Banded Leporinus tank mates?

RedBandedPandaaFish

I'd like to ask for some advice on this. I recently received my Lepo from a family member and he is 14 years old, shy to me and my family, but still a feisty little (big) thing. I've had him for almost two weeks, and on the advice of a fish keeper in Petsmart, who had one of her own, I put in two little minnows yesterday to test his temperament. It seems he has eaten the light colored one (as I cannot find any carcass or remains. At all.), but left the dark one, though it's scared out of its mind. It had previously lived with other fish, but they died off while he lived. I'd like to know what any of you would reccomend as tankmates for him.

Tazman

What size tank do you have before we start offering suggestions as to tank mates.

RedBandedPandaaFish

It is a 30 gal (US). I was thinking of a bristle nose Pleco for a start, because they don't grow as gargantuan as the normal ones though I'm unsure.
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Byron

For one fish, you need a 90g 4-foot tank. You can read more, this species is included in our profiles, click the shaded name Leporinus fasciatus.

How large is this fish? They should attain 12 inches. And they have a five-year lifespan, so if it is this species i highly doubt it is 14 years old.

On the issue of feeding live fish, this is highly dangerous; feeder fish are notorious for carrying disease.

Byron.

RedBandedPandaaFish

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RedBandedPandaaFish

He is about 8 inches and has been in this tank since 1998 so I assure you that he is 13-14 as I have the original card my uncle wrote it down on. As I said I received him from a family member, and he came with a heater, filter, plants, rocks, and his tank. I don't feed him fish, he gets algae wafers and flakes, the minnows were an accident.
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1077

Sound's as though the smaller tank that the fish has been kept in, may have stunted it's potential growth.
Fellow who run's one of the few local fish stores left in my area, has a Banded Leporinus in 75 gal tank and the fish is approx eight year's old so far as I know and is easily a foot long.
His specimen is a belligerent fish and frequently gives chase to Bala Shark's,loaches,and Rosy Barbs, all of which are six inches long or larger, and share similar dietary needs.(I believe shark's are stunted)
I would not suggest any fishes to place with your fish in 30 gal tank due to confined space for growth,and lack of room to get away from the leporinus should it decide to behave as my friend's fish does.

Byron

I will check into the age issue; the 5 years is in our profile which I wrote, but I may have mis-typed 5 for 15 or something and not caught it.

Regardless of that, a 30g is not sufficient space for this fish. But after all this time, the damage has likely been done. To put it in another perspective, this is comparable to keeping a large dog in a cage in the back yard for 10 years. The dog will live, and eat; but at what cost?

RedBandedPandaaFish

Thank you for the help. I suppose I'll just get some more plants to make the tank seem livlier, not that he isn't an active little rascal as is x)