Brilliant Rasbora

Looks how to spot one

Slender, elongated scaled cyprinid

A slender, elongated rasbora with a pinkish body. A dark band with uneven, crinkly edges runs along the side and continues through and past the eye. Colours look richest in tannin-stained water under soft light. Females are rounder and often larger than males.1

Personality what they are like

Very peaceful and easygoing, mixing well with a wide range of small community fish. It is more confident and colourful in a group.1

Daily activity how busy a day looks

An active schooling swimmer that needs a reasonably long tank with swimming space.1

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Keep the water clean with regular changes. Dim lighting and tannin-stained water bring out its colour.1

Home where they are happiest

A tank of at least 120 x 30 x 30 cm (about 113 litres). Temperature 22-26 °C, pH 5.0-7.5 (FishBase 6.0-6.5), soft water around 2-10 °H. Dark substrate, plants, wood and leaf litter mimic its forest streams.12

Food basics what goes in the bowl

A micropredator feeding on worms, small crustaceans and insects. Offer small live and frozen foods such as Daphnia and Artemia, with dried food as a supplement rather than the only food.12

Company who they like around

Keep at least six together. Good companions are other small cyprinids, tetras, livebearers, dwarf cichlids, catfish and loaches.1

The story where it all began

Pieter Bleeker described this species in 1851. In the wild it lives in forest streams and peat swamp waters across the Malay Peninsula and western Indonesia.21

Recognised by the official bits

IUCN Red List

Assessed as Least Concern (January 2019)2

FishBase

Described by Bleeker in 1851; listed as a commercial aquarium species2