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Peaceful but a jumper; needs a tight lid.
293 species in our list are a good match.
Peaceful but a jumper; needs a tight lid.
Live and frozen insects, brine shrimp and flakes.
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Males grow significantly larger than females, with longer fins and brighter colours; nuptial males may show a broad dark band behind the gill cover.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-layer above water · Moderate
Spawns out of the water: the pair leap together onto an overhanging leaf or the cover glass and cling there while eggs are laid; the male then guards the eggs and splashes them with his tail to keep them moist.
Keep a pair or group; the male leaps with the female to lay eggs on leaves above the water.
40-60 L tank with a tight lid, 5-10 cm of water level and an overhanging leaf or glass pane, soft acidic water.
Warm soft water and live food; males guard and splash the eggs.
10-12 eggs per leap, repeated until the female is spent, for a total brood of usually 100-200; eggs hatch after 36-72 hours and the fry drop into the water.
After 3 days the male splashes eggs with water; fry fall into the water and eat infusoria then brine shrimp.
Male and female leap out of the water together to lay their eggs on a leaf above the surface, and the male then splashes the eggs every minute or so with his tail until they hatch, which gives the fish its name.
Charles Tate Regan described this fish in 1912, naming it after German aquarist Johann Paul Arnold. The pair leaps out of the water together to stick their eggs onto an overhanging leaf. The male then stays below and splashes the eggs with his tail to keep them moist until they hatch.
First described by C. Tate Regan in 1912. Named for Named after German aquarist Johann Paul Arnold.
16 facts checked with sources
Regan, 1912, as Copeina arnoldi. Copella carsevennensis is now a synonym (Mol et al. 2012; Marinho & Menezes 2017; Marinho 2024), though Seriously Fish still lists it separately following Zarske (2011). Other Copella species are sometimes sold as 'splashing tetras' but do not spawn out of the water.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Copella arnoldiSubfamily Pyrrhulininae. Lebiasinidae was not affected by the 2024 Acestrorhamphidae split (that concerned Characidae tetras). Legacy had no family field.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Copella arnoldi · FishBase: Copella arnoldi summaryBoth SL (standard length): Seriously Fish 5.5 cm, FishBase 4.2 cm males / 3.3 cm females; larger used. Males grow larger than females. Legacy 7 cm is too large.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldi · FishBase: Copella arnoldi summaryLegacy 24-28 lies within Seriously Fish's 20-28 (preferred); FishBase 25-29.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldi · FishBase: Copella arnoldi summaryLegacy 5.5-7 lies within Seriously Fish's 4.0-7.5.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldi · FishBase: Copella arnoldi summaryLegacy had no hardness; value is new. FishBase gives 5-12.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldi · FishBase: Copella arnoldi summary90 x 30 cm base x 30 cm height = 81,000 cm³ = 81 L (Seriously Fish: ~81 litres). Legacy 80 L matches.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldiLegacy 6 is below the recommended 8-10.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldiBest with similar-sized characins, hatchetfish, pencilfish and small catfish.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldiSurface dweller; needs a tight lid (legacy) - Seriously Fish describes males repeatedly leaping.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldi · FishBase: Copella arnoldi summaryMatches legacy care 2.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldiLegacy had no range. Lives in streams with lots of overhanging vegetation, often in tea-stained water.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Copella arnoldi · Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldiLegacy (males larger with longer fins) agrees.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldiSeriously Fish suggests a gap of about 10 cm between water surface and cover; the female plays no part in brood care.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldiLegacy '50-200 eggs' and 'after 3 days' are close; sourced total is 100-200 and hatching 36-72 h. FishBase gives 5-8 eggs per event, 'some hundreds' in all.
Seriously Fish: Copella arnoldi · FishBase: Copella arnoldi summaryLegacy story agrees. Named after J. Paul Arnold, a Hamburg aquarist who supplied the type specimens (Seriously Fish; FishBase).
FishBase: Copella arnoldi summary