The purple pencilfish should ideally be kept in a heavily-planted set-up, preferably with a dark substrate. The broken lines of sight that exist in such a display allow it to display natural behaviour as well as helping to reduce skittishness and offering refuges for sub-dominant individuals.

Though by nature it’s a shoaling rather than schooling fishes with territorial rival males sparring on a regular basis during daylight hours. It’s more aggressive than the majority of congeners, and in confined quarters serious injury or even death can occur. Buy as many as possible, ideally 10 or more, as when kept in larger groups any aggression is spread between individuals plus the fish are bolder and exhibit more natural behaviour.

Max size: around 2.5-3cm

* Photos are for reference only *

*photos upload from the internet*