of GORGEOUS cichlids and this guy. At the time - he was about maybe all of 6-7" now he is a whopping 13"! We found him in a pet store, and they do state he only gets 6" which is crap! He is huge, and we are having a hard time with him as he has escaped from the tank - with a fitted cover already once and we cannot add other fish because they quite literally do bully even cichlids and eat their eyes!? He hides, so it looks like we have an empty tank. I am glad I found this site, because I almost couldn't believe he had eaten even my plecostamus eyes out. The only thing he will eat is algae disks or shrimp pellets - for an omnivorous that seems strange to me! I don't know how to feel about this fish, it certainly doesn't make us happy but we can't throw him in the creek either! Believe me, I've thought about it!!
- —Guest Michele
They can be bullies
- My guy/gal is a murderer. It has killed everything we 've ever put in the tank loaches, bala sharks, gouramis, even killed a good sized African cichlid. Seems to be quite happy being the sole fish. I was going to get rid of it but i'm kind of attached to the turd now. Usually in pet stores they are quite little but beware they get big fast & have the potential to become aggressive.
- —Guest Donna
Pics & Experience
- I was looking for pics of the less common varities of this species when I found this site. I've had the common variety(Leporinus Faciatus) and they grew to well over 8" and swapped them at the place I bought them. I think they put them in a cichlid tank. Saw an example of this variety at the Cincinnati Zoo in a tank with much larger fish that looked quite hostile, this one was well over 12". While looking for some new smaller ones I ran across what seems to be a different variety. It is shaped a little diferent, like a cross between a headstander (Norman) and a regular Leorinus. I think the variety I am talking about is Leporinus Affinis. This variety seems a little milder temperment wise and doesn't seem to grow as fast of get as long. I would still like to see some pictures of this less common variety. They eat anything, like lettuce, cucumbers, and love earth worms. I've tried every type of live plant they eat them all! When adding new smaller fish try changing the landscape first
- —Green.Eagle
I have a baby fry
- My tank is 90 gallon, 4 baby turtles,3 clown loach and 1l.fasciatus, and now a fry that looks like a lepo.but striped vertical..weird. Can my lepo accidentally mate as some fish do? Had her/him too long to have purchased pregnate, any ideas?
- —Guest tuley
Bully Boy
- Initially I was very happy with the purchase of this cute little golden boy with the black bands....but as the bands multiplied, so did his mean spirit. Now he is at least 8 inches long (Im not positive of the length as we are all afraid to measure him)and very mean and bullying. He is definitely a fin nipper as he has totally ate off the tail fin of 1 of my paradise gouramis and also he ate the poor things eye right out the socket. I would consider selling him back to the store I bought him at but they dont carry fish this large. He does have some endearing qualities as he swims alone with his head pointed down and he likes to suck up the gravel and blow it out. We also find it very amusing that the "big bully" of the tank is so shy and will quickly hide anywhere he can squeeze in. But in the mean time my poor gourami is a nervous (partially blind) wreck and the big bully appears to still be growing in length in our 55 gallon tank. He has at least 10 black bands.
- —Guest angela.burgess
I hate them
- I bought these jerks as babies a couple years ago (not knowing what they were). They have killed mollies, bala sharks, full grown tiger barbs. plecostamus (including one that was 17" long - they at the eyes out, then mouth). The ONLY thing they have gotten along with are my cichlids. The cichlids are dominate over them. I found this site because I'm trying to find a good home for this 8.5" long fish, as I have lost interest in them due to their blood thirsty violent nature.
- —Guest Fish Owner
Too big for my tank
- I purchased a Leporinus a few years ago when it was about 4" long. It was a very nice fish until the last year or so. As fish died off, every time I tried to introduce a new fish, the new fish would disappear within a day. It was the Leporinus (now 11" long). It ate every new fish I put in the tank! I tried Loaches, Gouramis, even a Pictus Cat - all gone. To be fair, it NEVER bothered the fish it grew up with. I suppose if I introduced a large tinfoil barb or another large fish there would not have been a problem.
- —Guest Troy
2 Black Banded Leporinus
- Got two of these were told they only grow to about 6in now I know different. Still like them they are great little guys and have grown quite a bit (in two weeks of having them) very placid, fitted nicely in with my clown loaches and barbs, seem to like their own space from time to time. They chase my other fish if they get in their castle. Haven't tried them on fruit not sure about this but they love live food, like blood worms and daphnia. Look great amongst my other fish. Quite vibrant in color especially when the light catches their yellow bands. Named them Starsky and Hutch
- —Guest steph
