Banded bushfish

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep it in a 90 litre planted tank at 24 to 28 C with soft, slightly acidic water around pH 6.0 to 7.5 and dim lighting. Feed meaty live and frozen foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp, and small earthworms, as it rarely takes dried food. It is a slow feeder that gets outcompeted by fast tankmates, so choose calm, similar-sized companions. Provide plenty of plants and wood for cover and to break up male territories.

In the wild

Found in slow, shaded, densely planted stretches of the Congo basin where the water is soft and slightly acidic. It is a slow, deliberate fish that hunts small prey among plants and cover. Its labyrinth organ lets it handle the warm, low-oxygen water it lives in. Males become territorial when defending a spawning site.

Good to know

Microctenopoma fasciolatum belongs to the family Anabantidae, the African climbing perches and bushfishes. Unlike the egg-scattering Ctenopoma species, Microctenopoma males build a bubble nest to raise their young. It grows to about 8 cm and shows barred flanks that give it the banded name.

Did you know

It builds a bubble nest among floating plants, which is unusual for an African anabantid since most of its relatives simply scatter their eggs.

Related species

• 

  Ornate bushfish

  Microctenopoma ansorgii

  3.1 in (8 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Leopard bush fish

  Ctenopoma acutirostre

  6.3 in (16 cm)40 gal (150 L)68–82°F (20–28°C)

• 

  Gangetic climbing perch

  Anabas cobojius

  9.8 in (25 cm)66 gal (250 L)72–86°F (22–30°C)

• 

  Tailspot climbing perch

  Ctenopoma kingsleyae

  7.9 in (20 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Climbing perch

  Anabas testudineus

  7.9 in (20 cm)40 gal (150 L)59–86°F (15–30°C)

• 

  African butterfly cichlid

  Anomalochromis thomasi

  3.1 in (8 cm)25 gal (95 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)