Glowlight Rasbora

COMMON NAMES: Red-line, Red Striped or Glowlight Rasbora.

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Rasbora pauciperforata.

DESIGNATION: Tropical but may also tolerate the upper part of the coldwater range.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Indonesia. SIZE: Up to 6 cm (2.5 in).

WATER PREFERENCES: Soft, slightly add water is preferred, but some deviation will be tolerated. Temperature: 19-21°C (66-70°F) during winter; 23-26°C (73.5-79°F) in summer.

DIET: Will usually accept dried foods but definitely prefers live foods.

BREEDING: This is an egg-scattering species which has, reportedly, only rarely spawned in captivity.

DESCRIPTION: R. puaciperforuta isa somewhat shy, retiring species which tends to stick to the middle and lower levels of the aquarium.

Glowlight Rasbora is an attractive fish whose color range from translucent to pinkish pigmentation. Some healthy species of the fish has beautiful lemon coloration of fins. The fish is a shoaling variety and must be introduced in a tank in a group of at least 8 in number. The glowligh rasbora is quite hardy than other rasbora species. It is an ideal fish for beginners due to its hardiness. But the fish is quite rare to find. An interested hobbyist has to look out for the fish in good pet aquarium shops from time to time. The fish is also a quick swimmer and is a wonderful community tank fish.

The fish is also disease resistant and one should not have to take much care about the maintenance of the fish. The fish is often confused and mistakably sold as related rasbora specie. The close rasbora species to the fish are mainly the harlequin Rasbora or the Trigonostigma heteromorpha and the Lambchop rasbora or the Trigonostigma espei. The lamb chop Rasbora specie and the glowlight rasbora are both sold in the name of the harlequin Rasbora. But one can be easily able to identify the rasbora species separately by having a close watch to the patterns of coloration. The harlequin Rasbora has a more stalk like appearance than the other two breeds of fish. The pigmentation of the fish ranges from pink to bright red color. The black spot of the fish is placed close to the triangle located at the back part of the body with a slightly bluish hue. The fish has also a larger sized triangle than the other two species of fish.

Lambchop rasbora has a bronze pinkish appearance whereas the glowlight specie has a butter colored pigmentation with a faint orange shade just above the black spot. The orange line is missing in case of the Lambchop rasbora.

The Glowlight fish is not endangered specie and is found in large shoals in its native place including the nations like Borneo, Sumatra and Indonesia. They mainly reside in slow moving streams most of them are wild caught. But now days the fish is also cultured in artificial environments successfully. The sex of the fish is quite difficult to determine and to try out with breeding the fish in the aquarium one should buy at least 8 of them together and allow them to find their own pairs during the time of breeding. A very close watch may show up the female fish to be more rounded in appearance than the male.