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Common
name
Marbled hatchetfish
Carnegiella strigata
Common
name
Marbled hatchetfish
Description
Funny looking, very nervous fish that lives at the
water surface.
My experiences
In my aquarium this fish is sensitive for the disease fin rot,
this is probably because this fish is very nervous and therefore more open to
diseases. If this fish only hears a small noise it goes to the 'safe' mid zone
of the aquarium. For a while this fish did not do it very good in my aquarium
and a shoal was replaced within the time of one year, but the last time this
fish does not give any problems anymore. The reason therefore is probably that
my aquarium is doing better and needs less maintenance then before. Therefore I
don't have to disturb this nervous fish so often and it is less sensitive for
diseases.
Alternative fishes that live at the surface
Because the Carnegiella strigata did not do it very good in my
aquarium I searched for alternatives for fishes that live at the water surface
for a while, but couldn't find some. Some time ago I received an E-mail with two suggestions for
fishes that live at the water surface, which I will briefly describe below.
Dermogenys
pusillus: see second picture on this page. This fish can reach a length of 7
cm and likes to have some room to swim at the surface, but most of the day it
takes in a small territory for the other Dermogenys pusillus with a diameter
around 10 cm. To other fishes this fish is very tolerant. This fish must be held
in a group of one male en a number of females. This because the males aren't
tolerant to each other. As food this fish prefers live food but also eats dry
food.
Nannobrycon
eques: see third picture on this page. This shoal fish can reach a length of
5 cm and can be held in small aquariums. This fish dislikes wild fishes in the
aquarium. This sensitive fish prefers soft water with a pH of about 6.5. Dry
food satisfies for this fish.
Foot-note
The picture Carnegiella strigataof on this page is taken from my own aquarium.
The other two pictures are taken from the book "Tropische aquariumvissen
encyclpedie" written by Esther J.J. Verhoef-Verhallen.