All fish / Aplocheilidae

Powder-blue Panchax

Pachypanchax omalonotus

Also known as powder blue panchax, madagascar panchax, powderblue panchax, malagasy panchax, pachypanchax omalonota

A sturdy surface-dwelling killifish from Madagascar with a slender body. Males have a bluish sheen with rows of red spots, and their unpaired fins are edged in yellow. Keepers like it because it is hardy, colourful and long-lived for a killifish, and it is kept partly to help conserve a threatened island fauna.

Care at a glance

Care level

Easy

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

8 cm

Temperature

22 to 28 °C

pH

6.5 to 8

Smallest tank

80 litres

Keep as

A pair or one male with two or three females

Diet

Carnivore: insects, bloodworm, brine shrimp, daphnia and good-quality flakes or pellets

Swims

Top of the tank

Lifespan

3 to 5 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Madagascar (north-western and western coastal drainages)

Breeding

It is a non-annual egg scatterer that lays eggs a few at a time over several days among fine plants or spawning mops, and the eggs hatch in about two weeks. Breeding is straightforward, but you should remove the eggs or fry because the adults will eat them.

Good to know

It will eat small fish and shrimp and is a strong jumper, so keep a tight-fitting lid on the tank. Wild populations are threatened by introduced species, so try to buy captive-bred stock with known locality data.