Labeo bicolor in your aquarium

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Labeo bicolor is a popular carp fish among aquarists. In nature, it lives in fresh water bodies of Africa, Southeast and South Asia. Prefers shallow rivers, streams and flowing lakes overgrown with aquatic plants.

Labeo bicolor is a fairly large fish that grows up to 20 cm in length in captivity. Her body is elongated, slender, her back is curved. The head is cylindrical, small. Mouth lower. There are 2 pairs of sensitive antennae. The body of the fish has a dark blue color. All fins are painted in the same color, except for the caudal fin, which is bright red. At night, as well as during stress, the labe becomes pale, sometimes almost white.

Pisces are mobile, active, sometimes even aggressive. In the reservoir occupy the middle and lower layers. Protect the territory, attacking other inhabitants of the aquarium, especially those with a reddish color. There are frequent manifestations of intraspecific aggression, the result of which are skirmishes and quarrels. A clear hierarchy is formed in the flock, while the leader easily appears on someone else's territory, but does not let anyone into his own. Especially goes to peaceful large fish likescalar, which can inadvertently disturb the labeo.

Compatibility is a very important point when keeping these fish. When choosing labeo neighbors, you need to study their character and lifestyle well in order to avoid sad consequences. Representatives of other active, moderately aggressive species will get along best with them. These are Sumatran and bream-like barbs, gourami (gold, marble, blue), macropods, shark baloos.

In an aquarium where the labeo bicolor lives, there should be a lot of aquatic plants, including large-leaved (such as echinodorus), snags, labyrinths, caves and stones. In these shelters, more peaceful and weak individuals will be able to escape from aggressive neighbors. Separate shelters should be organized so that the fish settled in them could not see each other. It is important that there is enough space in the artificial reservoir for all its inhabitants, since crowding gives rise to quarrels. Ideally, one individual labeo needs 80 liters of water.

Labeo aquarium fish prefer dark soil and low diffused lighting. The water parameters are as follows: pH 6.5-7.5, hardness 5-15°, temperature 23–27°C. Will require aeration, filtration, change of approximately 20% of the volume of water weekly.

Labeo bicolor willingly eats both live (coretra, bloodworm, small gammarus, tubifex) and vegetable food, as well as artificial mixtures. If algae grows on the walls of the aquarium, the fish will be happy to clean them up. You can also periodically put a sheet of glass overgrown with water into the water.seaweed - this will be a treat for the Labeo.

The breeding of these fish is not an easy process due to the small number of males in litters and the need for large spawning tanks. Labeo reach sexual maturity at 1-1.5 years. For breeding, you need a 500 l aquarium with plenty of shelters, thickets of plants and subdued light. Ideally, there are two males per female. 2 weeks before spawning, they begin to feed daphnia, cyclops, bloodworms, tubifex, frozen spinach and scalded lettuce. Keep them separate. The productivity of the female of the two-colored labeo is up to 1000 eggs. Up to 50% of fry die in the first 2 weeks of life, but as a rule, there are no difficulties with the rest.