Small Penicil Fish

[pippoodle]

would the small pencil fish - cant find the latin name for them ARGH !!
be ok in a 54 ltr 2 ft tank (my rekord 60) - the ordinary wcmminnows are dying of old age (i got them 12th june 2004) and am looking for a fish to replace them - there will be 2 dwarf gouramis going in there (when they grow)
it will either be green rasboras or the pencil fish to go in there so i would like to know if the tank is big enough for them (not wether it will be overstocked but wether that size is suitable for that fish)

thanks sarah x

 

[glolite]

Hi. I've googled pencilfish and it seems the nicest is the Beckfords or Golden pencilfish. They are best in a community tank of over 40litres with soft, acidic water and heavy planting. Best kept as a group with tetras etc. Good luck they should be fine in a 60l.

 

[Essjay]

Sarah, do you mean dwarf pencilfish, Nannostomus marginatus? Black and white stripes with red fins? I had some in a 60 litre a few years ago (till they died of old age) and they seemed quite happy. They only grow to an inch or so, and they don't dash around the tank like some tetras, they spend a lot of time hovering in one place.

You may need to look for them, I've only ever seen them once or twice. I couldn't find any to replace mine, so when I got a bigger tank I got the beckfordi. The marginatus have the reputation for being difficult to acclimatise, so do it carefully.

 

[pippoodle]

i should have said my stats sorry
soft water (in devon not got an actual reading) ph 7-7.2 , ammonia 0 , nitrites 0 , nitrates 20

It was the golden pencil and the dwarf ones i was looking at - i'm glad they should be ok in the kids tank - i just have to find them now lol

Thanks for all the replys

here's a piccy of the tank - its the kids tank lol