Melanotaenia praecox - Neon rainbow

Scientific name: Melanotaenia praecox
Common name: Neon rainbow
Group: Other fishes
Habitat: New Guinea, Irian Jaya
Size: 5 cm
Biotope: Fast-moving, clear rivers.
Social behavior: Small, active, and peaceful, they do best in groups of six or more (one male to two females ratio, if possible).
Diet: Omnivore: flake, small granular foods, supplemented with live or frozen foods.
Breeding: Easy
Tank: Minimum 120 litres
Population: 5-6 fishes for 120 litres
Decoration: Planted tank with shaded areas and open swimming space.
Temperature: 24 °C
pH: 6,5-7,2
Hardness: 5,6-8,4NK°

Description: These have an extremely deep laterally compressed body. Like all rainbow fishes, these fish have two dorsal fins but, like most of the popular rainbows, the split dorsal is barely noticeable as one of these fins is very tiny. The Neon Rainbow is a metallic color throughout. Its fins are almost uniformly red (with the exception of the outer edge of the caudal fin, which is green). The same green covers most of the bottom of the fish while the upper lateral surfaces are usually blue (with a greenish stripe perhaps mixed in). These colours may be perceived differently as the iridescent reflections may change under different types of light.

Females' fins are less red than males'; they often have yellow to yellowish-orange fins. They are less colourful than the males as well.

They breed themselves, i.e., many aquarists just see eggs in the tank after having done nothing special to induce breeding. They don't stop spawning for a long time after they start!

Males start the spawning process by displaying to the females and the spawning almost always takes place in the morning (though you can likely affect the time of spawning by changing the times at which the fish room is light).

The fry mature more quickly than those of other Rainbows, but they can still take months to develop. Microencapsulated fry foods are good starter foods, as are microworms. Anything much larger can and may cause serious damage to a fish whose mouth is large but throat is not.