Chili rasbora

Boraras brigittae

Also known as Mosquito rasbora, Chilli rasbora

FreshwaterFish

Chili rasbora (Boraras brigittae) — Fantomeno 14 · CC0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–82°F (22–28°C)
pH: 5.0–7.0
Adult size: 0.8 in (2 cm)
Minimum tank: 7 gal (25 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Borneo
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

Keep them in a group, ideally ten or more, since a bigger school brings out their color and confidence. Six is the bare minimum. They are peaceful and stay in the middle of the tank but are too small to mix with anything that could eat them. Their mouths are tiny, so feed crushed flake, micro-pellets, and small live or frozen foods like baby brine shrimp and daphnia. A planted nano tank around 25 liters works well.

In the wild

The mosquito rasbora comes from blackwater peat swamps and slow streams in Borneo, where the water is soft, acidic, and stained dark brown by tannins. Recreate that for them with a dim, heavily planted tank, soft acidic water (pH 5 to 7), and leaf litter or wood to color the water and provide cover. Keep temperatures in the mid to high 20s C.

Good to know

Boraras brigittae is a tiny cyprinid, one of the smallest fish in the hobby, topping out around 2 cm. Males show stronger red coloring than the plainer females. It is an egg layer that scatters small numbers of eggs among plants and gives no parental care. Wild populations are pressured by deforestation and the draining of peat swamps in Borneo.

Did you know

The name is misleading. They are far too small to make a dent in mosquito populations, and the name really points to their size and swamp habitat rather than any pest-control job. Their strong red color, deepest in displaying males, is the main reason keepers want them in a dark, planted tank.