Advice on African Bushfish (Leopard Ctenopoma)

[EntoCraig]

OK this fish is amazing... But I cant keep them alive... What gives?

I currently have 12 tanks, all stable and been running for years.

I have purchased 5 Ctenopomas over the last 1.5 months and all die after about 1-2 weeks. They are active and eating right up until the day I find them dead.

The only place I can get them here is Petsmart of all places... but they always look great in the store, and my tank until the random death. Been keeping fish for 8 years now and never have I been so confused about what is going on...!

TANK SPECS:
30% water changes every week. Moderately hard water. Planted tank with plenty of other active community fish, all smaller than the Ctenopoma. I also kept a young pair in a tank by themselves and still death....

 

[tlindsey]

It could be parasites in some cases even though the fish seem healthy imo.

 

[EntoCraig]

But with all 5 of them, purchased at different times?

 

[EntoCraig]

Bump.

 

[tlindsey]

What do you feed the Ctenopomas, and do you test your water parameters.

 

[HybridHerp]

I have one, my only issue is it grows slowly, but something tells me you should get a new source for them as the rest of your conditions sound fine.

 

[Joao M]

What do you feed the Ctenopomas, and do you test your water parameters.

^
Either a food issue or internal parasites.
I find them quite hardy. Been keeping mine with (still juvenile) pleuro snakeheads and never had issues

(video is 6months old; they´re all bigger now)
[YT]gSPIEwoYSSg[/YT]

 

[reptilerescued]

I keep two in a community tank setup just like yours.
Live plants 30 % WC every week one HOB and one sponge filter.
they are in with a Bala shark, rainbow shark, 3 Mollies ( I need to move to the breeding tank) bumble bee loach, and small alga eater.

Mine came from petsmart also.
I feed them sinking pellets, flake, & blood worms ( as a treat)
Had them 3 months now, they are doing great, YES, VERY SLOW growers.

Only thing I have noticed odd with them is their spots and color fade in and out.
one day nice and colored with good spots the next almost transparent. like a cycle. but they are doing good.

They also survived a ick breakout 2 months ago. I treated with 90 F heat 1.008 salinity and jungle ick tx ( jungle ick was stopped after 4 days) for a total of 14 day treatment. Tuff fish I think.
The bush fish never displayed any signs of ick but 3 other fish in the tank had it and I was afraid to move them for fear of cross contamination.

Rich

 

[snooklover123]

These fish are awesome !!!!! I have had mine for two years and they are the easiest fish I have ever had. he eats rosy reds and flakes. These fish are awesome for beginners because they are so easy to care for. They just need a big tank. I started mine out in a 10 gallon then moved him to 55 gallon. The first 2-4 weeks they usually hide so if you don't have a hiding spot for them you can easily kill them of stress. It might be the shock the knew water so sorry to hear about that and hope you have good luck