Western Rainbowfish - Melanotaenia splendida australis - DNZ

The Western Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia splendida australis, is a wonderful schooling fish from Australia and also a member of the suborder of spikefish. Like some of its relatives, it is also one of the large fin rainbowfishes and is just as easy to keep and also to socialize. With a possible final size of almost 12 centimeters, it grows a bit larger.

You can get our Western Rainbowfish as German offspring.

Western Rainbowfishes have a low high back and a silvery base coloration, which can occasionally be green or brown, the belly is lighter. There is a black lateral line on the side, which may be turquoise and yellow above and below the same. The anal fin is transparent bluish shimmering partly with red fin rays, the second dorsal fin and the caudal fin are red orange. At spawning time the males intensify their colors more intensively, also they become generally somewhat stronger and higher, the females remain somewhat behind in color and also somewhat smaller.

Breeding is also possible in the aquarium. Western Rainbowfish prefer fine finned plants, but also Java moss as spawning substrate, on which they lay their rather large eggs. The eggs have adhesive threads, with which they adhere to the substrate and remain stuck. Since the Rainbowfishes do chase after their spawn, it is recommended to breed them separately in a rearing aquarium. The preferred animals can be placed in this aquarium, which releases its eggs for about three weeks, after which it is moved again. The eggs develop within 1-2 weeks, from which fully developed young hatch. These still feed mainly on their yolk sac and hang almost motionless on objects or plants for the first two days. After another two days they swim freely and can be fed with very fine live food, such as infusoria or slipper animals. After that, switch them to freshly hatched Artemia nauplii.

Melanotaenia splendida autralis can already be kept well in aquariums with an edge length of 100 cm. Sand or gravel are very suitable as substrate. Dense planting in places promotes their well-being and also serves them as a hiding place and resting place. Western Rainbowfish are very skittish, so they always need retreats so that they do not suddenly shoot through the aquarium and possibly injure themselves. They also like to spawn in fine plants. A few roots also provide hiding places and privacy. Sufficient swimming space is mandatory for these medium-sized comrades, because they like to swim a few distances together. In water values with a total hardness between 8-25 °dGH, a pH value of 7-8.2 and at a temperature of 24-27 °C they can be maintained well. If the aquarium has darker corners in places, for example by a floating plant cover, this promotes the well-being of the great Rainbowfish.

These very peaceful animals can be socialized well, even with smaller Danios or Tetrasbut also with Corydoras or Loricarii and larger shrimps such as fan shrimps or amano shrimps. However, dwarf crayfish or crayfish should not be kept together with them, because both could not only scare the Rainbowfish properly, but also hurt it properly - such injuries heal only slowly and rather badly.

Western Rainbowfishes feed in their habitat among other things on approaching insects, smallest crustaceans and on growth. In the aquarium they can therefore be fed optimally with a conventional dry food, as well as flake food or granulated food for omnivorous ornamental fish. Regular feeding of frozen and live foods such as Artemia, Mosquito larvae, cyclops, enchytraea and others, round out their diet nicely.

Our food recommendation: NatureHolic professional main feed is a professional main feed for all aquarium fish. We supply Hauptfeed in the form of soft granules, which, thanks to its grain size of half a millimeter, can be easily absorbed by small to medium-sized fish. The soft consistency resembles the texture of insect larvae in nature and protects the fish mouth from micro-injuries.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free from algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.