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Phallichthys tico-par
Phallichthys tico-samec
Phallichthys tico-samica

 

 

 

     Basic data:

 

  • Scientific name: Phallichthys tico (Bussing, 1963)

  • Interpretation of words: Phallichthys  (phallos = penis, ichthys = fish), (tico = according to the people living at the site of the find)

  • Group: Livebirds

  • Origin: Costa Rica and parts of Nicaragua (San Juan)

  • Size: females 4 cm, males 2.5 cm

  • Biotope / Habitat: Found in heavily overgrown waters, wetlands, shallow slow-moving streams and muddy river banks.

  • Social behavior: Peaceful, fish flock 

  • Diet: Omnivore (worms, insects, insect larvae, crustaceans, flakes, algae, dry food, detritus, diatoms, ...)

  • Cultivation: Easy

  • Aquarium: Minimum 10 liters per pair

  • Population: population per 50 liters of water

  • Decoration: Plants, stones, roots

  • Temperature: 20-28 ° C

  • pH: 7-7.5

  • Hardness: from 3 to 10 ° dGh

  • Lifespan: 3-5 years

Phallichthys  tico

Kingdom: Animalia / animals

Trunk: Chordata / string players

Class: Actinopterygii / arthropods

Order: Cyprinodontiformes / Toothpicks

Family: Poeciliidae  / live-bearing toothed carp

Genus: Phallichthys

Species: Phallichthys tico (Bussing, 1963)

Cultivation

  Cultivation of this very lively fish is extremely easy, a row aquarium with medium soft water suits them perfectly. The water level should be as low as possible (max. 30 cm), as it mostly stays and feeds in the upper part of the aquarium and is rarely seen at the bottom.

Fish like fresh and clean water, so change the water regularly, make sure there is no or no water flow, and enough vegetation and moss. 

Food

  They are omnivorous, they like to eat various flakes, micro-worms, artemia, unicellular algae, plankton, diatoms, ...

Reproduction

  For singles  Phallichthys tico  is characterized by very long gonopods. The interval between the first and second pregnancy is 24-48 days, fertilization between intervals is not possible. The female can fertilize several males in a short time, so the young are the offspring of different fathers. Males are very annoying to females, so it is very important that females predominate in the aquarium, 1 in 4 in favor of females. The young are extremely small and are easy prey for their parents, to separate the litter we separate them or in the worst case we take care of a very heavily planted aquarium with mosses and small-leaved plants, here the young find a safe refuge.

Description

  The body color can be from yellow-orange to dark brown, the dorsal fin has a black edge at the bottom leading to a black spot, and all other fins are translucent. It has a more elongated body than larger species.

Carl Hubbs named the genus Phallichthys,  which consists of two Greek words “phallos” meaning penis and “ichthys” meaning fish (large gonopods are probably the reason for this genus name). The species got its name from the indigenous population of Costa Rica called "Tico".

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