Breeding Dwarf Rasbora (Boraras Maculatus) In The Aquarium

Location

This freshwater fish lives in slow-flowing and standing, shallow reservoirs, floodplains in Malaysia, Sumatra, India and Singapore.

Body description

This is small species. Colour of the body is orange-red with light under-side. There are 3 characteristic, dark dots on the belly, in the anal area and on the base of the caudal fin. All fins are clear-reddish with black border. Male is smaller and more colourful than female. Female is thicker in the ventral parts compared to male.

Temperament and behaviour

This is shoal, active, peaceful and friendly species. It prefers to live in larger group.

Aquarium decoration

This species prefers the aquarium which is longer than higher. This tank should include a lot of plants, dark substrate with layer of peat, space to swim, dimmed light, floating plants. This species is sensitive to accumulation of nitrates and dioxide so you need an effective filtration system with gentle water flow. You should protect the outlet of the filter so it does not generate strong water flow.

Breeding

This is an oviparous species. Breeding these fish is not an easy task. You can stimulate the fish to spawn by reducing the water hardness, dim the light, adding fine-leaved plants and by separating males from females. You should feed them with plenty of live food. The fish group off into pairs to mate. Female lays eggs on the leaves of plants. You should remove all light from the tank after spawning - this includes day light. The eggs hatch after 1 day. The fry starts to swim and feed 5 days later.