Labiobarbus Leptocheilus Journal

[Zander]

I got this fish while working at Petsmart and since it was a fish that we don't sell, nor is it one I had ever seen before, I decided to take it home. It came in with the Chinese Algae Eaters, which leads me to believe that both this fish and the CAE's we sell are wild caught, despite what management tells me. I had a heck of a time identifying it but thanks to the people on this forum I believe I have the correct ID on it as Labiobarbus Leptocheilus. According to Baench Aquarium Atlas it should grow about 7 inches.

I'm creating this thread/journal for 3 reasons. First, to log any color/size changes as well as giving myself a quick reference to how fast it has grown. Second, for anyone who somehow comes across more of these fish, hopefully they won't have as much trouble as I did finding information about them. And third, if anyone has any that they don't want, I would love to have more.



This photograph is from October 2012:




This is a photograph I took a month later (only note is that the fins became somewhat red during this time):




And this is a photograph from Baench Aquarium Atlas Vol 3, listed as Labiobarbus Leptocheilus:



This is by far the most similar looking fish I have been able to find a picture of, even if it is not quite 100% the same. The difference being that my fish has slightly red fins and the fish from the book has a more defined stripe.


Fish size:

October 2012 - Roughly 1.5 inches
March 2013 - Roughly 3.5 inches

Diet:

For the first month or so he would not eat flake food, and only seemed to nibble on algae wafers. He now is happy with either, but seems to prefer the flakes. After he got big enough to do so, he started picking up the gravel with his mouth, chewing on it, and spitting it back out. Typical carp behavior, and he is definitely closely related to goldfish/koi as he has that same dorsal fin, who both do the same.

Fish compatibility:

For the first few months I kept it in a 10 gallon tank with Glow-Light Tetras. At first it schooled with them, but as it got bigger it became slightly territorial and chased them around. I removed it from the tank at about 3 inches, and at that time the chasing of the Glow-Lights was nearly constant. There was never any fin nipping.

After I removed it from the 10 gallon I put it in my 90 gallon tank (Feb 2013) that has Black Skirt Tetras, Bloodfin Tetras, Pristella Tetras, Siamese Algae Eaters (not full grown, equal size to it), and BN Plecos (also not full grown, equal size to it). There has not been any fin nipping any either direction. I have noticed the Pristella's seem to be hiding more since I put him in, but at the same time there has been lots of plant growth and I believe they enjoy hiding themselves in the plants more and I don't believe they've been bullied at all.



I will try to update this thread every month or two. At the very least just to update with how he has grown. I am curious to see if he will reach the 7 inches listed in Baench Aquarium Atlas (assuming I have the ID correct). He has grow significantly but at the same time he doesn't seem to be growing quickly enough to reach that size within a year or even two.

[madagascariensis]

I will be following this journal closely! I still remember when we all were trying to identify the unknown fish.
Another thing that I thought about, which might've explain why its patterning seems unlike any labiobarbus species is that it still may be in juvenile colors?

[Zander]

I will be following this journal closely! I still remember when we all were trying to identify the unknown fish.
Another thing that I thought about, which might've explain why its patterning seems unlike any labiobarbus species is that it still may be in juvenile colors?

Some labiobarbus species are so rare that you can't find pictures of them online. Even the ones that you can, several of them have very conflicting pictures and descriptions. The whole family seems to be that way with the slight exceptions of Leptochelius and Festivus. Leptocheilus looks like the picture above and Festivus is much darker with red fins but otherwise very similar. Even still you can find very conflicting pictures in a google search on both, but they're the only two that I really have a firm grasp of what they are supposed to look like.


Labiobarbus Festivus, according to a different aquarium atlas (though I no longer recall which one):




The point is that there are another 7 species that I really have no idea what they look like. So this could very well be one of those 7.

I appreciate your interest and I will try to update this thread from time to time with new pictures and size updates.

[Zander]

Size: 4 inches

My fish continues to grow since I've moved him to the 90 gallon tank. The Baench Aquarium Atlas size of 7 inches is probably correct, since the SAE's are just as big and growing just as fast and are supposed to be max out at 6 inches.

The slight red tint to his fins has disappeared in recent months. The red was probably a juvenile coloring or it is possible it has gone due to the lower PH in the bigger tank. Can't be sure of which.

I'd like to post another picture but I don't have access to a camera at this exact moment. But I will say he is looking more like the above photo of Labiobarbus Leptocheilus every day. His stripe is becoming a little more defined and even seems to be gaining that very slight vertical stripe towards the front. I am more convinced than ever that that is the correct.

I will try to post a photograph in the near future.