5 CAMEROON FISH FOR SMALLER AQUARIA
Neolebias ansorgii
At just over 3cm long, these fish are little gems, and in groups can look amazing. They do need at least somewhat soft water to do well, which is something that holds true for most West African fish: aim for around pH 6.5 to 7, 2-12°H. Males are more colourful than females, and when they’re in breeding condition, the colouration on the males becomes even more intense, the body becoming much more red. The youngsters seen in aquarium shops tend to look very washed out and plain, but once settled into a shady, well-planted tank they’ll colour up nicely.
Nannaethiops unitaeniatus
Sometimes traded as the African glowlight tetra, this is a lovely fish, reasonably widely traded, if overlooked, possibly because it’s quite placid and unassuming compared with the showier South American tetras. It’s a silvery-green fish with one black stripe running from nose to tail, and an iridescent, slightly golden stripe above that. Some specimens also have reddish patches on the base of the tail fin and on the top of the dorsal fin, which might be a feature of certain populations. At around 5cm long, these fish are quite chunky, but being rather inactive, they’re good picks for community tanks with other peaceful species of similar size.
Barboides gracilis
Reasonably widely traded as the dwarf amber barb, in a shady, soft water aquarium it does well, schooling nicely and completely ignoring its tankmates. As its common name suggests, this fish is quite small—1.5cm is typical—and easily bullied by larger fish, but is ideal for use alongside small, surface-swimming killifish. Both sexes are transparent with a distinct black spot at the base of the tail fin, but males turn yellow or amber when mature. Keep them in a large group as they are quite shy: not less than ten, and the more, the better.
Enteromius jae
Juveniles of this barb are a bit nondescript, but once settled in, the males colour up amazingly, with steel-blue blotches on a semi-transparent body, and bright red markings on the flanks and fins. Adults are around 2.5cm long, and you’ll want to keep a large group of ten or more because they’re quite shy. They do best in tanks with plenty of plants and shade as they tend to avoid open areas. The species is notoriously variable, and it seems that there are lots of geographical variants found across West Africa, supposedly including some that turn all-over red.
Aphyosemion australe
Of the Cameroon killifish, this is one of the best choices for mixed-species set-ups, being undemanding and easy to keep. It’s also widely sold, usually inexpensively, as it’s one of the very few killifish routinely bred on a commercial basis.
Like all killifish, it’s a jumper though, so one thing to ensure is that the tank is covered. It reaches 5-6cm in length. Other killies that are reasonably easy to obtain include Aphyosemion bivittatum, Epiplatys sexfasciatus, Fundulopanchax gardneri, and F. sjostedti.