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Hi,

Does anyone have experience keeping dwarf pencilfish (nannostomus marginatus)? I saw some at the LFS (only labelled as "pencilfish" ); I initially thought they were golden pencils (n. beckfordi), but after looking up internet pics I think they're n. marginatus (stockier body & 2 black horizontal stripes). I'm thinking of getting some but not sure the minimum amount I should get (I don't want to get a school if they don't need to be in one). Also, any advice on their care would be appreciated. I haven't been able to find a lot of English info on them by Googling.

Thanks!



Last edited by upikabu at 15-Aug-2005 00:46

Last edited by upikabu at 15-Aug-2005 01:00

-P

I did a search on fp & this is what I got

Says something about not being in many texts or something

But i dont think thats what you want sorry. I think you should just treat them like any other pencilfish

Last edited by dude_dude at 15-Aug-2005 01:03

That's not the right marginatus.

These pencilfish are shoaling, and like other shoaling fish do prefer to be kept in groups. Four or five fish would be a minimum, and try to buy more females than males. Male pencils will harass the other pencilfish more than females, but they will all leave tankmates alone.
They aren't the hardiest of fish, and do like to have high-quality water. Water changes of at least fifteen percent weekly will suffice, as long as the gravel and tank are kept relatively free of decaying matter.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Thanks, Nick. Is it easy to distinguish the sex in this particular species? Is the female usually more drab in coloring than the male?

-P

They can be sexed in the typical pencilfish manner, in that females get noticeably fatter and somewhat longer than males. I don't think that colors really help with sexing, as I've noticed that both male and female pencilfish can have their dominant and less-dominant specimens. The alpha pencils have the best colors, regardless of sex.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Thanks again. I'll check them out this weekend.

-P

Well, I finally got 3 of these dwarf Pencilfish (that's all the LFS had left and I haven't seen them anywhere else) over the weekend and put them in my small tank (seems appropriate with the other dwarf fishes there). They've since colored up very nicely and are very active in the tank!

BTW, they look like this (not my pics):
http://www.geocities.jp/goleshiiriin/Fish/Marginatus/1marginatus.jpg

-P

upikabu,

That's nice. Keep us posted on their development.

I would suggest you try to up the group as soon as more of them become available. DO you know someone in the LFS that could give you a call when more come in?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,

They know I want more but admitted it probably won't be for a while since they had never seen them before. Plus this LFS doesn't stock very many varieties of small fishes; they prefer cichlids and other humungous fishes (in overcrowded tanks, but what else is new). They know me quite well because I'm the only guy who spends a lot of time in their small fish section.

Cheers!

-P

upikabu,

You and me man, we love the little fishies

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I have a couple of links saved from when I was researching pencilfish. I ended up with nannostomus eques because it was the only breed I could find locally. In general I would advise keeping pencilfish in shoals of at least 5-6. They like softer water. I keep mine in RO water. My tank is at 81 degrees F. They are very sensitive to water quality and are easily stressed. Here are the links I have that are specific to the dwarf pencilfish.

aquahobby.com

aquarticles.com

Thanks for the second link, I hadn't seen that before.

Ingo; I swear if I hear another "where's all the fish" comment when people see my tanks for the first time, I'm going to strangle them! ]

-P