P. leipoldi

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HybridHerp

HybridHerp

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 18, 2012
1,192
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New York
So, I'm potentially thinking about getting a group of 6 of these guys since I know someone who recently imported like 40 of them. However, I'm finding little good information on the web about their care and hardness and wanted to know what you guys know about the fish.

Personally, I'm still debating with myself if I even want them over getting some nice scalare from a breeder, but its good to weigh my options. I'm not looking to breed anything either since its a display tank (which is why I'm hesitant to want a rare species in captivity if I'm not going to reproduce them ever...plus I'm unsure how I feel about them not being as flashy for a display tank that isn't a biotope or going to have all wild type fish either). But its good information to know!
 
I keep a group of Pterophyllum leopoldi and find them to be every bit as colorfull as some of the domestic strains. They will adapt to most water parameters if acclamated properly, mine are very hardy and interactive fish. They are also the smallest of the three Pterophyllum species, I find a group of 6 to 8 fish perfect for a 90 gallon tank. As with all Angel fish don't keep fish with them that are fin nippers. I like they way they interact with each other and show the evolutional bridge between angelfish and Festivum in both looks and behavior. As far as being rare they are not rare in their natural range just not seen in aquaria as compaired to scalare. I personally would rather have P. liopoldi than domestic strains og angels but that is just a matter of taste.

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They are pretty hahaha, I'm just unsure since they are a natural pretty where as some of what I keep is already domestic strains. Idk if I'd want to mix something so purely wild with fish that are so blatantly not haha. Its just a taste thing though, although if I had a tank I started from scratch I'd definitely do them so I can go all biotope on it.

Do they behave differently from domestic angelfish strains? I've never kept festivums but I imagine that they behave similarly to severums.
 
They behave more like Festavum IME than domestic scalare strains, a little more agressive.
 
^ Yeah, that goes for most wild angels. There's fairly heavy conspecific aggression in wild altum and scalare, too. They usually need a bit more room or they'll pick each other off. I had a group of 12 Peruvian scalare and ended up with 2 when all was said and done.

Luckily the leopoldi are smaller. They may not be as flashy as altum or scalare, but they're very handsome fish in their own right and I've always had a soft spot for them.
 
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