All fish / Distichodontidae

Silver Distichodus

Distichodus affinis

Also known as silver distichodus, red-finned distichodus, distichodus affinis, nijssen's distichodus, ディスティコドゥス・アフィニス, 银鳍复齿脂鲤

A deep-bodied, silvery fish with reddish fins, a small mouth and a darker spot near the tail base in young fish. It is kept as a hardy, active and fairly modest-sized relative of the larger distichodus species, and suits big community tanks with other medium-sized African fish.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

12 cm

Temperature

23 to 27 °C

pH

6 to 7.5

Smallest tank

200 litres

Keep as

Group of 5 or more, or singly with robust tankmates

Diet

Herbivore: algae wafers, spirulina flakes, blanched vegetables, plus some small live or frozen foods

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 8 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Congo River basin (DR Congo, Republic of the Congo, Angola)

Breeding

It scatters eggs over plants or the substrate, and the parents give no care. Captive breeding is rarely reported, so most fish in the trade are wild-caught.

Good to know

It feeds heavily on plants and will strip most soft-leaved aquarium plants, so use tough species like Anubias or none. Fish can nip at slow, long-finned tankmates, and it is often confused with the much larger Distichodus species.