Barred pencilfish

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep them as a school of at least six or more; they settle and color up better in a group. They occupy the middle and upper water and stay peaceful, which makes them good for a quiet community or nano tank. Hold water at 22 to 28 C and pH 5.5 to 7. Their mouths are tiny, so feed small foods: micro pellets, crushed flake, and little live or frozen items like daphnia and baby brine shrimp.

In the wild

Barred pencilfish come from slow, soft, blackwater habitats in Guyana, the kind of shaded creek choked with plants and leaf litter where light barely gets through. Match that with soft, acidic water, a dark substrate, leaf litter, and plenty of planting. The dim, tannin-stained look brings out their color and keeps them confident.

Good to know

This is a small pencilfish in the family Lebiasinidae, reaching about 3 cm. It has a slim body crossed by dark angled bars. Unlike many pencilfish that wear stripes along the body, the espei pattern runs as a series of short bars. It is an egg-scattering spawner.

Did you know

Many pencilfish change their markings at night, swapping daytime bars or stripes for a different broken pattern after lights-out. It's an odd thing to catch if you peek into the tank with a dim light an hour after dark.

Related species

• 

  Coral red pencilfish

  Nannostomus mortenthaleri

  1.2 in (3 cm)15 gal (55 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Three-lined pencilfish

  Nannostomus trifasciatus

  1.3 in (3.3 cm)15 gal (55 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Hockeystick pencilfish

  Nannostomus eques

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)15 gal (55 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
• Twostripe pencilfish

  Nannostomus digrammus

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)12 gal (45 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Dwarf pencilfish

  Nannostomus marginatus

  1 in (2.5 cm)12 gal (45 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
• One-lined Pencilfish

  Nannostomus unifasciatus

  1.6 in (4 cm)17 gal (65 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)