Glassfish

About

Found across lowland rivers, flooded fields, and swampy backwaters stretching from the Mekong basin through Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, and Java, Parambassis siamensis is a small glassfish with a nearly see-through body that makes it genuinely unusual on the sales floor. It turns up occasionally in the hobby and is sometimes mislabeled as the Indian glassfish, Parambassis ranga. The two can be told apart by this species' more elongate build and the absence of any patterning behind the eye. One important distinction: unlike P. ranga, this is a strictly freshwater fish and should never be kept in brackish conditions. Despite the aggressive and territorial tags in its care sheet, day-to-day behavior is actually fairly calm. Males do posture and chase each other, especially when spawning is in the air, but serious injury is uncommon. The real key is keeping a group, six or more is the minimum, because single fish or pairs tend to stress out and decline. Tankmates should be chosen with care; avoid anything boisterous or nippy. Calmer barbs, loaches, livebearers, and smaller rainbowfish all tend to work well. Captive breeding has not been reliably documented, though it is presumed to follow a similar pattern to related species. An interesting intermediate-level fish for a well-planted community setup.