Hockeystick Pencilfish Care Guide – Aquarium Setup, Feeding & Breeding

Hockeystick Pencilfish are slender, understated characins with a distinctive upward-angled swimming posture. Their body is usually silvery or olive-brown, marked by a dark lateral stripe, while subtle reddish and golden tones can appear along the flanks and fins when the fish are settled and displaying.

Unlike many midwater tetras, this species spends much of its time close to the surface, often pointing head-up beneath floating plants or overhanging vegetation. The unusual posture gives the fish its common name and makes a group especially interesting to watch in a natural-style aquarium.

In the wild, Hockeystick Pencilfish live among submerged roots, leaf litter and aquatic plants in calm, shaded waters. Their narrow body and muted markings help them blend into the broken patterns of stems, roots and tannin-stained water, while their surface position allows them to take small insects and other prey drifting above the waterline.

They are peaceful, observant fish that become more confident in a group. Males may make brief lateral displays and establish loose social spaces, but serious aggression is uncommon. Their gentle nature and unusual behaviour have made them a favourite among aquarists who enjoy small South American schooling fish.

Hockeystick Pencilfish come from the upper and central Amazon Basin in South America, including parts of Brazil, Peru and Colombia. They inhabit slow-moving forest streams, flooded woodland margins and quiet tributaries with soft, acidic, tea-coloured water.

A group should be kept in an aquarium of at least 60 litres, with a footprint around 60 by 30 cm or larger. Use a secure lid because these surface-oriented fish can jump, and leave open swimming space along the upper level. A dark sand or fine-gravel substrate, driftwood, leaf litter, floating plants and fine-leaved vegetation create the shaded, structured habitat they favour. Gentle filtration, subdued lighting and some surface cover help them feel secure, while open areas allow the group to display and forage.

Hockeystick Pencilfish reach a maximum adult length of about 5 cm (2 inches). Females are generally a little deeper-bodied and may be slightly larger than males, which are usually slimmer.

Hockeystick Pencilfish are small omnivores that naturally take tiny insects, insect larvae, crustaceans and other minute prey from the water’s surface. Offer a varied diet of high-quality small flakes or micro-pellets supplemented with baby brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops, mosquito larvae and other appropriately sized frozen or live foods. Their small mouths make finely sized foods important, and several small meals are preferable to one large feeding.

Hockeystick Pencilfish suit peaceful community aquariums with similarly sized, calm fish. Good companions include small tetras, ember tetras, other peaceful pencilfish, small rasboras, Corydoras, Otocinclus and gentle dwarf cichlids such as Apistogramma when the aquarium is appropriately arranged. Avoid large or boisterous fish, fin-nippers and active surface feeders that may intimidate them or outcompete them for food. They should not be housed with predatory species or fish large enough to swallow them.

Hockeystick Pencilfish are egg-scatterers that spawn among fine-leaved plants, moss or spawning mops. Condition a group with plenty of small live or frozen foods, then provide subdued lighting and dense vegetation. Eggs are released individually and may be eaten by the adults, so remove the adults or protect the eggs with a spawning grid. The eggs generally hatch in around 24 to 36 hours, with the tiny fry becoming free-swimming several days later and requiring microscopic first foods such as infusoria before they can accept newly hatched brine shrimp.

Females tend to have a fuller, deeper body, particularly when carrying eggs. Males are usually slimmer and may show stronger colour and more noticeable fin or body markings during courtship displays.