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The Red Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi) is a popular smaller pencil fish with reddish top half of the fish then a black line, followed by a white underbelly. The male’s “nose” has a red spot on it. Both have bluish/white colored bottom fins. They come from Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, plus the eastern Amazon drainage in Amapá and Pará states, Brazil. These are captive raised with emphasis on increased red coloration. They are perfect community fish with other similar sized fish.
They grow to the adult size of less than 1.5 inches. They make a perfect addition to a 10-gallon tank or larger with like sized calm fish such as small tetras and rasboras. They enjoy being around live plants, so those are a plus. It is encouraged that they be kept in groups of 10 or more so they feel comfortable in their aquarium. In a group of males and females, the males will have brighter colors as they display to the rest of the group.
To replicate their natural habitat, the use of rock work, plants, and driftwood should be included in the aquarium. They also enjoy tannins in their water, so the use of Indian Almond or Guava leaves is highly recommended. They enjoy having a shaded aquarium so keeping floating plants is encouraged to cut down the light reaching them. Gentle filtration is encouraged using a sponge filter. We would not recommend keeping this fish with shrimp colonies due to the likeliness of the red pencilfish eating baby shrimp.
The scientific name for the red pencilfish is: Nannostomus beckfordi ‘Red’
They are omnivores by nature. We feed our red pencilfish a mix of frozen foods including daphnia, baby brine, cyclops, and bloodworms.
Our Tank Parameters
Tank Recommendations
Small but healthy
Ordered various fish and plants. All are thriving and arrived in great condition. However, the manner the fish are bagged made it hard to drip acclimate them before adding them to the quarantine tank.
I’ve been looking everywhere locally for these specific fish and no one carries them. I decided to bit the bullet and order them and unfortunately, the delivery driver delivered them to the wrong house (left outside in CT overnight) and the poor fish did not make it. I reached out to Flip Aquatics and they very quickly resent a new batch of fish and worked with me to set it up so I could pick up at UPS vs home delivery since I didn’t want to risk another disaster. I just got the second batch and my god they are so beautiful! I paid for 10 but received 12 and all are happy and healthy. They colored up really quickly and are very active. Guys shop at Flip. Aquatics you have the peace of mind of knowing you’ll receive excellent customer service and healthy, happy stock.
The dozen pencilfish arrived safely and in healthy condition. They were on the skinny side, but with good appetites. After a week they have filled out. Their hummingbird-like movements are a joy to observe in what is otherwise a very quiet plant tank.
Been waiting to get these guys. I look at my aquarium in stratas. Too, middle and bottom.
I wanted to get a bit more upper strata activity to go with my marble hatchets.
