The Leopard bush fish also known as Leopard bushfish, Spotted ctenopoma, Leopard ctenopoma, Spotted climbing perch, Spotted leaf fish, African leaf fish, Spotted cichlid or Spotted bushfish, is a freshwater

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

. It is part of the unique Anabantidae family, that is freshwater fish that originate from South East Asia and Africa and is therefore related to the Siamese fighting fish

Siamese fighting fish

The Siamese fighting fish , also known as the betta , is a popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. The name of the genus is derived from ikan bettah, taken from a local dialect of Malay...

 (Betta Splendens).

It is relatively common in the aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 industry and is often sold as a beginners' "oddball" fish.

Habitat

The Leopard Bush Fish is endemic to the Congo river

Congo River

The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...

 basin in Africa and has adapted to suit many different biotopes
within this system from fast flowing streams to stagnant ponds.

Size

The Leopard Bush Fish is slow growing and may take several years to reach an adult size which in the wild can easily reach 8" or 20cm however in captivity a fish of 6" or 15cm is considered large.

In the Aquarium

In the Aquarium the Leopard bush fish is often seen as a hardy oddball that fits into most community tanks.
The Leopard bush fish in the wild is a predator so it will take small fish up to the general size of an adult female guppy

Guppy

The guppy , also known as the millionfish, is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species in the world. It is a small member of the Poeciliidae family [females long, males long] and like all other members of the family, is live-bearing....

 anything larger than this will for the most part be ignored. It is not generally a good idea to mix this fish with large aggressive cichlids as they may injure the Leopard bush fish or out compete it for food. Good tank mates for the Leopard bush fish include all gourami

Gourami

Gouramis are a family, Osphronemidae, of freshwater perciform fishes. The fish are native to Asia, from Pakistan and India to the Malay Archipelago and north-easterly towards Korea. The name "gourami" is also used for fish of the families Helostomatidae and Anabantidae. "Gouramis" is an example of...

 species, Bala shark

Bala shark

The Bala shark, Balantiocheilos melanopterus, also known as the tricolor shark, silver shark, or shark minnow, is a fish species of the family Cyprinidae, and is one of the two species in the genus Balantiocheilos...

, silver dollar

Metynnis argenteus

Silver dollar is a common name given to a number of species of fishes, mostly in the genus Metynnis, tropical fish belonging to the Characidae family which are closely related to piranha and pacu...

, Corydoras

Corydoras

Members of the South American Corydoras genus are freshwater temperate and tropical catfish in the armored catfish family , and are commonly referred to as corydorases, cories, or cory catfish.-Taxonomy:...

, Plecostomus

Plecostomus

Hypostomus plecostomus is the scientific name for a type of freshwater tropical Central and South American fish belonging to the family Loricariidae. They are large algae eaters, and to differentiate them from small algae eaters, they are often referred to as plecostomus, often abbreviated as...

 species, Ancistrus

Ancistrus

Ancistrus is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Loricariidae of order Siluriformes. Fish of this genus are commonly known as the bushynose or bristlenose plecos.-Taxonomy:The type species is Ancistrus cirrhosus...

catfish, and anything that won't fit into its mouth. They can be kept in a tank as small as 30 gallons if it is not overstocked, and has good filtration.

Diet

In the wild Leopard bush fish will eat any fish or insect that they come across small enough to fit into their mouths. In the aquarium however they will readily learn to accept dead alternatives such as bloodworms (chironomid midge larvae) and some sinking pellets, however that said few learn to accept flake foods and many people prefer to feed them with live food so that they are able to watch the Leopard bush fish's unusual stalking method.