# Nannostomus mortenthaleri



## Jase (24 Mar 2010)

I treated myself to 10 of these lil beauties - Nannostomus mortenthaleri aka Coral Red Pencilfish.

Does anybody have experience with this species? What size do they mature? Any breeding info?


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## Mark Evans (24 Mar 2010)

my fave fish!



the fish in the middle cost me Â£10...and he jumped   

i plan on having some of these in the next tank. great character


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## Nick16 (24 Mar 2010)

have you also considered beckfords pencilfish sainly, they look just as good but have some nice red on them.


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## Mark Evans (24 Mar 2010)

no mate, but i may. i think pencil fish can bring a lovely touch of red, without being over the top.


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## Jase (24 Mar 2010)

saintly said:
			
		

> my fave fish!
> 
> the fish in the middle cost me Â£10...and he jumped
> 
> i plan on having some of these in the next tank. great character



I thought it was one of your posts that I'd seen them. They are great, I love them already. Mine were Â£8.95 from Coxwell Aquatics   



			
				Nick16 said:
			
		

> have you also considered beckfords pencilfish sainly, they look just as good but have some nice red on them.



I _think _I'm going to get a load of Beckfords for my 125l once I put these into my Nano, much cheaper than the Reds


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## Steve Smith (24 Mar 2010)

I've loved Beckfordi's since I first saw them in TGM's 10ft display tank.  Really do want to keep some soon.  My new LFS has them in quite cheap and it took a lot of effort to resist buying


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## Jase (24 Mar 2010)

SteveUK said:
			
		

> I've loved Beckfordi's since I first saw them in TGM's 10ft display tank.  Really do want to keep some soon.  My new LFS has them in quite cheap and it took a lot of effort to resist buying



Why resist?


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## Steve Smith (24 Mar 2010)

Jase said:
			
		

> SteveUK said:
> 
> 
> 
> > Why resist?



Not got the space for them at the moment.  Wouldn't be fair to cram them into my 90cm holding tank with it's other inhabitants.  I'm hoping to set up an 80x45x45 soon.  They should suit the scape I have in mind nicely


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## Jase (25 Mar 2010)

SteveUK said:
			
		

> Not got the space for them at the moment.  Wouldn't be fair to cram them into my 90cm holding tank with it's other inhabitants.  I'm hoping to set up an 80x45x45 soon.  They should suit the scape I have in mind nicely



Fair enough. They are great to watch, they move quite similarly to dwarf Cichlids I think, move, stop, move, stop, as opposed to the previous inhabitants my Espei Rasboras, belting it around the tank at 100mph


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## dw1305 (25 Mar 2010)

Hi all,
I've never kept them, but apparently the males are much more aggressive towards one another than most Pencils.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31406.

I've kept N. marginatus, and I'd highly recommend them.

cheers Darrel


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## Robert1979b (25 Mar 2010)

Hi all, 

I know a few people that have bred these. Small tanks around 18x10x10 with simple air fed sponge filters. A must is a good tank cover for this. Use 1 male (normally much more colourfull) to 2 females. All used very soft water (less than 1ÂºGH) with water filtered through peat moss for a week before adding to the breeding tanks. Feed well with live food such as white worm, drop the temp on water changes. Two of them used wool tied to a cork as a spawning aid, one used a bare aquarium. 

You will see eggs on the wool and the bottom of the tank, remove the adults. 2 days later the eggs will hatch, lavea look like small hairs on the glass. Start feeding insuforia a day or two later (not too soon) and lots of water changes. Move to larger food like baby brine shrimp when you think they are ready. 

Good luck   
I must admit, i am in the middle of having a bit of a breeding push at the moment to pay for some equipment, these and cory adolphi are both little side projects at the moment.  
Rob


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## dw1305 (26 Mar 2010)

Hi all,
That is pretty much how they've spawned for me as well (the very similar N.marginatus). You can use fine leaved plants or moss as well, and if you want ready made spawning mops TA Aquaculture sell them for about a Â£1.50 each. 
<http://www.ta-aquaculture.co.uk/Miscellaneous.htm>
The mops are useful for Tetras, Cories, Killies etc. as well. 





> larvae look like small hairs on the glass


The fry are incredibly small, which is why the moss method works quite well as it gives them rotifers etc to have a pick at when they are first active.

cheers Darrel


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## Jase (26 Mar 2010)

dw1305 said:
			
		

> Hi all,apparently the males are much more aggressive towards one another than most Pencils



Thanks for that Darrel, probably not the best idea to put them into my 28l then, i'll keep them as they are, 10 in 125l. They all seem to be doing fine, interacting nicely with each other


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