Blue neon sheatfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The blue neon sheatfish is a giant, predatory silurid that hunts in open midwater, and it is strictly a monster-tank fish. Keep it singly: it is aggressive and will not tolerate its own kind in home-sized space. Anything it can swallow is prey, so tankmates must be chosen like policy, large and robust with no fin-nippers among them, and even then losses happen. Feed meaty foods such as whole fish substitutes, prawn and large sinking items. It is a fast, nervous swimmer that can injure itself, so it needs a long, deep, securely covered tank of about 900 liters at the very least, and realistically far more.

In the wild

Belodontichthys dinema lives in medium to large rivers across Southeast Asia, from the mainland through Sundaland, hanging from mid-depth up toward the surface in the deeper reaches. Recreate a big-river feel: long open swimming space, gentle to moderate flow, dim light and a soft floor, with the tank kept scrupulously clean. Warm water at 23 to 27 degrees Celsius and pH 6.0 to 7.5 suits it. There is little decor to fuss over; the priority is volume, oxygen and water quality.

Good to know

Belodontichthys dinema is a silurid, or true sheatfish, that reaches about 80 centimeters and can grow larger. Its body is elongate and blade-thin with a steeply upturned mouth, and both jaws carry rows of sharp, arrow-shaped teeth. No captive breeding has been recorded for this large, migratory river predator, which is imported only as a wild-caught fish.

Did you know

Its lower jaw juts upward and the mouth opens toward the sky, so the fish ambushes smaller fish from beneath, striking upward into prey it sees against the bright surface.

Common questions

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