Top Dweller Community Hatchet Fish

If you are looking for top dwellers to fill your community aquarium, then Hatchet Fish should make a great addition. Better known as the flying fish, the fish actually has the capability to leap out of water when they are frightened or threatened by other tank mates. Therefore it is important that you have a hood or cover in place so that the fish doesn’t leap out of the aquarium.

Silver Hatchet Fish and Marbled Hatchet Fish

Caring and feeding for your hatchet fish should be fairly simple. First of all, they need a good hiding spot and thus heavily plant tank should be a perfect setup. The pH of the water should be maintained close to neutral value and generally they prefer soft water (around 4-8 dGH) particularly the silver hatchet fish and the marbled hatchet fish. Since they are top dwellers and remain at that level most of the time, it is a good idea to get floating fish pellet so that they will likely find the food. Besides that, you can also supplement with some live foods like mosquito larvae or small insects floating on top of the water.

Hatchet fish is known for its peaceful nature, which is why it is one of the best additions to any community tank besides the neon fish. Hatchet Fish usually grows up to maximum 4cm in length size depending on different species with the marbled hatchet fish measuring only half the size of a silver hatchet. Hatchet fish will form shoals when swimming around the tank and should be kept in a group of at least 3 so that they won’t easily get frightened. Hatchet fish is also commonly confused between different species because they look more or less the same except for the spots and marking on their body.

What makes this group of fish unique and loved by hobbyist is that, it is known for its odd shape not normally seen in other types of aquarium fish. According to scientific study, the area whereby the odd shape forms is actually made up of muscles which allow the fish to dash in high speed allowing them to leap out of water. However, like any other fish, hatchet is very susceptible to contract ich or white spot disease and as such maintaining clean water quality is your top priority.