Celebes Halfbeak

Celebes Halfbeaks are carnivores that thrive on live and frozen foods such as fruit flies, small crickets, bloodworms, and brine shrimp offered at the water surface. They can be trained to accept high-quality floating micro-pellets or flake foods, though live prey should remain a regular part of the diet to maintain condition and coloration. Feeding at the surface is essential as they rarely venture to mid or lower water levels.

This species spends virtually all of its time at the water surface, where it hunts for insects and small prey in the wild. Males are territorial and will spar with one another, displaying and occasionally nipping, so it is best to keep one male with multiple females or maintain a species group with a skewed female ratio. They are generally peaceful toward dissimilar, non-surface-dwelling tankmates and do well in a community setting with appropriate companions.

Nomorhamphus liemi is a livebearer, with females giving birth to relatively small broods of 5–20 fully formed fry after a gestation period of approximately 6–8 weeks. Males possess a modified anal fin (andropodium) used for internal fertilization, and females can store sperm for multiple broods. Fry are large enough at birth to accept fruit flies and baby brine shrimp immediately, but should be separated from adults to prevent predation.