Guinean panchax

Care at a glance

Overview

The Guinean panchax is a surface dwelling pike killifish kept as a pair or a small harem near the top of the tank. It hangs under the film watching for prey, so give it floating plants, open surface space, and a tight lid, since it jumps. It is mostly peaceful toward fish it cannot swallow, though it will pick off small tankmates, so avoid tiny surface fish and shrimp fry and pair it with calm fish of similar or larger size. Feed floating and live foods such as mosquito larvae, small crickets, wingless fruit flies, daphnia, and frozen bloodworm. A pair or small group suits a tank of about 54 liters.

In the wild

The Guinean panchax patrols the surface of shaded forest streams in the Upper Guinea region of West Africa, including Guinea and Liberia, where the water is soft and slow beneath the canopy. Recreate that with floating plants, overhanging cover, a dark base, and gentle flow. Keep the water soft and acidic to neutral, about pH 5.5–7.0, and on the cool to warm side at 20–25 C, so the surface stays quiet where this fish hunts.

Good to know

Epiplatys guineensis belongs to the family Nothobranchiidae and reaches about 7 cm, a barred, straight backed hunter of the surface film. It is a non-annual plant spawner: pairs lay eggs on fine plants or spawning mops over many days, and the eggs develop in water, placing breeding at a moderate level. The genus name comes from Greek roots meaning flat on top, for the flattened head profile that lets these fish sit just under the surface.

Did you know

Its genus name, Epiplatys, means roughly flat on top, describing the straight, level back and flattened head that a surface hunting panchax uses to lie almost unseen just beneath the film.

Tank mates

Guinean panchax is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the top. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• Narayan barb

  Pethia narayani

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Delta killifish

  Fundulopanchax deltaensis

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Butterfly moth catfish

  Erethistes pusillus

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Fallax killifish

  Fundulopanchax fallax

  Freshwater

  3.5 in (9 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Pridi loach

  Schistura pridii

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Filament moth catfish

  Hara filamentosa

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Redspotted panchax

  Epiplatys lamottei

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Infrafasciatus killifish

  Epiplatys infrafasciatus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Singa panchax

  Epiplatys singa

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Six-barred panchax

  Epiplatys sexfasciatus

  Freshwater

  3.9 in (10 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Red-chinned panchax

  Epiplatys dageti

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)70–75°F (21–24°C)
• Dubois' panchax

  Epiplatys duboisi

  Freshwater

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)