Chili Rasbora

Looks how to spot one

Miniature, slender scaled cyprinid

A tiny, slim fish that stays around 2 cm. The body ranges from rusty orange to vivid red, with a dark stripe along the side that is often broken into pieces, and red spots on the tail and on parts of the dorsal and anal fins. Males are the brighter, fiery red sex, females are more orange and slightly fuller.134

Personality what they are like

Peaceful and somewhat shy. It relaxes and colours up when kept in a group with other small, gentle fish.1

Daily activity how busy a day looks

A calm swimmer that tends to stay in the lower and middle parts of the tank; it appreciates dense planting with some open space.14

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Keep water soft, clean and stable with regular small water changes. A dark substrate and plants help it show its best colour.14

Home where they are happiest

A minimum footprint of about 45 x 30 cm (roughly 40 litres) suits a group. Temperature 20-28 °C (German Wikipedia suggests 24-28 °C), pH 4.0-7.0, hardness 1-10 dGH. A heavily planted tank with leaf litter and gentle flow mirrors its blackwater home.142

Food basics what goes in the bowl

A micropredator eating tiny insects, worms and crustaceans in the wild. In the aquarium it accepts small flakes and granules, plus small live or frozen foods like Daphnia and Artemia.13

Company who they like around

A schooling fish best kept in groups of 8-10 or more. Suitable tankmates are other very small, calm species, shy anabantoids and dwarf shrimp.1

The story where it all began

Dieter Vogt described the species in 1978 and named it after his wife, Brigitte. It was later placed in the genus Boraras, created in 1993 to hold a small group of miniature rasboras split off from Rasbora.3215

Recognised by the official bits

IUCN Red List

Assessed as Data Deficient (February 2019)2

FishBase

Described by Vogt in 19782