Amazon Leaffish

The Amazon leaffish is one of nature's most convincing mimics. Its flat, leaf-shaped body looks like a dry leaf with brown-yellow blotches; the small fleshy barbel on its chin looks like the leaf's stalk. With its head tilted slightly downward, it drifts slowly like a leaf floating in the water and waits for prey.

When prey comes close, it swallows it in an instant with its protrusible mouth; it can hunt fish nearly half its own length. This way of feeding is the hardest part of its care: most individuals eat only live fish.

It lives in slow-flowing black and clear waters of the Amazon basin full of leaves and branches, among plants and roots close to the bank.

• Volume: at least 80 liters for one or two fish.
• Water: soft and acidic; slightly tannin-stained water from dried leaves and roots is ideal. Flow must be very weak.
• Decor: roots, branches, dried leaves and dense plants; dim light, floating plants.
• Companions: a species tank is best.

Carnivorous and requires live prey: home-bred guppy, molly and platy fry are the safest source. Feeder fish bought from outside may carry disease; quarantine them. Some individuals eventually accept live shrimp and worms; few get used to frozen food. Since it catches its prey itself, keep track of feeding times and amounts.

A calm but deadly predator that waits motionless for hours. It eats any fish or shrimp that fits in its mouth. Fast and fin-nipping species stress it.

Good companions: a species tank is best. In a large aquarium it can be tried with very calm species too big for its mouth (large Corydoras, large specimens of calm dwarf cichlids).

Avoid: small fish, shrimp, fast and greedy species, fin nippers.

Alone, or several individuals in a large aquarium; it is mildly territorial toward conspecifics.

It spawns on the surface of a leaf, stone or root; the male guards the eggs. The fry hatch within a few days and need small live food (newly hatched brine shrimp, small fish fry) from the first day.

• Diseases from live food: the biggest risk; breed the feeder fish yourself.
• Hard and alkaline water: long-term weakening and susceptibility to disease.
• Starvation: it loses weight quickly when there is not enough live food.

The sexes are hard to tell apart externally; a female ready to spawn has a noticeably fuller belly.