Blue panchax

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep a pair or a small group in a tank of 75 liters or up, weighted toward more females so male attention gets spread around. They hang at the top and are mostly peaceful with fish their own size, but they eat anything that fits in the mouth, so skip neon tetras, dwarf shrimp, and fry. Hold the water at 22 to 28 C with a pH from 6 to 7.8, and they will tolerate fresh through slightly brackish, though salt is not needed. Floating plants give cover and break up sightlines between males. Feed insect and mosquito larvae along with other small foods, and keep a tight lid since they jump.

In the wild

Blue panchax range widely across South and Southeast Asia, where they sit at the surface of ponds, ditches, rice paddies, and slow streams, including coastal water that turns slightly brackish. They are very adaptable and handle fresh through light brackish conditions, though they need no salt to do well. Give them a tank of 75 liters or more with floating plants for surface cover and open swimming room up top. Keep the water from 22 to 28 C with a pH between 6 and 7.8, and put a tight lid on the tank since these are strong jumpers.

Good to know

This is a surface-dwelling killifish in the family Aplocheilidae, reaching about 9 cm as an adult. It is an egg layer of medium breeding difficulty, with females depositing eggs among floating plants over several days. Captive-bred stock turns up in the trade, and a healthy adult lives a few years.

Did you know

The flat head and upturned mouth are built for surface feeding, so a blue panchax spends most of its time parked just under the film waiting for insects to land. That same surface focus is what makes them such reliable jumpers, since in the wild they will leap to grab prey or move between shallow pools.

Related species

• 

  Striped panchax

  Aplocheilus lineatus

  4.3 in (11 cm)30 gal (115 L)72–77°F (22–25°C)
• Green panchax

  Aplocheilus blockii

  2 in (5 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Playfair's panchax

  Pachypanchax playfairii

  3.9 in (10 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–77°F (22–25°C)

• 

  Wrestling halfbeak

  Dermogenys pusilla

  2.8 in (7 cm)25 gal (95 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  African butterflyfish

  Pantodon buchholzi

  4.7 in (12 cm)25 gal (95 L)73–86°F (23–30°C)

• 

  Flameback cichlid

  Pundamilia nyererei

  3.5 in (9 cm)42 gal (160 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)