Pencilfish?

[TabMorte]

I just rescued two little guys from some one I know who was keeping them in a 2G tank! The poor things, one's 2.5 inches long and the other is about 1.5". I knew they were south american but that's it so I figured they can go in my 29G which seems to be coming along nicely in it's cycle.

I buzzed through a few fish stores this morning while I was out shopping. One had them labeled as long finned Danios, one had them labeled as Siamese Algae Eatters and one had them labeled as... freightenly, Otos. Thanks to the wonders of the internet (and the myfishtank gallery!) I've identified them though as pencilfish!

(They look like http://www.myfishtank.net/photopost/...cilfish_07.jpg )

Any how... who's kept these little guys? What do I need to know about them? Should they have buddies? They seem to like eatting algae but also like flake food so I'm guessing they're omnivours. They also like chasing after eachother so they must be thrilled to finally have some space.

[sphenta]

Hi Tab. I just purchased 7 of these beckiford pencilfish. I like them they are cool. They are a schooling fish should be kepted with at lease 6 ( as u know about schooling fish) they do not school like tetras and the male will chase the others around. The color will fade and come back. So if you see that happen don't worrie to much about it. My tank finally cycled and I bought 7 of these fish and put them in my QT. All is doing well. Hope you can find more for your other fish. Tina

[TabMorte]

I noticed they're pale in the morning when the lights are off and then get dark when the lights come on. They're FAST little buggers too. I've been trying to catch them out of the 10G so they can go hang out in their new bigger home and they're soooooo hard to catch.

Cool I'll keep an eye out for more. I was thinking about trying to get a school of 6. Is the male the larger one then? Any way to tell them apart?

[sphenta]

I beleive the female are larger. But go to your search and type in beckiford pencilfish. That will give you a good site about the fish. The fish will have red on them aslo. Real nice. Tina

[sphenta]

Try this site. timstropicals.com/freshwaterfish/tetras/beckfordpencilfish.asp note no i in beckford. Tina

[TabMorte]

Awesome!

Mine don't have any read in them but I have noticed their color is pretty changeable. Awesome and thank you!

[FreshwaterJeff]

I think you were going for beckfordi, from their species name Nannostomus beckfordi -- or the common name is Beckford's or Golden Pencilfish.

I have a handful of these guys and I love them. Sexing them has been inexact for me, but I think the more red they are (and the more bold the black stripe), the more likely they are to be males. No way to verify that, though -- just my theory.

As far as care, treat them like normal tetras and they'll be pretty happy. But, they also have a lot more personality than most tetras (at least in my opinion).

Their colors do change with their mood, and they do get washed out when the lights are off -- don't let it worry you.

And that was a picture of one of my little guys you linked above

Here are 3 quick videos of my guys acting up back when I first got them over a year ago. I don't know if they're fighting or in courtship (I thought the former, but have been told the latter -- not sure which I believe). Enjoy.

YouTube - Pencilfish Part I
YouTube - Pencilfish Part II
YouTube - Pencilfish Part III

[TabMorte]

Awesome Jeff... now how can I catch the little buggers to get them into their new and much larger home?!

[FreshwaterJeff]

Bigger net Or 2 nets...