Indian glowlight carplet

Horadandia brittani

Also known as Brittan's carplet, Dwarf fire rasbora

FreshwaterFish

Indian glowlight carplet (Horadandia brittani) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–82°F (24–28°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 1 in (2.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Coastal floodplains of Kerala, southern India
Family: Danionidae

Overview

Care follows the same lines as its Sri Lankan sister: keep a dozen or more in a planted nano, feed the smallest foods, and pair it only with equally tiny, calm fish. It is peaceful and lives in midwater and among plants, doing best in still or barely moving water with plenty of cover. Offer micro pellets, crushed flake, and small frozen or live foods such as cyclops, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp. A quiet, well-planted tank of around 40 liters is all it needs.

In the wild

The Indian glowlight carplet lives in coastal floodplain wetlands of Kerala and neighboring southern India, in weedy, slow, warm water. Set it up like its island relative, with heavy planting, a dark substrate, gentle filtration, and soft light. Warmth suits it, 24 to 28 degrees Celsius, at a pH of 6.0 to 7.5.

Good to know

Horadandia brittani belongs to the danio family, Danionidae, and stays under about 2.5 centimeters, the Indian counterpart of the Sri Lankan carplet. Remi Devi and Menon described it in 1992, first as a subspecies, and it was raised to full species in 2013; it honors the American ichthyologist Martin Brittan. It is an egg-scatterer, so breeding rates as moderate.

Did you know

For decades it was filed as a local form of the Sri Lankan carplet, until 2013 work confirmed the two as separate species, one on each side of the narrow Palk Strait that divides India from Sri Lanka.

Tank mates

Indian glowlight carplet is a peaceful, schooling species that keeps to the middle. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.