Leporinus gold comes from the rivers and lakes of Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana. Interestingly, this fish feels great in rough rivers with channel rifts, and in coastal areas, densely overgrown with vegetation. Like other relatives (and there are more than 60 species of fish in the genus), leporin has a cigar-shaped body with carved fins.
The snout is bent up and ends with thick lips.
In normal life, leporinus swims around the aquarium under an inclination, but if they detect danger, they immediately take a horizontal position and try to swim away from the intruder of his peace of mind. The appearance of this fish is quite attractive.
The body is chocolate-brown with two contrasting golden stripes, and there is a piping on the fins. Young leporinus looks even more beautiful and more interesting than adults.
The first leporins came to the Union in 1995, accidentally hitting the party of anostomus. However, one fish died suddenly from food poisoning during transportation.
A little later, one company imported into our country more than 50 well-fed individuals, which passed into the hands of Moscow aquarists for further study and reproduction.
I would like to immediately note that Leporinus Arcus is very simple in reproduction, as the fish has a rather high range of living conditions:
- Water hardness up to 20 degrees;
- Active reaction environment 6.2 – 7.8 pH;
- Water temperature 20-30 degrees;
- A group of fish will require an aquarium from 250 to 300 liters.
The fish feeds on almost everything that the aquarist feeds to her, but food of animal origin is of higher priority. As neighbors it is not recommended to move small fish, as leporins are famous for their slightly violent temper. Accordingly, as neighbors it is necessary to select large and mobile fish.
Particular attention should be paid to sick and defective fish, because if they are present in the aquarium, a flock of Argus will tear them apart in a few moments.
There are cases when a flock of young Argus, along with anostomus, hang over a large stone or driftwood and safely pluck off various algal fouling from them, including the unloved Vietnamese. Under the distribution at the time of such a meal, higher plants, such as small-leaved cabombs, limnophils, Javanese moss, and so on, may also fall.
Accordingly, in order not to hurt the landscape of your aquarium, it is better to place as few live plants as possible in an aquarium with leporinus, or such plants that have hard leaves and a powerful root system (dwarf anubias, speckled echinodorus, lemongrass, etc.)
Leporinus arcus reaches sexual maturity with a body length of 15 to 17 centimeters. Under natural conditions, arcuses can grow up to 35 centimeters in length. The color of the males is much brighter and the body is slimmer, the chest and the lower part of the head are wine-red in color.
Spawning in these fish has seasonal features, which can occur both in school and in pairs. At the time of the chase of the female, the males strike their abdomen with their tails and beat out the eggs from it, which will sink to the bottom of the reservoir, or else they will float downstream.
The fecundity of females leporins can not but surprise – more than 50 thousand eggs. The incubation period for caviar lasts from 35 to 60 hours. The larvae of the Arcus are perfectly fed by microplankton.
Juveniles grow quite quickly and grow by 1.5 centimeters during the first months. In conditions of captivity Leporinus Arcus can live up to 20 years.
