Dwarf glass chanda

Gymnochanda ploegi

Also known as Ploeg's glassfish

FreshwaterFish

Dwarf glass chanda (Gymnochanda ploegi) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–82°F (24–28°C)
pH: 4.5–6.5
Adult size: 1.2 in (3 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Blackwater peat swamps of West Kalimantan, Borneo
Family: Ambassidae

Overview

The dwarf glass chanda is a tiny, delicate blackwater glassfish for the specialist, and it must have soft, acidic water and live food or it will not last. It is a peaceful, schooling fish, so keep a group of at least eight to ten, which settles it and brings the males into display. It is shy and easily outcompeted, so keep it only with very small, calm soft-water fish, or better still on its own. It rarely takes dry food; feed live and frozen tiny prey, above all newly hatched brine shrimp, plus copepods and micro-worms. A well-planted blackwater tank of about 40 liters or more, gently filtered, suits a group.

In the wild

Gymnochanda ploegi comes from peat-swamp forests and blackwater streams around the Kapuas lakes of West Kalimantan, Borneo, tea-dark water that is very soft and acidic with almost no minerals. Recreate it with a dim, densely planted tank, leaf litter and wood for tannins, and slow, gentle flow. Keep the water warm at 24 to 28 degrees Celsius and acidic, from about pH 4.5 to 6.5, with very low hardness. Stable, mature blackwater chemistry is the whole game with this fish.

Good to know

Gymnochanda ploegi is a glassperch of the Ambassidae, described in 2014 and reaching only about 3 centimeters. The genus name means naked chanda, for a body that carries almost no scales, leaving the fish transparent. It is strongly sexually dimorphic: males flush their fins deep maroon-red with black edges, while females stay clear. Breeding is difficult and seldom done in the hobby.

Did you know

The species is named in memory of Alex Ploeg, a conservationist and leader in the ornamental fish trade, who was killed in the July 2014 airliner disaster over eastern Ukraine, the same year the fish was described.