# Tube-mouthed pencilfish - any advice?



## darryfish (Feb 15, 2010)

We just brought home a small school of tube-mouthed pencilfish (Nannostomus eques, is what we believe they are) yesterday for our 30-gallon planted aquarium. I am enchanted! I love the way they flutter their fins (like little hummingbirds). Sadly, 1 died the first night--from the trauma of adjustment, I assume--but the other 8 seem to be doing well. They are coloring up with pretty silver and red highlights, and it's fun to see the school make the rounds of the tank, all swimming at that 45-degree angle. We tried to research this species online and did find some pages, but not the abundance of info that you see for other more common species. We are expecting them to be somewhat picky eaters and are assuming that's probably a major factor in why some people report they're "difficult" to keep and others say they're "easy." So far they are taking frozen bloodworms and freeze-dried cyclops, and we've got some small live food cultures on the way (our cultures did not survive our recent move and we hadn't gotten new starters since). I had thought they would like baby scuds, which we do have, but the scuds swim down and hide in the gravel before the pencilfish even notice them, and the pencilfish are definitely oriented to the top to feed--so it looks like the vinegar eels, which are on their way, will be good for them.

Anyone out there who has kept these fish? I'd love to hear about any of your experiences and/or advice!


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## Xorcios (Dec 23, 2010)

I had six of these fish. They are nit-picky about eating at first. I started them off with frozen baby brine shrimp. They would gobble that up. Note that they have tiny little narrow mouths, so they gag on all but the smallest food items. I tried well washed tubifex worms and they could eat those but with some difficulty (and tubifex worms are really thin!). Once acclimated and accustomed to the new foods they are more adventurous and even bold in the face of much larger fish to get their share. You'll find they will come to take finely crushed flake food and other dry foods. Eventually they'll learn to bite off pieces of larger items for themselves. In time they'll also learn to check on the bottom gravel for sinking food. They're fantastic little fish. I hope you enjoy them for years to come.


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