Somphongs's rasbora

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep this rasbora in a group of at least eight to ten, more if you can, in a tank of 45 litres or more with soft, slightly acidic water at 23 to 27 C and a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. A dim, planted tank with leaf litter and dark substrate helps them settle and color up. Feed small foods such as micropellets, crushed flake, and frozen or live daphnia and baby brine shrimp. They are shy, peaceful schoolers best kept alone or with other small, gentle species.

In the wild

Somphongs's rasbora comes from shaded, slow, soft-water streams and swamps in the Mae Klong basin of western Thailand. Dense forest canopy keeps the water dim, warm, and slightly acidic. The fish carries a slim dark stripe and a warm orange body, close in shape to the harlequin rasboras. Its native habitat has been badly damaged, so nearly all tank fish are captive bred.

Good to know

Once thought extinct in the wild, Trigonostigma somphongsi is listed as critically endangered and survives mainly through captive breeding. It is the smallest of the Trigonostigma rasboras at about 2.5 cm. It was named after Somphongs Lekaree, a Thai fish exporter active in the mid twentieth century.

Did you know

Buying captive-bred Somphongs's rasbora supports one of the few aquarium species that hobbyist breeders have helped pull back from the edge of extinction.

Related species

• 

  Espei rasbora

  Trigonostigma espei

  1.5 in (3.8 cm)11 gal (40 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Glowlight rasbora

  Trigonostigma hengeli

  1.6 in (4 cm)12 gal (45 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Harlequin rasbora

  Trigonostigma heteromorpha

  2 in (5 cm)15 gal (55 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Dwarf rasbora

  Boraras maculatus

  1 in (2.5 cm)7 gal (25 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Gold ring danio

  Danio tinwini

  1.2 in (3 cm)11 gal (40 L)64–79°F (18–26°C)

• 

  Orange Hatchet Danio

  Laubuka dadiburjori

  1.2 in (3 cm)13 gal (50 L)68–75°F (20–24°C)