# Blacked Winged Hatchet



## ceg4048 (16 Jul 2007)

Hi,
    Does anyoe have experience with the Blacked Winged Hatchet (Carnegiella marthae)? I'm having difficullty finding these as well as the Marble Hatchet. I believe that the collection is seasonal but all the shops I've visited only sell the Silver Hatchet.

Cheers,


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## Ed Seeley (17 Jul 2007)

I kept the marbled hatchets for years and had some Black-wnged ones as well for a while.  AFAIK they are all wild caught and therefore fairly seasonal in their availability.

As far as keeping them, I found them a real struggle until I started using RO water as my tap water is hard and full of Nitrate.  If you've got better tap water then you should be fine.  They really enjoy some floating plants, but don't cover any more than about a third of the surface as they like open areas too.  And floating food is a must, obviously!!!  They love flies and mosquito larvae.


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## ceg4048 (17 Jul 2007)

Hi eds,
             Yes I've kept the marbled as well. Was amazed to discover that they don't really like the brightly lit tanks and became nocturnal in my tank. Unsure of whether this behavior was natural or was in response to the bright lights. The hard water may be a problem but high nitrates (from EI at least) was never a problem. I've never see the black winged. Any leads of shops that would have availability and that would ship either species?

Cheers,


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## neil1973 (18 Jul 2007)

The only real problem i ever had with marbled hatchets was them jumping out. You really need to have the tank well covered.


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## ceg4048 (18 Jul 2007)

Agreed. I would never consider keeping them in an open top aquarium. They fly out of the water in their native habitat to evade predators when frightened or attacked. Since the specimens we get are always wild caught they never really seem to completely settle. You'd think by now someone would have figured out how to breed them in captivity.

Again, I'd appreciate any leads on where I might be able to find these.

Cheers,


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