The mysterious "Red Bull": A new star among dwarf pencilfish

When news of the discovery of another beautiful new dwarf pencilfish from the Nannostomus trifasciatus group appeared in Hong Kong in early 2023, I immediately had another goal. I knew I had to get these fish. From the first import to Europe, I actually bought a school of 8 on March 23rd, 2023. Where else but in Vienna at Zierfisch Zentrum Austria.

I wasn't even deterred by the very high price by Czech standards. Some importers tentatively call the fish Nannostomus sp. cf. trifasciatus "Red Bull". Several mysteries immediately arose. My importers claim that the fish comes from Brazil. In the meantime, I contacted my friend in Wisconsin (USA), who had owned the aforementioned beauties for several weeks. Not only did he point out to me that these are very sensitive fish, some of which died after overeating with unsuitable artificial food. The second part of his school died after a water change, where the main difference was the water chemistry!

According to his dealer, who got the fish from the Japanese, they are said to come from northern Peru.  Japanese traders allegedly bought them there from local fishermen. The future will tell where the truth lies.

In any case, I can confirm that the fish are very attractive. They behave like typical representatives of the genus. They accept the offered live food with a preference for plankton, black mosquito larvae and even grindal worms with great appetite. In addition, I add a very small amount of my favorite food from Dr. Gerald Bassleer (sizes "S" and "M"). I keep the temperature around 22-23°C. I also put some hiding places in the form of thin tubes in the aquarium. After all, especially the spawning-willing males chase the females and nibble their fins slightly. But this cannot be compared to the aggressiveness of Nannostomus rubrocaudatus or even Nannostomus mortenthaeri.

With good feeding, the females begin to fill up well. But what was a huge surprise for me was that when I wanted to transfer the pairs to breeding tanks, I discovered 3 tiny young fish hiding in the thicket of the aquarium.

This is, besides the species Nannostomus marginatus "breitstreifen", the second species of dwarf pencilfish where breeding in a species tank has been successful!

Pictures:

1. Male Nannostomus sp. RED BULL
2. Spawning-ready female Nannostomus sp. CEARA RED
3. A school of Nannostomus sp. RED BULL is beautiful
4. Like most dwarf pencilfish, Nannostomus sp. RED BULL also have typical night coloration
5. Species aquarium for Nannostomus sp. RED BULL with a volume of 40 l
6. The picture clearly shows the nibbled tail fin of the female (right) being chased by a spawning-willing male
7. Surprising discovery of fry in the species aquarium.
8. Breeding tank with a volume of 20 liters.