Variations
1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Everglades pygmy sunfish
Peaceful but territorial with its own kind.
- Everglades pygmy sunfish needs cool water and makes a lot of waste, while Cardinal tetra is tropical.
- Everglades pygmy sunfish needs cool water and makes a lot of waste, while Serpae tetra is tropical.
- Everglades pygmy sunfish needs cool water and makes a lot of waste, while X-ray tetra is tropical.
- Only a narrow pH range suits both: 7.2–7.5.
- Only a narrow pH range suits both: exactly 7.5.
164 species in our list are a good match.
Care and water
Behavior
Peaceful but territorial with its own kind.
- cool
Food
Live and frozen foods only.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Male or female
Health
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Breeding
Egg-layer · Hard
Males guard eggs laid in plants.
Pair in planted tank.
Cool planted tank.
Cool then warm.
Dozens of eggs.
Fry take infusoria.
- Dry foods only
Where it lives in the wild
The story of the everglades pygmy sunfish
A tiny North American sunfish that thrives in cool planted tanks. Needs live foods.
David Starr Jordan described this fish in 1884. Despite the name, pygmy sunfishes belong to their own family, Elassomatidae, rather than the true sunfishes. At about 3 cm, it is a favourite for small coldwater planted tanks.
First described by David Starr Jordan in 1884. Named for Named after the Florida Everglades.
- It belongs to its own family, Elassomatidae, not the true sunfishes.
- It grows to only about 3 cm.
- Breeding males turn black with shimmering blue spots.