All fish / Danionidae

Graceful Rasbora

Trigonopoma gracile

Also known as graceful rasbora, slender rasbora, rasbora gracilis, red-tailed graceful rasbora, gracile rasbora, ラスボラ・グラキリス

This is a slim, silvery rasbora with a dark stripe running along its side to the tail and red-tinted lobes on its tail fin. It comes from soft, acidic blackwater habitats and looks its best in a busy shoal in a dimly lit tank with plants and leaf litter.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

6 cm

Temperature

22 to 27 °C

pH

4.5 to 6.8

Smallest tank

80 litres

Keep as

Shoal of 8 or more

Diet

Omnivore: small live and frozen foods such as daphnia, bloodworm and brine shrimp, plus quality flakes and micro pellets

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

4 to 6 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo (Indonesia), blackwater peat swamp streams

Breeding

It scatters its eggs and gives no parental care, so adults will eat any eggs and fry they find. Captive spawning is rarely reported. It works best in very soft, acidic water with fine-leaved plants or a spawning mesh, and the adults should be removed after spawning.

Good to know

Most fish sold are caught in the wild, so acclimatise them carefully into soft, acidic, clean water. It is easily mixed up with Trigonopoma pauciperforatum, the red-line rasbora, which looks very similar.