Needle Fish

Freedom18 · Jul 24, 2007

Just a quick question, can a needle fish live in a 55 gallon tank? (or several, as I know they prefer schools...)

nmonks · Jul 24, 2007

Freedom18 said:
Just a quick question, can a needle fish live in a 55 gallon tank? (or several, as I know they prefer schools...)

Definitely keep in groups. The actual volume of the tank immaterial, but width and length are critical. Since these fish are nervous and easily damage themselves, the tank needs to be at least twice as wide as they are. Adults are 30 cm long in the wild, though often a bit smaller in captivity, but regardless, I think CFC's estimate of a tank around 120 cm long and about 60 cm wide is about right for a small group.

Do choose tankmates with care. They are very gentle fish and easily alarmed. In terms of salt tolerance, they're not common in brackish water or the sea but are found in both sometimes so it probably doesn't matter much. Their preferred habitat is weedy freshwater environments. Do also take care with their diet: wild fish feed mostly on crustaceans, and not fish, contrary to popular myth in the hobby. While they certainly will eat small fish, you'll do better giving them live river shrimp plus large insects like crickets and mealworms. They should take frozen foods happily enough, once settled, but you do need to train them.

Cheers, Neale

Freedom18 · Jul 24, 2007

Yeah I figured my tank wasnt wide enough. oh well. Just means I'll have to get a bigger tank in the future! :good:

Apathetic-Irony · Jul 26, 2007

Freedom18 said:
Yeah I figured my tank wasnt wide enough. oh well. Just means I'll have to get a bigger tank in the future!

Sorry to potentially hijack the thread, but perhaps this can help:

I also have a 55 and I already have a Needle Nose (note the singularity) -- The tank size seems to check out, but do they really need a few others to truly be happy? If so, then I cant really see keeping more than two Needle Noses in a 55 =[