 These
are very attractive rust brown fish with prominent fins and a long
whiptail. I bought the parents at the ACA convention in 2000. They
were said to be red farowellas from Germany and judging by their
price I think they flew over first class. Nevertheless, they were
worth every penny. They are active fish and are frequently seen
hanging from the sides of their tank by their sucker mouth. I made
the mistake of thinking that they were algae eaters because of this
mouth. In fact, even though I have often offered them beans, I have
never seen them eat a bean. They do, however pounce on black worms
and will eat flake food. Likewise the babies will eat newly hatched
brine shrimp,sinking pellets and, and micro-worms, but not beans.
I bought the fish when they were about one inch and guess they were
about 2-3 months old. They grew fast in their 10-gallon tank in
soft, acidic (6 pH) warm 72-76ºF water and began showing sexual
dimorphism after another 6 months. When I moved a pair to a 2.5-gal
tank with a variety of PVC segments of different diameters they
were about 3.5 inches long. Soon the male chose a tube of about
3/4-inch diameter and the female finally approved. They had to squeeze
in, but soon there were about ten large amber eggs in the tube with
the male. After about ten days the eggs hatched and the fry hung
from every surface. They were about 1⁄2 inch long and looked
like the parents. Neither parent bothered the fry or some albino
bushy nose fry that were in the same tank.
They ate baby brine shrimp, and the bushy nose fry and snails ate
beans. The temperature was about 76°F and 6 pH. I kept the water
churning with an open airline anchored to the bottom of the tank.
They grew rapidly and are about 1 inch at 2.5 months. I called them
Rineloricaria lanceolata because that is what the seller and a couple
of other “experts” at the convention said they were.
They do look like the picture of this fish in Dr. Axelrod’s
Atlas of Freshwater fish on page 263.
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