Tiger Danio

About

Found tumbling through cool, oxygen-rich mountain streams in northern Thailand, Inlecypris maetaengensis is a small cyprinid that rarely tops two inches but punches well above its weight as an active, visually busy schooling fish. It sometimes shows up in the trade under the name tiger danio, which can cause confusion with a few similar-looking relatives. The key features that set it apart are a complete lateral line carrying 31 to 35 pored scales, both rostral and maxillary barbels, and flank patterning made up of vertical bars that gradually deepen then shorten toward the tail, paired with a central stripe composed of a chain of blotched segments. In the aquarium it is thoroughly peaceful and genuinely beginner-friendly, making it a practical choice for a community setup alongside other small cyprinids, loaches, or characins of comparable size. A group of eight or more is the sweet spot. The fish settle noticeably, show richer color, and spend their time working out a pecking order rather than harassing tankmates. In the wild the diet leans heavily on terrestrial insects that fall onto the water surface, so floating or surface-drifting foods go down well. Breeding follows the typical egg-scattering pattern of small danionids, with no parental care and adults that will readily eat their own eggs given the chance.