This species is also traded as ‘blue flame’, ‘blue-red’, and ‘Colombian red fin’ tetra, and was misidentified as H. ecuadorensis for several years prior to its description.

Within the genus it appears to be most closely related to the Costa Rica endemic H. savagei Bussing, 1967 but differs in a number of characters as fol…

Julidochromis are commonly known as "Julies" in the hobby. This particular species may also be seen for sale as the Chequered Julie. A truly characterful cichlid exhibiting quirky behaviour, it will swim hugging the rock surfaces no matter what the angle is. As with other Julies, large water changes should be avoided as this can cause mated pairs to turn on one another.
Several geographical morphs are available. However, no two species or morphs of Julidochromis should be kept togethe…

Similar in care and appearance to its close relative, the Redhook (myloplus rubripinnis), myleus schomburgkii is easily distinguished by the black vertical bar on the flanks. It is also a smaller adult fish. Despite this, it is sometimes offered for sale marked as a Redhook.

This fish is also variously referred to as the Black-ear Pacu, Disc Pacu and Disk Tetra….

The Redhook is another species commonly sold as a Silver Dollar in the trade. It can be distinguished from those species as the black-trimmed, redis much more obvious than any of the metynnis species. The Redhook is also capable of growing much larger than its Silver Dollar relatives. This species was until recently referred to as myleus rubripinnis and is still widel y referred to as such.

The Redhook is sometimes described as a difficult fish to care for but, given a large enough aquarium, …

Metynnis lippincottianus is occasionally seen for sale, sometimes under the name of "Silver Dollar". It is easily distinguishable from m. argenteus and m. hypsauchen (which are more commonly sold as Silver Dollars) by its spotted pattern, hence the common name. M. lippincottianus shares a common name with m. maculatus but the two can be distinguished as the spots on m. maculatus are more pronounced.

Silver dollars are common and popular fish in the hobby. They are related to piranh…

Metynnis hypsauchen is sometimes referred to as the Plain Metynnis in an effort to distinguish it from its close relation, Metynnis argenteus. Both fish are sold in the hobby under the name "Silver Dollar" and are virtually indentical in terms of appearance and care requirements. The two species can be told apart as m. hypsauchen has a black blotch located slightly above and behind each eye. This species also occurs in a striped colour form which is sometimes referred to as(m. hypsauch…

Metynnis argenteus is very similar to another member of the genus, Metynnis hypsauchen and both fish are sold in the hobby under the name "Silver Dollar". The latter species is sometimes referred to as the Plain Metynnis in an effort to distinguish it from its close relation. They are virtually indentical in terms of appearance and care requirements. The two species can be told apart as m. hypsauchen has a black blotch located slightly above and behind each eye. In addition to these tw…

Known as the tambaqui in its native countries, this is the second largest species of scaled fish found in the Amazon basin. This alone should tell you much of what you need to know about its suitability as an aquarium inhabitant. In reality, it's debatable as to whether the species should be considered an aquarium subject at all. While pacu rarely reach their maximum size in captivity, they're still easily capable of growing to a couple of feet in length. The myth that fish will only g…

Know as the pirapitinga in its native countries, this is the one of the largest species of scaled fish found in the Amazon basin. This alone should tell you much of what you need to know about its suitability as an aquarium inhabitant. In reality it's debatable as to whether the species should be considered an aquarium subject at all. While pacu rarely reach their maximum size in captivity, they're still easily capable of growing to a couple of feet in length. The myth that fish will o…