Archerfish (Toxotes Jaculator) Aquarium

The Archerfish scientific name is "Toxotes Jaculator" (Toxotes means bowman or archer), the name is for a family of tropical fish native to the waters of northern Australia and southeastern Asia, India, Gulf of Aden and the Western Pacific. The body of the Archerfish is quite thin and their flattened body gives them a narrow profile from above the water with a pointed face. The anal and dorsal fins are located all the way back on the body and the tail has a little bit of a rounded edging. Archerfish come in four species, all similar looking in appearance. Archerfish are silver-gray with black vertical bands. The back is brown yellow-greenish colored and the sides are a pale gray going into to a silver. It has four to six black paint looking drips running down the sides across its body, the first one is running across the eye and the last one just before the tail. The last paint looking drip extends to the rear end of the anal fin as well as to the dorsal fin. The Archerfish's eyes are large with telescopic eye sight and their mouth faces slightly upward.
The water a Archerfish needs to live in temperature of 68-82 F (20-28 C) and a PH of 7.0 to 8.0, medium hard water is the ideal conditions for them to live in. You should add to your aquarium water 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per 1 gallon of water should be added. You need to mix in some seawater salt into your freshwater. If you are not sure what concentration you have in your water and how much of a dose is needed, you can get a hydrometer in order to get an accurate measurement. In the range of 1.003 to 1.006 in Square gallons is recomended. When your Archerfish reach 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12 cm). A tank change should be made when they grow between 10 and 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) in size, you should move them to a tank of a 100 gallons in size as a minimum. Keep the water level in the tank a few inches below the top, so they have room to practice their shooting. You should have a screen top on the tank so the insects that you purchased from a pet store, can stay inside the tank. you should also make a floating surface of a part of the tank so the insects can stay on while doing there time in the tank before getting shot down. Plants that grow above the water are recommended but be sure not to cover the surface area to much so the Archerfish can practice their shooting. Rocks are good to be put in the tank as well. Make sure the tank lid is secure as they will jump to feed. A archerfish is a omnivores can be fed live insects, crickets, meal worms, and freeze dried plankton, fish, worms, sometimes flakes. You can feed these foods with dry seaweed. Smaller fish can be given to them too as they grow. It is suggested that Archerfish are kept in groups, but they can live alone too. They are very peaceful fish, but they will eat smaller fish if you put them in the tank with them. Reports of archerfish breeding in captivity are very rare.