Aquarist Species:  Poropanchax normani

Aquarist: Northern_Aquarist

Species Profile: Poropanchax normani

Common Name:   Norman's Lampeye

Species Photo by: Hans Euler

Description:   A gorgeous and lively little fish from Africa. Similar in appearance to many Old World Killifish, for years it was classified as such. Modern taxonomy puts it in family Procatopodidae; African lampeyes & livebearers. Lampeyes get their common name from their enormous eyes that are ringed with highly reflective iridophores. A very sturdy fish and a prolific spawner, they stay small with the males only growing to about an inch and a half.

Category:   Cyprinids

Global Region:   Africa

Distribution:   

Aquarist Notes

Photo of aquarist's species:

Genetic Line:   Aquarium Strain

Year Acquired:   2025

A super fun and super easy fish. I'm shocked they are not more popular. Without enough cover, they can be very shy, but give them some frog bit, water lettuce, or hyacinth and they will have cover, a nitrate sponge, and somewhere to spawn! Bing, bang, boom!

Spawning notes:

Species Spawned:   Yes

An exceptionally easy to spawn fish, the only troubles you are likely to have are; egg predation and keeping the fry fed. When I got these fish from a local club auction they had been labeled as a Killifish and I spawned them as such; feed heavy, low flow, spawning mops. And that worked. But, in April 2026 our club had a presenter that talked about hoe Lampeyes are actually "crevice spawners" and once I adapted my mops by wrapping them in 0.25" plastic mesh I was getting more eggs than I had the patience to harvest. I legitimately stopped providing the crevice-style spawners because I would rather the fish eat some of their own eggs to regain the energy and now I am not left with an absurd number of fry.

Have Reared Fry?   Yes

Eggs are huge and easy to hand-pick but they take forever to incubate. Like, 2 or 3 weeks. I pluck them from the parent tank and plop them in a grow-out bin in a nearby tank. Once they are free-swimming, I give them vinegar eels and eventually convert them to powdered and pelletized foods.