Chili rasboras are micro-predators, which means they acquire the majority of their nourishment from minute prey such as insect larvae, worms, and zooplankton in the water. They may prefer and pick at live plants for any microorganisms they can find, but don’t worry; they aren’t damaging the plants in any way.

Do Chili Rasboras Eat Detritus Worms

Chili rasbora diet

Yes, Chili rasboras are micro-predators, which means they get most of their food from small prey in the water, such as bug larvae, worms, and zooplankton.

They may prefer live plants and pick at them for any microbes they can find, but don’t worry; they aren’t harming the plants in any way.

Read Also: Are chili rasbora shy – Here is the Reason

To maintain their colours bright and dazzling in the aquarium, these fish require a high-quality diet. Bloodworms, brine shrimp, and infusoria, both frozen and live, should be fed on a regular basis and changed during the week. More traditional foods, like fish flakes and pellets, will be accepted by these fish, but they must be of excellent quality.

Keep in mind that your fish can only consume food that it can swallow. To make your chili rasbora easier to eat, you may need to break up parts of food.

Chili Rasbora Identification

It’s possible that what appears to be an empty tank is actually filled with chili rasboras! Because of their small size, these exceedingly small fish can be difficult to spot and are often overlooked.

Read Also: How Many Chili Rasbora in 5 Gallon – With Examples

However, up close, these fish are as gorgeous as, if not more beautiful than, full-grown cichlids.

Chili rasboras are bright red-orange fish with a black and red line running along their mid-lateral line and tiny orange dots on their small fins! Female chile rasboras are more colourful and larger than males. Males are often darker in colour and more territorial than females, especially during spawning season.

It may be difficult to correctly identify these fish due to their small size. Other Boraras have a lot of similarities to the chile rasbora, but there are a few ways to tell them apart:

Read Also: How Long Do Chili Rasboras Live

Boraras uropthalmoides is a species of Boraras. These fish are even tiny than the chile rasbora, measuring about 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) in length! They live in wetland environments that are similar to ours, although they are from Thailand. The mid-lateral stripes of your Boraras uropthalmoides and Boraras brigittae are the keys to distinguishing them.

Boraras uropthalmoides and Boraras brigittae are the only two Boraras species having stripes down their sides; these lines are generally broken before they reach the caudal fin, but Boraras uropthalmoides has a black splotch right before the fin. This will resemble a slanted exclamation point.

These fish have a lighter overall colour than chili rasboras, and their black stripe may have a yellow or pale orange line running through it.

Boraras uropthalmoides, despite their modest size, will be visibly shorter than chilli rasboras if unintentionally purchased combined.

Read Also: Are Chili Rasbora Hardy – Here is the Answer

While it may appear that the two species would be compatible in an aquarium, we do not recommend keeping them together since they could breed and produce a hybrid fish.

Boraras merah merah merah merah merah

These fish are a little easier to spot, although they can still be mistaken for Boraras uropthalmoides and Boraras brigittae if not examined well.

They are 0.8 inches (2.0 cm) long and come from the same blackwater ecosystems in Borneo, Indonesia as the chili rasbora.

Related Guide: The Complete Guide to Chili Rasbora Care

Boraras merah, unlike the other two species, lacks any mid-lateral lines or stripes. Instead, these little fish have a black splotch around their gills, which is encircled by red and orange outlines. While the body is a tanish-yellow tint, the red colouring on the head will be more prominent.

In the aquarium trade, they are sometimes referred to as phoenix rasboras. Again, keeping these fish with Boraras uropthalmoides or Boraras brigittae is not recommended because they may breed and generate hybrid fish.

Raising Chili Rasbora

Chili rasbora has been successfully produced and grown in aquariums, and if conditions are very favourable, they may be able to do it without human intervention.

Because chili rasboras disperse eggs and do not provide parental care, it is usually advisable to set up a breeding tank that can be monitored and regulated to enhance the chances of your young fish surviving.

When spawning cycles begin, male fish may display substantially brighter colours and may begin chasing females around the tank.

When this happens, the fish should be moved to a separate, well-lit and well-planted aquarium; because these fish don’t require a lot of space for spawning, clean, moderately-sized plastic containers may also work.

To prevent fish from reaching the eggs and eating them, line the bottom of the container with an egg crate or other mesh.

The water parameters should be similar to those in the main tank, with the water temperature on the higher end of the scale.

Make sure to gradually adapt the fish to the new water temperature, as too much of a change can cause them to get stressed.

Once the eggs have been found, the parent fish should be removed from the container. The eggs will hatch the next day and become free-swimming soon after; they will acquire all of their nourishment from an attached yolk for the first 24 hours or so. They will thereafter require very little food, such as microforms.

It is not necessary to replace the water until the fry has grown significantly. Keep in mind that both adults and juveniles are vulnerable to unexpected water changes.

It will be safe to return the fish back into the main display or gift them to another hobbyist once they have grown to a significant size.

There’s always the possibility that your fish will breed and the fry will grow on their own in the aquarium; this is especially true if the tank is well-planted.

Chili Rasbora Water Source

While chili rasbora maintenance is rather simple, tap water should not be utilized as the aquarium’s major source of water. Tap water has a lot of unknowns in it, and it can cause a lot of difficulties in your tank.

One of the most serious issues with tap water is the possibility of phosphate contamination.
Algae grow in any aquarium with too many phosphates, whether it’s freshwater or saltwater.

While plants require phosphate to survive, algae may absorb the phosphate faster than plants, resulting in more algae and rotting plants (which produce even more phosphate!).

Heavy metals, such as copper, can be found in tap water, affecting the health of your fish as well as the aquarium’s general health. The only way to know for sure what is in tap water is to send it to a laboratory.

This is why safer water options such as distilled or reverse osmosis (RO) water are far preferable. These waters have been filtered to remove undesired nutrients and heavy metals, ensuring that they do not enter the aquarium.

Even better, this water is reasonably inexpensive and readily available at grocery or convenience stores, saving you from a major algae problem and possibly killing fish in the future.

Conclusion

The care of a chili rasbora is simple and basic. While they are little, they should not be housed in a tank that is too small because they require safety in numbers as well as space to swim.

Soft, acidic, tannin-stained water should be used in their tank to mimic their native habitat.

Because of their size, these fish are a little more difficult to find tank mates for, and they shouldn’t be housed with other Borara species, but they can happily be kept with a variety of plants and shrimp.

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