African leaf fish are a carnivorous and predatory fish (with a stalking and ambush behavior) and will eat anything they can fit into their mouth. You wouldn’t think by looking at them that their mouth is very big, BUT....when they go after food, that mouth is huge! When they go after their prey, their mouth extends like a tube and they actually suck the food in so fast that it’s difficult to see! I would not advise to house snails in a tank with an African leaf fish. I would imagine he would pick on the snails’ antenna or even the body. “Leafy” co-exists peacefully with my two Blood Parrots and about 30 Bronze Cory Cats. Unless your Cories have some size to them, I would not recommend them as tank mates. Other suitable tank mates are any type of gourami, silver dollar, Pleco, and Bala Shark. Large, aggressive cichlids should not be mixed with the African Leaf Fish. Of course, your tank size would have to be appropriate to house several of these fish together.

Environment

African leaf fish do like to have “caves”, a dimly-lit and densely planted aquarium (floating plants help diffuse the light). I have several terracotta pots in the tank with mine and, unless it’s feeding time, he usually hangs out in the “cave”. You will also notice leaf fish like to hang out face down, tail up most of the time - this is the normal stalking position. The suggested minimum tank size is a 50 gallon tank.

Food

I feed mine flake food (not his favorite food!) and freeze dried Krill which I soak and then peel off the outer shell, and then “flick” pieces under water for him. By flicking his food, he uses his natural striking and ambush behavior. He strikes the food in a split second! He also gets tubifex worms now and then along with frozen bloodworms. Other foods they will accept are worms, shrimp, crickets, and pellets. Most African Leaf Fish will not eat flake food. They like their food “moving”.

Size

The African Leaf Fish is a slow growing fish and it could take several years to reach his adult size of 6-8″. Although they can reach a maximum size of 8″, most ALF’s kept in a community tank max out at 6″. Sexing these fish can be a little difficult, but the males have short spines on the gill covers, the females do not.

This particular fish is not recommended for the beginner. They are very sensitive to poor water conditions and require a special diet.

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