Who Gives A Fish Forums

I had this thought, what about a fish that's really pretty when it's down low? Maybe something that hangs out near the surface, like marble hatchets or African butterflies?

I was just watching my big fat Flying Fox cruise around the surface of my Asian tank, and it made me think of this. The Hillstreams down on the bottom, though, they're not exactly pretty - kinda like the Pleco family, to be honest.

Some fish do look pretty from the bottom up, like hatchets. Their silvery-white bellies are quite a sight, and some even have interesting patterns. However, if you're seeing those bellies often, it's usually a sign that something's amiss in the tank.

The underside of a fish is often a camouflage of the sky and the ripples on the water's surface, usually white or light-colored. I recall Epiplatys killies looking quite striking when viewed from below at an angle, but straight on, they're not exactly designed to be seen.

When netting fish, I've found that they're extremely vulnerable to being scooped up from directly below, especially if you sweep the net straight up. I've caught plenty of fish by placing the net at the bottom of a stream and pulling it up as they swim by. Darters, in particular, seem to fall for this tactic. It makes sense that showing their belly would be an invitation to predators, as I'm sure many predators attack from below.