Fanning characin

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep a small group in a gently filtered, planted tank with floating cover and a tight lid, since it stays near the top and can jump. It is peaceful and undemanding and tolerates cooler water than most tropicals. Males set up small spawning sites and fan the eggs, which is fascinating to watch.

In the wild

Lives in slow, shallow, well vegetated waters of the lower Parana and La Plata region. It stays near the surface among plants and overhanging cover. Being subtropical, it experiences a wider temperature swing than most Amazon fish.

Good to know

Pyrrhulina rachoviana is a small characin of around 5 cm in the family Lebiasinidae, with a dark stripe through the eye and reddish, spotted fins on males. It lays eggs on a cleaned leaf or surface, and the male fans them with his fins. This fin fanning gives the fish its common name.

Did you know

The male cleans a leaf, coaxes the female to lay on it, then hovers over the eggs and fans fresh water across them with his fins until they hatch.

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