General Pencil fish info

[aarhud]

Hey All,

I have been slowly scaling back on fish and as a result a pair of A. baenschi are going to have a whole 125g. I'm trying to create a functional display as much as possible. Driftwood, oak leaves and oak twigs will be scatter on the substrate. To add to the display, I'm going with a large group of pencilfish. Which species would you recommend? The tank won't have much cover in the upper portion, unless I decide to add floating plants.

N. beckfordi are out because of the predatory nature. Which species are still relatively hardy and won't predate on fry (much)? How are Nannostomus eques?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
"How are Nannostomus eques?"

Highly recommended <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/nannostomus-eques.17616/> & <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/video-of-rocket-pencilfish-spawning-with-a-bitaeniata-watching-in-the-background.12315/#post-67317>

cheers Darrel

 

[aarhud]

Darrel,

Are they fairly easy to keep? Food should not be a problem (I feed grindals and BBS), but the lack of cover in the top of the tank may be an issue for them?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
"Are they fairly easy to keep? Food should not be a problem (I feed grindals and BBS), but the lack of cover in the top of the tank may be an issue for them?".

I didn't have any problem with them, they eat any small live food item (including micro-worms), and are very keen on small Mosquito larvae, Aphids etc.

I found them very surface orientated, much more so than N. marginatus, and they wouldn't pursue Grindal worms once they had sunk from the top few centimetres of the water.

I always have a lot of plants, and they spent most of their time in amongst the upper vegetation, either the roots of Pistia, the fronds of Ceratopteris or in the Cabomba "tangle".

Could you have some branching wood that extends in to the upper regions of the tank? Possibly birch (Betula) or Beech (Fagus) or Oak (Quercus) with some leaves still on it? I'm sure they occur in sites where there isn't any live vegetation.

I think Ste Chesters used to breed them, so he may know how they get on in a tank with less surface cover.

I never raised any fry from mine, even though they spawned several times. I don't know if this was because they ate the eggs/fry, or whether the water wasn't soft enough for the eggs to develop. I'll definitely make more of an effort to keep them going next time I have them.

cheers Darrel

 

[gerald]

I vaguely remember somebody here saying once or twice that "a community tank is not a breeding tank" BUT: Yes, eques or the other upward-oriented pencils (unifasciatus, harrisoni) should be less interested in cichlid fry. Small top-dwelling rasboras like the green-eye and espei are also good. Avoid coral pencil -- it's really a tiger barb disguised as a pencilfish. However, that's a BIG tank, and baenschi moms are virtually convict-like in their fry defense, so I think you'll have plenty of fry grow beyond pencil-food size anyway.

 

[Mike Wise]

In such a tank I think any pencilfish will work. N. marginatus seems to be found everywhere in Peru, so it probably is the most likely to be found with A. baenschi in the wild.

 

[aarhud]

Lol I was hoping the breeding tank would come up! In all seriousness Im only planning on a display. Ill have other tanks to pull fry if I plan to raise any. I just want the fry to live long enough that I can enjoy them for a little while.

My female baenschi is not a great mother. She leaves the fry to eat often and does not stick close. Only on her second spawn though. My female panduro was like a guard dog, very good.

Mike I never see N. Marginatus for sale. What number would you shoot for?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
"What number would you shoot for?" minimum of six.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Dwarf Pencilfish are rare??? I honestly haven't looked into their availability lately because I brought back from Peru a couple dozen specimens from different locations in 2012. They will also reproduce in an apisto breeding tank if given the opportunity.

 

[aarhud]

I don't know if rare is what I meant. I just don't see them for sale often. I did find them online. I can't find any pictures/videos of big groups of pencil fish. Are they nice looking in big groups like tetras?

Darrel, I do need more driftwood. When you say oak, are you talking about twigs and thin limbs? I have used both with success, but I have never tried thicker pieces.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
"Darrel, I do need more driftwood. When you say oak, are you talking about twigs and thin limbs?"

Yes, thin twigs was what I had in mind, but anything that provided some cover towards the top of the tank should do.

Have a look at Peter's photo in this post. <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/apistogramma-cacatuoides-male-aggression.18352/#post-87555>.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Pencilfish belong to the family Lebiasinidae, which oddly enough is closely related to the Erythrinidae - the large, predatory wolffish! Like them, pencils aren't strong schooling fish, so they don't form tight schools like many other tetras. They tend to congregate in safe areas more than school. In fact, males can become quite territorial and aggressive to other males when there are gravid females around. Aggression is restricted to ritual displays. With such small mouths they can't really do much damage to each other, other than some fin nipping.

 

[rr16]

My N. beckfordi males display frequently and are very territorial. Mine have bred in a community tank, however they often go down to the bottom so will probably predate fry. They do eat Blue green algae which is a handy trait though as there are many areas that are heavily planted and therefore have reduced water flow and get a bit of BGA every now and then. My N. eques are starting to dsiplay but were only small when I got them. I only have 5 at the mo as one died and need to look for another few in the future but I have found that they quite often remain at the top of the tank. They sometime venture down into corners of the tank near leaf litter but rarely leave the top. They often hang out near plant roots as I have Lemna, Salvinia and Hydrocotyle leucocephala, however, there are spirally azalea roots in there and these reach to the surface, along with some oak branches. The N. eques will often hang out near these and graze fungi/microorganisms from them. They are rarely together, although sometimes are in a pair, but usually relatively solitary. The pH is about 5.5 and it's blackwater and they seem happy enough in there. I tend to feed frozen food and some flake food/powder fry food and they will usually eat it in the top inch or two of the tank so I pour it through the floating plants so that some gets stuck there for them. I saw one eat a whole bloodworm the other day so they are capable of eating relatively large food now and then. To sum it up, I like N. eques and they seem to leave the bottom layers alone. Hope this helps and isn't just a ramble.

 

[Duffmanj]

Just jumping in on the Nannostomus eques train - can't recommend them enough. Interesting to watch, never get in the way, and occupy a different tank space that anything else I have.

As Mike was saying about the males, they do tend to chase each other around a bit but not much comes of it. Rather than having one big group they will tend to split into smaller groups with females around a single male. I have found mine to be more active in a tank where there is plenty of 'clutter' - twigs and branches to break line of sight, as mentioned earlier in this thread - and the difference in their behaviour and how/whether they group dependent on style of set up can be quite noticeable.

*edit - if you do get some, make a mental note to take a look when the lights first come on in the morning, as their markings change considerably.

 

[rr16]

Or shine a torch in at night!

 

[Livebearer Lady]

See a great video on You tube titled <Ornamental fishes in Igarape Cajar> This cool well done underwater video shows pencil fish in their natual habitat with Apisto's swimming below them. It's 21:36 long. Enjoy! Watch out for the BIG FISH pair!