Red-striped Rainbowfish

About

A boldly colored subspecies of the splendida rainbowfish complex, Melanotaenia splendida rubrostriata hails from the rivers and streams of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It sits among the more vivid of the four recognized splendida subspecies, though you'd be forgiven for doubting that when you see the washed-out juveniles typically sold at fish stores. Full color can take well over a year to develop even with ideal feeding, so buying this fish is genuinely a long game. Stick with it and the payoff is considerable. Like other rainbowfish, it does best in a shoal of at least six to eight individuals. Males push each other to display more intensely when kept in groups, and the fish as a whole settle down and show more natural behavior with company around them. Despite being peaceful by temperament, their quick, energetic movement can stress slower or smaller tankmates, so pairing them with similarly active fish, other rainbows, barbs, danios, or robust tetras, works much better than mixing them with delicate species. Breeding is achievable for intermediate keepers, though raising the tiny fry requires some effort. They scatter adhesive eggs among fine-leaved plants or spawning mops, and the newly hatched fry need infusoria before graduating to small live foods. Keep different splendida subspecies separate to avoid hybridization.