Pencilfish! Do you keep any?

[Lennie]

Hello everyone!🙃

 

So, around 2 weeks ago, I stopped by an LFS that I barely go since I was not a fan of the way fish tank looked before. I gave it a shot again and it was well worth it. They hired a new person and they seemed to work on tanks very well, fish looked much better in general.

And.. Guess what!

 

I found n. beckfordiis. 🥳

 I got 4m:7f for my shallow long tank. They are very rare here. This is the tank they are in, it is a 110x40x25cmh.

 

At the LFS, the males had breeding dress but overall they looked peaceful. However, when I put them in my tank, males all claimed a corner in the tank, and then, started attempting to breed with any female that enters their territory. Males sometimes shake their bodies and move around in circles for domination. Males usually not schooling with females and only females school with each other. Instead they just protect their own territory and wait for females to make a move.

 

I know the reputation of reds and purples being a bit aggressive. But to be fair, my males are also considerably aggressive as well.

Soooo...

- What's your pencilfish experience like in general?

- If you bred any, wanna share any tips/personal experience? Or about anything in general!

- I know they are well known dithers for apistos as they are "top dwellers". well, Mine only eat from the surface sometimes, but usually are in the mid/bottom side of the tank, barely going top.

- Would keeping a pair of Kribensis Moliwe be safe here with 11 pencilfish? ( @anewbie what do you think?) My friend just imported 5m:5f and Im interested in obtaining a pair from him. They look beautiful

Edited November 11, 2023 by Lennie

[Mmiller2001]

Very underrated fish. Mine would Spar with each other all day. Awesome behavior. Unfortunately, mine only lived about 3 years. They definitely love lots of plants and plant coverage.

[Lennie]

On 11/11/2023 at 9:27 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Very underrated fish. Mine would Spar with each other all day. Awesome behavior. Unfortunately, mine only lived about 3 years. They definitely love lots of plants and plant coverage.

I agree!

But their aggressive behavior was unexpected to me.

I am considering to add a pair of cichlids, likely kribs but I cant decide if I should. What were you keeping yours with? In a community tank or as dither?

[Mmiller2001]

Community with rasboras and tetras.

[anewbie]

I have a bunch of Nannostomus mortenthaleri - around 15. They are worse than rummy at feeding time; i havent' noticed any fighting among them but i've only had them for 2 months - also they are in my blackwater tank which was darker than coffee the first month - it has lighten a bit due to water changes. Dont' really have much else to say about them. Well now and then they do try to snatch food from just about everything include the a. bitaeniata; not much more i can say about them - they love to eat.

 

Also my blackwater aquarium is fairly large - 48 inch by 30 inch so there is lots of room for folks to spread out if needed.

Edited November 12, 2023 by anewbie

[jwcarlson]

I just picked up 12 of them a couple (or three?) weeks ago.  They're in QT, I like watching them a lot, they're quite entertaining.  They're much more... mid water than I thought they'd be.  But perhaps because they're only in a 10 gallon so far.  Maybe they'll move up in a taller tank?  I've been thinking of putting them in my apisto tanks for 'dither fish'.