Sharpchin flyingfish

Where they come from

Sharpchin flyingfish are open-ocean sprinters from the eastern Pacific, showing up from the Gulf of California down past Peru and around the Galapagos. You see them at dusk and night near drift lines and flotsam, picking plankton and launching into the air when spooked. They are built for long, fast runs at the surface, not for weaving through rocks like a reef fish.

Setting up their tank

Give them runway, not a maze. Long, open water with strong oxygenation and a bulletproof cover is the whole game. Big footprint beats height every time.

• Tank size and shape: 8 ft x 3 ft footprint or larger is where it starts to make sense. Think 300-500 gallons for a small group. A lagoon or trough-style tank is even better.
• Lid: Solid, tight, and padded. Use polycarbonate sheets or tight 1/8 in mesh with weatherstripping. Cover every gap, overflow, and cable notch. Add a soft bumper strip around the inner rim to prevent snout damage during panicked jumps.
• Flow and gas exchange: Strong surface agitation, high oxygen, and a big skimmer. Aim for a broad gyre rather than chaotic blasts.
• Lighting: Moderate and even. Avoid sudden on-off shocks. Ramp lights up and down or use a dim night light to prevent startle launches.
• Aquascape: Minimal. Keep rockwork low and away from the front 2-3 ft so they have clear lanes. No stinging corals or anemones under their flight path.
• Parameters: 22-25 C, 1.025-1.026 sg, pH 8.1-8.4, ammonia and nitrite 0, nitrate as low as you can keep it reliably (<20 ppm), lots of dissolved oxygen.

What to feed them

They are surface pickers that chase plankton in current. You will have the best luck starting with moving foods and then sneaking in frozen. Small, frequent feedings beat big meals.

• Starter foods: Live mysis, enriched adult brine shrimp (short term), live copepods and amphipods, small gut-loaded ghost shrimp if available and marine-acclimated.
• Frozen and prepared: PE mysis, chopped krill, chopped raw shrimp, Calanus, enriched brine, prawn roe or other marine fish eggs. They often take fish eggs first.
• Feeding method: Use a feeding ring at the surface and a gentle current so food drifts by like plankton. Target the twilight period when they are most willing.
• Schedule: 3-6 small feedings per day while settling in, then at least 2-3 once they are eating well.
• Supplements: Soak offerings in a HUFA-vitamin product to help with stress and tissue repair.

How they behave and who they get along with

They are nervous sprinters, not bullies. Expect lots of circling near the surface, quick dashes, and big startle responses. In groups they pace together, which helps them settle, but that magnifies the space you need.

• Best kept: Species-only or with very calm, midwater planktivores that will not chase the same food aggressively.
• Good maybes: A peaceful Chromis group in a huge system, gentle bannerfish species like Heniochus diphreutes in public-aquarium scale tanks, or marine halfbeaks. Keep stocking light.
• Avoid: Wrasses that patrol the surface, tangs that herd and flash, triggers, groupers, lionfish, jacks, fast damsels, dottybacks. Anything nippy or predatory is a no.
• Reef notes: They ignore corals, but they crash-land. Stinging corals and anemones are a hazard. If you must keep corals, keep them low and away from the open lanes.

Breeding tips

They scatter adhesive eggs on floating debris in the wild. In captivity, you would need floating spawning mops or rafts, very gentle surface flow, and a separate larval setup. If eggs appear, they will stick to the mop by fine filaments.

Hatching and rearing is the roadblock. The larvae are pelagic, tiny, and fragile. You would be running greenwater, dense live copepods, and probably a kreisel-style rearing tank. This is beyond home setups and there are no reliable reports of full-cycle success in hobby tanks. Worth knowing, but do not count on it.

Common problems to watch for

• Jump injuries: Snout abrasions, bent rays in the big pectorals. Pad the rim, close every gap, and keep lighting changes gentle.
• Refusal to eat: Start with motion and scent. Try fish eggs at dusk, then mix in mysis. Keep water spotless to reduce stress.
• Surface crashing: Too-bright lights or sudden on-off triggers this. Use ramps and a dim night light.
• Oxygen stress: They are high-oxygen fish. If they are piping at the surface, boost aeration and check skimmer and flow.
• Shipping wear and bacterial fray: Torn fins and scuffed snouts are common on arrival. Pristine water and vitamin-rich diet usually fix it; avoid rough nets and chasing.
• Parasites: Quarantine is wise but tricky. Use a large, lidded QT with calm flow. Observe for velvet and external worms. Treat only if you are set up to do it safely.