These fish belonging to needlefish (Belonidae) reach the aquariums of interested hobbyists only very seldom. These robbers, called halfbeak, come from almost all over Amazonia. You can find them also in the Orinoco catchment area as well as in the Guyana countries. These specialized surface fish are only suitable for the the hobbyists with restrictions because of their rapacious habits. Especially regarding the nutrition they are making heavy demands on their nurse. In the beginning they mostly only react to living or struggeling prey and you should therefore already have built up a feedingfish breeding or you can feed them with living insects, which will be taken from the surface. The animals are particularly excited, if crickets, flies or insects like that touch the surface. After the settling you can try to get the fish used to dead food little by little. Especially frozen white blood worms are well-tried, as they are floating quite long in the water – too quickly sinking food is not getting noticed. They are rather undemanding to the further care, you only have to provide aquariums big enough for the surface robbers, which will grow to 40cm maximum and they feel best within a small group of 3-6 animals. Therefore aquariums having a base of 150x60cm are the absolute minimum. The height of the aquarium is not important as only the first 20cm und the waters surface are used as living space. A socialization is quite possible, but the other fish should on one hand not be one of their prey and should on the other hand not be so agressive that they could be dangerous for the peaceful Potamorrhapis guianensis.(Photo & Text von T. Weidner)
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Amazonasgebiet |
| Name | Potamorrhaphis guianensis |
