Australian Rainbowfish
(Melanotaenia fluviatilis)
Temperature: 68 - 80 F
pH: 6.0 - 8.0
dGH / dKH: 3 - 18
Community Fish - Yes
Size: 4-4.5 in.
Difficulty: Easy
This month were taking a closer look at Melanotaenia fluviatilis, also called the Australian Rainbowfish. One of the slightly less colorful species of rainbows, the Australian Rainbowfish is indigenous to the freshwater rivers, ponds and wetland systems of Australia hense their name. Like many other species of rainbowfish, these guys tolerate a wide range of aquarium water parameters. Temperature between 68 and 80 F pH in the range of 6 to 8 and dGH and dKH should be maintained in the ball park of 3 to 18. This Rainbow in particular, experiences drastic changes in all three of these water parameters in the wild, making them a very hardy fish in the home aquarium.
Rainbowfish in general are coveted for their easy of care as well as their peaceful yet energetic behavior in the freshwater tank. The Australian Rainbow like many of its close relatives get along great with most other fish making them great for a beginner community tank. You can see them here getting along well with a small school of red eye tetras
A natural schooling fish, 5-6 of them makes for a good start, but tank size should be kept fairly large( 55 and up in my opinion) due to their potential size of about 3.5 to 4 inches when full grown and their desire for active swimming. These guys are in a 40 gal breeder right now but will eventually be moved to a 90 gallon tank perfect for them to mature in. Males will do best and show better coloring when paired with females. They are a pretty easy fish to breed, you may notice spawning activity without doing a thing to your tank.
Australian Rainbowfish Care Sheet
In the wild, Australians find insects as a main food source but in the aquarium will feed on most all commercial fish foods. I like to feed them a mixed diet of flake and freeze dried blood worms. This is also a really fun fish to watch eat live daphnia. These fish do consume a lot of food, I try and feed them at least once a day.
Males will be slightly larger than females and tend to have more pronounced coloring as they mature. As for those colors on the Australian rainbow, You can expect quite a bit of diversity as they age, these younger ones are predominantly silver with yellow accents but as they get older the males in particular will develop a since shiny turquoise pattern on their anterior and really stand out.
Overall the Australian rainbowfish makes for a great addition to the planted aquarium, suited for the beginner to the advanced aquarist. Due to their inexpensive price when compared to other rainbows, these fish are a great alternative for someone who’s on a budget but also wants to fill there tank with a really cool and entertaining fish.
