Borneo gold spot halfbeak

Hemirhamphodon tengah

Also known as Tengah halfbeak

FreshwaterFish

Borneo gold spot halfbeak (Hemirhamphodon tengah) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–81°F (23–27°C)
pH: 4.0–6.0
Adult size: 1.8 in (4.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Top
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Central Kalimantan peat swamps, Borneo
Family: Zenarchopteridae

Overview

A dwarf surface halfbeak that hangs just under the film, watching for small prey to take with its upturned beak. Keep it as a small group, several together, with more females than males, since males will spar along the surface. It is peaceful and tiny, so give it only equally small, calm tankmates, or keep it in a species tank; nothing large or fast should share the top of the water. Feed small floating and surface foods: fruit flies, tiny live and frozen insects, daphnia, mosquito larvae and fine floating dried foods. It needs soft, very acidic blackwater and calm, so give it a planted, well-covered tank of around 40 liters with floating cover and still, gentle flow.

In the wild

The Borneo gold spot halfbeak lives in deep-forest peat swamps of Central Kalimantan, where the water is soft, brown with tannins and strongly acidic. Match that closely with warm water, about 23 to 27 C, and genuinely acidic conditions around pH 4.0 to 6.0. Use driftwood, thick leaf litter, floating plants and dim light to build a blackwater surface, and keep the water calm and very clean; this fish will not settle in hard, alkaline water.

Good to know

Hemirhamphodon tengah belongs to the halfbeak family Zenarchopteridae and is the smallest of its genus, reaching only about 4 centimeters. Its name comes from Kalimantan Tengah, or Central Kalimantan, where it lives. Unusually for the genus it is an egg-layer rather than a livebearer, and breeding it is of moderate difficulty, calling for stable, very soft, acidic water.

Did you know

Its home peat swamps sit deep in the forest and can turn more acidic than a standard aquarium test kit is able to read, which is part of what makes this dwarf halfbeak tricky to settle in.

Tank mates

Borneo gold spot halfbeak is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the top. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.