Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

hi, i am considering getting some half beak fish for my shrimps tank. does anyone have any experience with them? they get 2" big, but have a very tiny mouth.

thnx,
Jason

still, they get big enuff where they can make a quick snack of a shrimp small enuff to fit in their beak. i'd be careful.

retardo wrote:still, they get big enuff where they can make a quick snack of a shrimp small enuff to fit in their beak. I'd be careful.

Half beaks are livebearing brackish water fish that specialize in eating anything that moves and will fit into their mouths. I think that larger species of shrimp would not prove to be a snack, the CRS or Bumblebee Shrimp would be a target of choice, Yamato/Amano shrimp would not.

Hi Ed,

Not all Halfbeaks are livebearers (some species lay eggs) and not all of them are brackish water fish. And some of them can be kept with even small species of shrimp. One such Halfbeak would be Dermogenys pusillus, which is small enough that it cannot fit adult shrimp in its mouth. The fish try when they encounter a shrimp for the first time, but give up soon and never try again. However, they can still eat hatchlings and very young shrimp if they can catch them. By the way, D. pusillus lives and breeds in freshwater just fine.

Mustafa

Mustafa wrote:Hi Ed,

Not all Halfbeaks are livebearers (some species lay eggs) and not all of them are brackish water fish. And some of them can be kept with even small species of shrimp. One such Halfbeak would be Dermogenys pusillus, which is small enough that it cannot fit adult shrimp in its mouth. The fish try when they encounter a shrimp for the first time, but give up soon and never try again. However, they can still eat hatchlings and very young shrimp if they can catch them. By the way, D. pusillus lives and breeds in freshwater just fine.

Mustafa

D pusillus lives in fresh to brackish water and doesn't exceed 3-4cm, I thought that considering the size estimate that the fish in question may be a Nomorhamphus sp as they appear in the trade from time to time.

My D. pussilus are about 2 inches or a little larger actually. However, you're right...just from the question it was not apparent what kind of halfbeak was meant...there are just too many including some "monsters."

Mustafa

Mustafa wrote:My D. pussilus are about 2 inches or a little larger actually. However, you're right...just from the question it was not apparent what kind of halfbeak was meant...there are just too many including some "monsters."

Mustafa

I know there are 21 pages of photos of these fish in my copy of Aqualog, thats about 150 different species of fish listed. Most are brackish water, some only found in saltwater and there are a few that are only found in freshwater.