# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Characins >  ID: Cigar fish

## Justikanz

Took this at Gan's. What exactly is this fish? Apparently plant safe, but had read that these fish are plant eaters... Any comments? They look gorgeous...  :Grin:

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## benny

Commonly known as the cigar fish, but there are a few similar looking specimens that can be quite confusing.

_Anostomus anostomus_, which has red color fins and similar looking body shape and markings. Very aggresive fish.

_Anostomus ternetzi_, the original cigar fish, which is reputated to eat BBA. This species have clear colored fins the back portion on the dorsal ridge is solid black in color, without any fine yellow dots.

_Anostomus_ sp. which has orangy dorsal, ventral and anal fins, but clear caudal fins with a tinge of orange at the caudal peduncle area. This species has spotted yellow dots on the top most black bar when matured. This is the one in your picture. When young, this is often very difficult to tell apart from _Anostomus ternetzi_

By the way, these fishes has to be kept in groups. Fin nippers and swim like torpedos.

Here's a picture by Koah Fong from our gallery.



I suspect this should be _Anostomus_ sp. instead of _Anostomus anostomus_ due to the red markings on the caudal fins.


_Anostomus anostomus_ image from www.amtra.de

Cheers,

p.s. I think these fishes are from Gan's fish farm.

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## Justikanz

Yupz, edited the location. I am Soooo tempted to get a few... But my tank grossly over populated. In your opinion, would 4-5 of them do good with Tiger barbs and Harlequins? Hmm... But still need to wait for my other fish to decide to kick their buckets first...  :Opps:

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## benny

Well...they grow up to 18 cm for certain species. If you have space, then they are fine. 

By the way, they are extremely shy, especially when you have plenty of hiding space in your tank.

Cheers,

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## Freakin' Fraud

I have one Anostomus sp. in my tank! 

Very interesting fish indeed, unlike other fishes, its mouth is on top, so it has to turn upside down whenever its trying to eat the micropellets on the substrate... which is hilarous.  :Grin:  

oh yes, swims like a torpedo and loves to nip.

i think a hiding place, preferably a cave-like structure, is definitely a must for it to feel comfy. My driftwood has a spacious cavity and it loves to hide in there most of the time, except when it feels bored and decides to bully the tetras...  :Razz:

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## nostalgia

I got 1 too! It loves to hide under a driftwood! I believe they clear algae too! I see them nibbling around driftwoods and leaves of plants! They tend to bully tetras too! I found one way to prevent this is getting a school of tetras! If the tetras are swimming together, Mr Cigar will not attempt to nip any fins but sometimes do target tetras that stray from their school! Heehee overall a very interesting fish to have in your tank!

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