Jaintia Hills

About

A rarely described miniature badid from northeastern India, Dario kajal was known to hobbyists for years under the informal names 'Jaintia Hills' and 'Bangladesh' before receiving its official description. Males are genuinely small, topping out under an inch, but carry a bold look, with cherry-red flanks overlaid with a greenish dorsal sheen and paired body bars that distinguish them from their closest relatives. In the wild this species turns up in shallow, slow or stagnant pools with turbid water and no vegetation, which hints at how adaptable it can be in captivity. Despite the beginner-friendly care rating, tankmate selection is the one area where this fish demands thought. Males are territorial and will square off aggressively with one another, so the classic approach is a single male kept with one or more females, with plenty of caves and visual breaks arranged throughout the tank to give each fish its own corner. The species is slow-moving and shy by nature, meaning active or boisterous companions will stress it and easily outcompete it at feeding time. Calm nano cyprinids and small loaches tend to work well as companions. Feeding is straightforward since it readily takes small live and frozen invertebrates. Captive breeding is well worth attempting, and given how rarely this fish appears in the trade, propagating it in the home aquarium is genuinely worthwhile.