Marbled Hatchet

[ryan]

Common name/s: Marbled Hatchet

Scientific name: Carnegiella strigata strigata

Family: Gasteropelecidae

Origin: Mostly found in small forest streams in Guyana and the Amazon River basin.

Maximum size: 1-2"

Feeding: Flakes foods are not enough for Hatchets and it is nesscary to take a little time and effort to provide them with live or frozen alternatives. In my experince they love fruit flies and mosquitoes and their larve, mine have a particular favourite; freeze dried bloodworms which float on the surface for them.

Care: This fish is particularly prone to white spot. If at all possbile quarantine the fishes for a minimum of two weeks before putting them in the commmunity tank. They like a peaceful tank with tall or floating plants to deter them from jumping, a thight fitting hood is also nesscary.

Sexing: Males more slender when viewed from above, females rounder and wider.

Breeding: This fish has been breed in captivity. This requires very soft acidic water. The eggs are deposited on floating plants but some will fall to the bottom of the tank. They hatch in 24-36 hours and the fry require very small live foods. Just keeping the parents is a challenge so raising the offspring is even more so.

Comments: A lovely little surface dweller, however, it is prone to disease so quarantining is a good idea, onc settled in they are a great community fish.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Here's a pic of mine.

 

[Inchyally]

I used to own these. They are happiest in schools of 6 or more. They are small fish so a tank of 15 or more gallons is most suitable. From my experience they are not very active, but watch out during feeding or vacuuming the tank, they can jump out! They are almost always at the very top of the tank. They are very peaceful and make great tank mates for other peaceful fish their size, but I would not mix them with Killifish because I had mixed these two species at one point and the Killifish was eating one of my Hatchets alive!