# Halfbeak Livebearer fish - video added 12/2/09



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

*12/2/09 update* - It's been a while since I posted this thread. Just wanted to post an update of this sick looking fish since there's not much on the web about them. They are very docile and will pick food right from my fingers. They even let me hold them in my palm for a brief second or 2. Surprisingly they are not jumpers and are kept in my open top 40breeder. They've also got veracious appetites and will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. Check out this vid of the lone male dancing with a female:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwv-22A-6a8

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Has anyone here ever kept these little guys before? I saw them at the lfs and couldn't resist since they look just like miniature barracudas :icon_surp. I've read a little about them to know they stay fairly small (7mm) and they'll breed in brackish water conditions. They're very hardy and will eat whatever they can fit in their tiny mouths. Very cool little buggers indeed. Here's a pic I just took:










Please share your experiences.


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## DorianBrytestar (May 26, 2009)

Whoa, 7mm???? Isn't that like >-> that big?


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

hahaha sorry for the typo. I meant *7cm*


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## DorianBrytestar (May 26, 2009)

awww, dang.

Got my hopes all up


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## niko (Mar 8, 2006)

We had these fish before. They are indeed very unique. You might say that they are shy but when feeding they prove to be very bold. They would eaty dry and frozen food. Prefer bloodworms. Can eaty quite big pieces despite the mouth looking very small.

They usually stay close to the surface but maybe about 30% of the time they would venture deeper. 

Not aggressive. Like floating vegetation to stay around or hide among it.

As usual - iIf you saw them at a local store make sure the weak ones have gone their way. Stores do not quarantine the fish so you need to find a way to get the stronger fish (wait and hope they are not going to sell them all or take a chance) or you will be quarantining them in your tanks.

--Nikolay


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Nikolay,

Thanks for the info. My fish are acting exactly the way you explained. I hope these fish were quarantined since there were only 7 of them in the tank at the store. These were labeled under 'Metallic Halfbeaks' btw.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

I've read about them. they are neat. There's a sulawesi species that's gorgeous as well.
As you can tell from the mouth, they like to eat fish too.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Awesome!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Until my CPD's or Rams start breeding, they wont have any fish to eat. I'd love to see them hunt for sure. The bottom jaw protrudes well under the top however it cannot move. The top jaw opens up similar to crocodiles/alligators. Sweet little fish! Definitely a predatory fish.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

An ideal tank for them is with guppies, platties, mollies, puffers etc.. You can bump up the salt level a little and everybody will be happy.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

mistergreen said:


> An ideal tank for them is with guppies, platties, mollies, puffers etc.. You can bump up the salt level a little and everybody will be happy.


That sucks because I don't really like any of those fish except maybe the puffer (dwarf). Oh well, I'm not looking for these guys to breed. At least not yet :biggrin:.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

So I've only had these guys for almost a month and they already started breeding for me! It was totally unexpected because from what I remember reading, they need brackish water to breed. I guess I proved that theory wrong lol. All I did was feed all the tank inhabitants black worms and low and behold 2 of the halfbeaks paired up and kept swimming paralell to one another. Fast forward 2 weeks later and 5 babies pop out the pregnant female (may have been more). I had no idea they were in the tank and if my wife hadn't point them out, they'd probably be the main course for my Rams and Bloodfins. They look like miniture mon/dad minus the long beak. Luckily my baby Betta's are currently growing in a 5 gal tank which I've been feeding BBS, so I tossed them in the mix. They are lovin the BBS so hopefully they'll survive. Just thought I'd share


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## leviathan0 (Oct 6, 2007)

There are many species of Halfbeaks, some are brackish, some freshwater, some even require soft and acidic water, which is the complete opposite of what livebearers prefer. Halfbeaks certainly isn't my area of expertise, but yours seems to be Dermogenys pusilla, which (as you have already found out) is perfectly happy in freshwater.


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## Ariel301 (Sep 7, 2009)

Ahh, I haven't seen those in a while. My LFS used to sell them as 'needle fish' or something like that, they were in the brackish aisle...Didn't know they were livebearers. It was always neat to feed them guppy fry and ghost shrimp and watch them hunt.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

leviathan0 said:


> There are many species of Halfbeaks, some are brackish, some freshwater, some even require soft and acidic water, which is the complete opposite of what livebearers prefer. Halfbeaks certainly isn't my area of expertise, but yours seems to be Dermogenys pusilla, which (as you have already found out) is perfectly happy in freshwater.


They don't have too much info on them on Google :icon_conf sadly. Where are you getting your information, if you don't mind telling me?



Ariel301 said:


> Ahh, I haven't seen those in a while. My LFS used to sell them as 'needle fish' or something like that, they were in the brackish aisle...Didn't know they were livebearers. It was always neat to feed them guppy fry and ghost shrimp and watch them hunt.


Yeah, they're pretty cool. They come right up to my fingers when I feed them black worms. Not a shy fish at all. Should I toss in a couple Betta fry in there for them to hunt? I'm kidding!!!


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## leviathan0 (Oct 6, 2007)

Can't remember exactly as it's just information collected in my head over the years, but it probably come from Neale Monks, who literally wrote the book on brackish aquaria and is very knowledgeable with livebearers as well.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Look on www.fishbase.org, too.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Anyone who's interested in this fish, make sure to check out the short vid I added on my first post. Or click "HERE"


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## RianS (May 12, 2009)

they had some at my local pet store which i go to all the time since i know the owner and my friends work there. One time the fish was choking on food. I can't remember if i was a piece of Hikari food sticks or something else but it was unable to swallow the food so my friend scared it so it would spit it out.


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## kisame1235 (Oct 11, 2009)

I had 4 of these guys , one of them got scared and ran into the side of the tank and broke it's jaw I think . The other 3 died of chlorine poisoning when I moved them out of their tank . I had assumed the water was clean but you know what they say about assuming


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## Amazon (Oct 7, 2009)

I have two celebes halfbeaks. They're still small (<2"). One won't tolerate the other though. Gives chase whenever they're too close. Maybe I need to add another...


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

would these be ok at about 84-86 degrees? i want to add them to my planted discus tank.


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## mumushummus (Sep 16, 2009)

I got 2 of them!!!!


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

I'm definetely interested in keeping these fish, if someone knows online who can get them.


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## fendergat (Jan 22, 2008)

I have one exactlly like the one in the origional picture. They are not the celebes (sp) and seem to do well in non-brackish water. 

After 6 months of pestering my local guy I was able to scrounge another. Its more silver but after a few weeks we'll see if they're the same species...appears to be.

The origional HB has been with me for about 8 months and has done real well, and the only problem is that he's schooling with my other minnies and he needed another native to reform back to his normal behaviors.

BTW I also picked up two freshwater flounder and i'll update later on as to the success of their survival.


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## ambchang (Mar 15, 2010)

I just got two of them last week, and is waiting for them to adapt. I believe one is male and one is female, but I can't be sure. I only spotted the difference in the fin colours and looked it up.

It seems like the male is chasing after the female pretty aggressively, and the female seemed to be avoiding him. The female may have even blunted the lower jaw while trying to elude the male and slammed into the tank.

I am planning to get shrimps later, but I am not sure if that is a good idea.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Shrimp would be a great idea- the halfbeaks would love them! :hihi:


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## ambchang (Mar 15, 2010)

So halfbeaks are shrimp eaters? Not a good idea. I guess I will have to keep adding plants before I can put in the shrimps. I was thinking of getting some RCS at first.


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