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Banded Rainbowfish

Jewel Rainbowfish - Three Stripe Rainbowfish
Regal Rainbowfish - Goyder River Rainbowfish Family: Melanotaeniidae

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Melanotaenia trifasciata Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   A real stunner, the Banded Rainbowfish is one of the brightest colored fish in its family, and has earned years of popularity for it!

   The Banded Rainbowfish is a brilliant little river fish from Australia that is dressed from tip to tail in bold colors. This fish comes in upwards of 30 varieties, each with as beautiful a pattern as the next. A planted tank is an excellent way to showcase your beautiful specimens. With frequent water changes and the company of the opposite sex, males will show their intense colors off best. A school of these lively but peaceful fish will certainly brighten up a large show aquarium.

   While rainbowfish were previously only kept by a small dedicated base of aquarists, they are gradually becoming more common in aquariums. The Banded Rainbowfish is an excellent representative of all the positive characteristics of the family: brilliant colors, easy keeping, and a lively personality.

For more Information on keeping freshwater fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:
   The Banded Rainbowfish was described by Rendahl in 1922. Geographically variant subspecies inhabit many waterways across Australia. They typically inhabiting well vegetated streams and waterholes where the water is clear, sometimes cloudy. The bottom of these environments is graveled or rocky and there is usually some submerged bog type wood.

Status:
   The Banded Rainbowfish is not listed on the IUCN red list as of 2007.

Description:
   The Banded Rainbowfish has the typical rainbowfish silhouette, long but deep in the body, with an arched back and narrow head. Banded Rainbowfish have big eyes and two dorsal fins. The colors are absolutely radiant. Every river system has its own entirely different color pattern and there are estimated to be more than thirty variations. The two most common in domestic aquaria are described below, however many other variations are also available.

• Standard or Jewel Rainbowfish: The “Standard” type coloration of this fish is golden on bottom, olive green on top with a strong black band running horizontally through the fish to the eye. Towards the center of the fish, there are some highly reflective mint green scales. Fins are orange and red.
• Goyder River Rainbowfish: The Goyder river variant is quite different. The base color is golden orange. The scales reflect pearly white, giving the fish an almost spotted appearance. This fish has a black stripe which runs from its snout to the base of the tail. The fins are blood red with black outlines.

Size - Weight:
   Banded Rainbowfish will reach about 5 inches (13 cm).

Care and feeding:
   Banded Rainbowfish are omnivores, and require a rich diet of both live and processed foods to maintain good health. Provide a high quality flake or pellet food. Purchase it in small amounts as the nutrients in these products quickly deteriorates past usefulness by this species. Banded Rainbowfish also require a live food component in their diet. Bloodworms, tubifex worms, water fleas, brine shrimp and white worms all are healthy additions to their diet. If these are unavailable, frozen (defrosted) substitutes are fine.
   These fish are fairly adaptable but a planted tank with swimming space suits them best. A dark substrate and background brings out brighter colors. Try, if possible, to plan for one or two hours of sunlight hitting the tank. This should be at a time when you can view the tank as the illumination will make the fish even more stunning.
   Rainbowfish are not exceptionally difficult to care for provided their water is kept clean. At least 25 - 50% of the tank water should be replaced weekly, especially if the tank is densely stocked. Because they are a moderately large rainbowfish and very active swimmers, a tank size of 50 - 60 gallons or more is advisable. Additionally, the tank should be securely covered as these fish are skilled jumpers and will probably do so if given the opportunity.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   Banded Rainbowfish usually swim in the middle of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Temperature: 70 - 79° F (21 - 28° C)
   Hardness: 8 - 25 dGH
   Ph: 6.5 - 8.5

Social Behaviors:
   The Banded Rainbowfish gets along with other big fish in a community aquarium, but do exceptionally well in a geographical tank stocked with other rainbowfish. Excessively shy or submissive tank mates tend to make bullies out of them, but rainbowfish should still not be mixed with the extremely aggressive species. Mix them with other playful but good natured fish for best results. You may notice some chasing between rainbowfish, but this is rarely a concern unless a fish is injured, has nowhere to hide, or is constantly harassed (almost always a result of one of the first two).
   Banded Rainbowfish are schooling fish and the ratio of males to females is very important to keep a reasonable peace among them. Although single sex schools are always an option, you will miss out on the flamboyant displays of coloration only seen in a mixed sex school. Properly stocking rainbowfish is a little tricky so we include the following stocking suggestions. Choose which type of school you want to keep and how many fish.

Sexual Differences:
   Sexing is most easily done by comparison, males being generally larger, more brightly colored, have a more arched back and will often be more territorial.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   A breeding tank should be set up with a sponge filer and either many fine leaved plants or a spawning mop. A pair of healthy adult rainbowfish should be introduced. They should be conditioned with live foods and plant based foods. Remember, you are trying to emulate the bounty of the flood season so feed more and higher quality food than you normally would.
   After the female has produced eggs, the males will display an amazing show of intense colors and direct the female to the spawning site, spawn, and then rest. The spawning mop or plants should be removed and replaced after the spawning or the eggs will be eaten. The fish will repeat this daily for a few days, with steadily decreasing numbers of eggs produced. The parents should be removed when egg numbers fall or if the females show signs of fatigue. The fry will hatch after about a week and should be fed infusoria or a liquid fry food until they are able to eat baby brine shrimp. The fry are not exceptionally difficult to raise if given clean water and quality foods
   A problem to be aware of is crossbreeding. Rainbowfish in the wild will not breed with fish of another species, even when presented the opportunity to do so. But for some reason, rainbowfish of the Melanotaeniidae family in the aquarium will interbreed, often with undesirable results. Somehow the fry of mismatched parents lose most of their coloration. Since many of these species are rare, it is desirable to keep the bloodlines distinct, or risk losing the beautiful coloration that nature has taken thousands of years to develop. See an overview of how to breed Rainbowfish in Breeding Freshwater Fish.

Availability:
   The Banded Rainbowfish, also sold as Jewel Rainbowfish, Three Stripe Rainbowfish, Regal Rainbowfish, or Goyder River Rainbowfish is usually available in some color variant, however some variants are more common. This fish is usually $6 - $15 USD each.

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Latest Comments
I Love my rainbow fish! I have 6 of them (3 males, and 3 females). They look so cool, it took me awhile to figure out what kind they are but it turns out there the jewel banded rainbowfish. They're really funny when I feed them, they splash when they eat cuz they kinda jump at the food. I keep them in my 30 gallon tank with 4 hatchetfish, 4 leapord catfish, and 1 paradise fish. They're all really happy together! AIDAN 2009-02-16

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