Golden curimata

Cyphocharax multilineatus

Also known as Striped curimata, Many-lined curimata

FreshwaterFish

Golden curimata (Cyphocharax multilineatus) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–82°F (23–28°C)
pH: 5.0–7.0
Adult size: 4.3 in (11 cm)
Minimum tank: 40 gal (150 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Shoaling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Upper Rio Negro and Orinoco basins
Family: Curimatidae

Overview

The golden curimata is a peaceful, silver-gold shoaling fish that grazes the surfaces of the tank all day and does best in a group of five or more. It swims mostly in the middle and lower water, drifting over the substrate and picking biofilm, algae, and detritus from stones, wood, and plants. It is gentle with everything and makes a calm, constantly working addition to a soft-water community in a tank of around 150 liters. Keep it with other peaceful fish of similar size. Although it grazes naturally, it is not a fussy eater and will take sinking pellets, flake, and small frozen foods, so it is easy to feed alongside its foraging.

In the wild

This curimata lives in the upper Rio Negro and Orinoco basins, in soft, warm, often tannin-stained water flowing over sand near submerged wood and plants. It grazes the biofilm that coats those surfaces. Match that with warm water from about 23 to 28 C and a soft, acidic to neutral pH between roughly 5.0 and 7.0. A sandy floor, driftwood, and some hardy plants give it grazing surfaces and cover, while gentle current and clean water keep it comfortable. Softer, mineral-poor water suits it better than hard, alkaline conditions.

Good to know

Cyphocharax multilineatus is a member of the Curimatidae, the toothless characins, and reaches about 11 centimeters, with fine dark pinstripes running along a brassy, silver body. Curimatids have no teeth at all; instead they swallow detritus and biofilm and grind it in a muscular, gizzard-like stomach, much as a bird does with grit. It is one of the few of its family kept for its looks rather than as a food fish. Aquarium breeding is not recorded.

Did you know

Curimatas have lost their teeth entirely. This one feeds by swallowing mouthfuls of biofilm and soft mud and grinding them down in a tough, gizzard-like stomach, the same trick a chicken uses with its gizzard and grit.