Filamentous lampeye

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a small, peaceful schooling fish best kept in a group of ten or more in a mature, well planted tank. It swims in the middle levels and shows its best color, and the males their extended fins, over a dark substrate in calm water. Give it only gentle, similarly sized tankmates, since it is easily outcompeted at feeding time. Offer small foods several times a day: fine flake, micro pellets, and little live or frozen items such as daphnia, cyclops, and newly hatched brine shrimp. A group is comfortable in a tank of about 54 liters with soft light, fine plants, and gentle filtration.

In the wild

The filamentous lampeye comes from slow, vegetated coastal streams and pools of Nigeria and Cameroon, warm and gently flowing with soft, slightly acidic water. Match that with a pH of roughly 6.0 to 7.5 and a temperature of 22 to 26 C. Thick fine leaved planting, some floating cover, a dark bottom, and calm, clean water suit it and make the pale eye shine stand out.

Good to know

A Procatopodidae lampeye of about 4 cm, this fish is often sold under the older names macrophthalmus and Norman's lampeye, though it is a distinct species. Mature males carry noticeably long, pointed ventral and unpaired fins, which give it the filamentous common name. It is a continuous plant spawner, moderately tricky to breed mainly because the newly hatched fry are so small that they need infusoria before anything else.

Did you know

The name luxophthalmus means light eye, from the Latin lux for light and the Greek ophthalmos for eye, pointing straight at the glowing iris that gives the whole lampeye group its name.

Tank mates

Filamentous lampeye is a peaceful, schooling species that keeps to the middle. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• 

  Redlip barb

  Pethia erythromycter

  Freshwater

  1.6 in (4 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Lambert's lampeye

  Rhexipanchax lamberti

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
• Black otocinclus

  Hisonotus notatus

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)
• Blackline mosquitofish

  Gambusia vittata

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Dwarf hi-fin barb

  Oreichthys parvus

  Freshwater

  1.4 in (3.6 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Tiburon limia

  Limia tridens

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Scheel's lampeye

  Poropanchax scheeli

  Freshwater

  1.6 in (4 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Blackspot lampeye

  Poropanchax stigmatopygus

  Freshwater

  1.2 in (3 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Norman's lampeye

  Poropanchax normani

  Freshwater

  1.6 in (4 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Lambert's lampeye

  Rhexipanchax lamberti

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
• Mount Nimba lampeye

  Rhexipanchax nimbaensis

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–75°F (20–24°C)
• Amber-finned lampeye

  Foerschichthys flavipinnis

  Freshwater

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)