Green panchax

Care at a glance

Overview

A small group is happy in a planted 40 litre tank at 22 to 28 C and soft to neutral water of pH 6.0 to 7.5, with floating plants to break the surface. It is peaceful toward fish it cannot swallow but will eat tiny tankmates and shrimp fry, so match companions to its size. Feed floating and surface foods such as small live insects, mosquito larvae, daphnia, brine shrimp, and flake. It spawns steadily on fine plants near the surface.

In the wild

It lives near the surface of still or slow, often shallow waters such as ponds, ditches, rice fields, and mangrove edges, and it tolerates a little salt. Males are greenish with a scatter of iridescent and red spots, and both sexes have the flat-topped head and upturned mouth of a surface hunter. A planted tank of about 40 litres with floating plants, calm water, and a tight lid suits a small group.

Good to know

Aplocheilus blockii is the smallest of the Asian panchax and is often called the dwarf panchax, usually staying near 4 cm. It is euryhaline, meaning it copes with fresh and slightly brackish water, and in the wild it is a lurking predator of insects at the surface. It is a non-annual, plant-spawning killifish.

Did you know

It hangs just under the surface with its upturned mouth ready to snatch insects that land on the water, the same hunting style as its larger golden wonder relative.

Related species

• 

  Blue panchax

  Aplocheilus panchax

  3.5 in (9 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Striped panchax

  Aplocheilus lineatus

  4.3 in (11 cm)30 gal (115 L)72–77°F (22–25°C)

• 

  Playfair's panchax

  Pachypanchax playfairii

  3.9 in (10 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–77°F (22–25°C)

• 

  Wrestling halfbeak

  Dermogenys pusilla

  2.8 in (7 cm)25 gal (95 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Eggers' notho

  Nothobranchius eggersi

  2 in (5 cm)11 gal (40 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Marbled hatchetfish

  Carnegiella strigata

  1.6 in (4 cm)32 gal (120 L)68–82°F (20–28°C)