Coral Red Pencilfish

General information

These fish are red  with two horizontal black lines and only reach up to 1 inch. To keep these fish in captivity, water temperature should range from 72°F to 82°F and water pH should be between 5.8 and 7.0. The tank should have a dark substrate, plants and floating plants. They are peaceful but aren’t recommended for the community aquarium due to their small size unless the community aquarium only has equally small tankmates, also, they should be kept in groups of 10 to reduce aggression.

This species is omnivorous. In the wild it feeds on invertebrates and zooplankton. In captivity it can be fed with dried foods and live or frozen foods like Artemia and worms.

Males are more colorful, having a red coloration at the outside edge of the anal fin, and slimmer than females.

To breed this species in captivity, the breeding tank should be heavily planted, water pH should be around 6.8 and water temperature should be around 75°F. The eggs take 1 to 2 days to hatch and the fry become free swimming 4 to 5 days later.

This species is native to Peru in South America. It inhabits streams and small rivers that have dense vegetation.

The water in which these fish are packaged is different from the water in the tank, since these fish are extremely sensitive to water conditions the acclimation process is very important. This process should never be rushed. Aquarium lights should be off for at least the first 4 hours of the fish in the new tank and it should not be fed in the first 24h. There are two acclimation methods: Floating Method and the Drip Method.

Floating method - the aquarium lights should be off and lights in the room should be dim, the bag in which the fish is should be placed in the surface of the water to float for about 15 minutes, this allows the water in the bag to adjust to the water in the tank. The bag should then be cut under the knot and the top edge of the bag should be rolled down one inch, then ¼ cup of the aquarium water should be added to the bag, this step should be repeated every 4 minutes until the bag is full, then half the water of the bag should be discarded and the bag should be put to float again and ¼ cup of the aquarium water should be added to the bag every 4 minutes until the bag is full. Afterwards, the Discus can be moved into the aquarium.

Drip method – the aquarium lights should be off and lights in the room should be dim, the bag in which the fish is should be placed in the surface of the water to float for about 15 minutes, this allows the water in the bag to adjust to the water in the tank. The bag contents should be poured into a 1 gallon bucket that has never been cleaned with any chemicals, the fish should be enterally submerged. A siphon, using airline tubing, should be set up and a drip line should run from the main aquarium to the bucket. Several loose knots should be tied in the airline tubing to regulate flow. Sucking the end of the airline tube that goes to the bucket will begin a siphon, the flow should be regulated to 2 to 4 drips per second. Once the water in the buckets doubles, half should be discarded and the process should be repeated until it doubles again. Afterwards, the fish can be moved to the aquarium.